Youth is served

Experience might be overrated if you look at the young guns who earned All-American status at 125 for two Iowa schools. Red-shirt freshmen Matt McDonough of Iowa and Iowa State's Andrew Long assured themselves of top-six finishes with quarterfinal victories Friday.

Third-seeded McDonough scored a 9-0 major decision over Virginia Tech's Jarrod Garnett to advance to last night's semifinal. Long, the No. 5 seed, scored a mild upset, beating former All-American Anthony Robles of Arizona State, 5-3, in the quarterfinals.

“Long has been doing this all year,” Iowa State Coach Kevin Jackson said. “He's a special kid. He's a tough kid and I wouldn't trade him for anybody.”

Even though he's a sophomore, Montell Marion kept the theme true, reaching the semifinals in his first NCAA tournament appearance at 141. Marion scored a takedown 14 into overtime to beat Ohio University's Germane Lindsey. 7-5, reserving a medal.

Marion's work isn't done with just a top-six placing.

“He's in the semifinals, so that's where he wants to be at this point,” Iowa Coach Tom Brands said. “Let's get one more.”