Borschel's wild comeback caps perfect Iowa semifinal

OMAHA, Neb. - Jay Borschel is a character and has a lot of things floating around in his head.

One of the things you won't find as a part of his unique personality is quit, and that came in handy.

The University of Iowa 174-pound senior trailed by as many as six points in the second period of his semifinal bout against Virginia's Chris Henrich. No quit, no worry. Borschel battled back, scoring a takedown with 45 seconds left to tie the score and riding Henrich out for the remainder of the match to earn a decisive riding time point and a 10-9 win.

Borschel's stellar comeback capped a fantastic round that allowed the top-ranked Hawkeyes clinched their third straight team title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships last night at the Qwest Center.

“Usually I don't celebrate or whatever after a match, but I just couldn't help it,” said Borschel, who flexed both arms above his shoulder. “What a feeling to come back from that and pull it off.

“He had a pretty convincing lead there, It's just not in my mind to quit or get down about that.”

Henrich scored the opening takedown then caught Borschel on his back for three nearfall points for a 5-0 lead. After a reversal, Henrich added an escape and a second takedown for an 8-2 lead still in the first.

As the hole got deeper, Borschel stayed levelheaded.

“You stay calm, but intense at the same and get those points back one at a time,” Borschel said.

He did exactly that when Henrich increased his lead to 9-3 with a second-period escape, Borschel trimmed the lead to four with a takedown, and then amped up the pressure in the third.

He had an escape and forced a second stall call for a point, pulling within 9-7 before the winning score and ride out.

Borschel (36-0) doesn't normally notice the crowd but their crescendo was hard to ignore.

“I felt them there in that last period. I was coming on strong and they were getting louder and louder,” Borschel said. “I thought maybe I might have killed half of them with heart attacks or whatever.”

He concluded the Hawkeyes perfect semifinal round, advancing five to the championships, clinching the team title with 120½ points after last night's session. Cornell is second with 75 and Iowa State was third with 67, five points ahead of Wisconsin.

A pair of Linn-Mar preps bracketed the championship showing.

red-shirt freshman Matt McDonough kicked the night off with a 14-3 major decision over Purdue's Cashe Quiroga.

McDonough (36-1) wasted little time, scoring a takedown just 17 seconds into the match, cinching up a cradle later in the period which ended with a 5-1 advantage.

“Well you take one match at a time, don't worry as much about who you're wrestling, but how you're wrestling and battling for seven minutes every match,” said McDonough, who became Iowa's first freshman finalist since Mark Perry was a runner-up in 2005. “I came into the tournament with a lot of confidence. I just kept working my skill and it paid off.”

Daniel Dennis followed with his third win over Michigan State's Franklin Gomez, moving on to the 133-pound final with a 5-3 overtime victory.

“This is what my college career has culminated to,” Dennis said. “We can go back further when my parents put me in wrestling. It's what it really is coming down to.”

Dennis (22-3) stalked Gomez the entire match, but held a 3-2 lead after the second thanks to two escapes and a stalling point.

After the two ended regulation tied at 3-3, Dennis' aggressive pressure paid off, countering a takedown attempt by spinning around for the winning two points.

“I'm anticipating a shot every time he's backing up,” Dennis said. “I'm acknowledging it. Not overreacting, but I‘m aware that he can fire in and that's most likely where he's going to be firing his offense.”

Sophomore Montell Marion has had an up-and-down season, but has peaked for the year-end event. Marion reached the 141 championship match with a 7-6 win over Pittsburgh's Tyler Nauman.

“It feels great,” Marion said. “I've been dreaming about this for a very long time. It keeps me up at night.”

Marion (27-5) is the highest-seeded Hawkeye to reach the finals. he said he didn't surprise himself.

“I knew I had it in me,” Marion said.

The Hawkeyes' Brent Metcalf, a 2008 NCAA champ and finalist last year, is the lone Hawkeye returning to the finals.

Metcalf (35-1) broke open a tight match with a four unmatched points in the final period to defeat Kyle Terry, 6-3, at 149.

He'll get a chance to avenge his only loss of the season in the finals against Ohio State's lance Palmer.

“I'm excited,” said Metcalf, who lost to Palmer in the Big Ten finals on March 7. “It's an opportunity to correct a wrong. I've been waiting the past two weeks to get to this point, and we both had to do our jobs and we have. It's time to go out and compete.”

The Hawkeyes own a 45½-point lead with five finalists. It's a nice turnaround from last year where they managed one finalist and no champions.

“I think the firepower has always been there,” Metcalf said. “I think it talks a lot about our guys getting ready to perform this year.”

It's pretty impressive to notch the school's 23rd national crowd with a whole day of competition remaining. It's a sign of flexing a little muscle, according to Iowa Coach Tom Brands.

“It shows you're in control,” Brands said. “It shows you've wrestled well as a team.”

The only other schools with multiple finalists are Iowa State with three and Cornell with two.

Red-shirt freshman Andrew Long (27-6) knocked off top-seeded and 2008 NCAA champ Angel Escobedo of Indiana, 7-4, at 125.

I feel real good that I can compete with all of these guys,” Long said. “and that my talent is equal.”

Long will meet McDonough in the finals. It's the first Iowa/Iowa State finals tilt since Eric Juergens beat Cody Sanderson in the 2000 133-pound final. McDonough has won the previous three meetings this season.

“Definitely it is going to be a big clash,” Long said. “We always have close matches that are really entertaining so it is going to be fun to get out there to wrestle him and know what to expect.”

Top-seeds Jake Varner at 197 and heavyweight David Zabriskie advanced to the finals for the Cyclones.

Varner (30-0) beat Cornell's Cam Simaz, 6-0, fighting a lack of offense from Simaz. He became the school's second four-time finalist, joining former coach and four-time NCAA champ Cael Sanderson.

“The tournament is not over,” said Varner, who faces No. 2 Craig Brester of Nebraska. “My goal isn't finished. This is just a steppingstone. (Tonight) at 6 o'clock is when the real fun begins."

Zabriskie, the top seed last year and placed fifth, avenged last year's semifinal loss to Duke's Konrad Dudziak. Zabriskie (25-2) advanced to the heavyweight final with a 6-5 win.

University of Northern Iowa has an All-American thanks to 174-pounder Jarion Beets, who beat Edinboro's Philip Moricone, 5-3, to lock up a spot on the podium. The feat served as validation for never winning a state title for Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

“It's a huge dream,” said Beets, a two-time state medalist for the Cougars. “I feel like the weight of the world just got lifted off my shoulders. Never to be a state champion in high school to come in here and prove myself, an all-American, does it for me. It is what I came to UNI for to show them I just wasn't a scrub.”

Beets (23-11) blazed a path to the quarterfinals only to come up short against Nebraska's Stephen Dwyer. He sent a text message to Panthers Coach Brad Penrith apologizing for the loss.

“I told him you didn't let me down just go out fight, get on the podium,” Penrith said. “ ... and I'm really proud of him, he went out and did just that.”