Iowa's Clark advances to NCAA title match

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Cory Clark witnessed Tony Ramos wrestle and win a national title.

He wanted to emulate him and now he has his chance.

A year after Ramos won the 133-pound title, Clark position himself to give the University of Iowa an NCAA champion at that weight for a second straight season. Clark defeated Penn State's Jimmy Gulibon, 7-5, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships last night at the Scottrade Center.

Clark said he is one of the wrestlers of all ages who admire Ramos as a competitor.

'He was my roommate,' Clark said. 'So I've got a really good idea of how he lives his life and how he got to the national title and gave me good footsteps to walk in.'

They were teammates for two years and Clark was an All-American, placing fifth, last season. Ramos approached the arena floor and provided some final words of encouragement before Clark's win. Clark hesitated to approach him to avoid 'nonsense' or a 'random conversation,' but realized they were on the same page.

'Real short and sweet,' Clark said about the message. 'It was just 'You know how to beat this guy. You've got to wrestle the full seven minutes. I know you can beat him and you know you can beat him, good luck.' Something like that. That's all I needed to hear.'

Clark (30-5) fell behind in the second, surrendering a reversal. He responded with a takedown in the second and a reversal in the third. he held on to a lead, but learned a valuable lesson from their earlier meeting when he had a late one-point lead only for Gulibon to hit a late four-point move for the win.

'I told myself over and over if I get a lead to just keep wrestling, and sometimes that's hard to do with little time on the clock,' Clark said. 'I feel like I did kind of go back a little bit and maybe shut down a little, but in the dual I completely shut down. I wasn't really getting to my ties. This time I felt like I had my ties and I probably stopped going to my attacks, but I had ties and my head position, so it ended up working out, I guess.'

Iowa Coach Tom Brands said Clark is a tough competitor, despite being 'scatterbrained' at times. He has been dedicated to being his best and avoid distractions.

'When he tunes in at the task at hand, he's pretty good,' Brands said. 'I don't mean just tune in for that day. I'm talking about the lifestyle thing and he's done that. That's been the difference.'

Clark's win soothed the sting at the start of the round. On paper, Iowa's sixth-seeded was a major favorite against West Virginia's unseeded Zeke Moisey. Like most of this tournament, it didn't play out that way.

Moisey struck immediately with the opening takedown and immediately went for another when Gilman escaped. This one, resulted in a cradle and 52-second pin.

'I went out and really wanted to be offensive,' Moisey said. 'I had a really good first takedown and figured I'd keep being offensive. I had another shot, caught his knee a little too close to his head and I've done that move through high school so I knew it was going to work.'

Moisey entered the tournament with 13 losses. He surprised many, knocking off the Nos. 15, 2, 7 and 6 seeds, reaching the finals as a first-year freshman.

'I think I peaked at the right time,' Moisey said. 'A lot of those losses I think I should have won or I could have won, and I think some of that comes with experience, being a true freshman. I wasn't that mat smart. As the year progressed, my mat smarts kept getting better and I kept getting better.'

Mike Evans survived an overtime battle in the quarterfinals against Minnesota's Logan Storley to make the semifinals for the second straight year. Similar to a year ago, Evans fell in the semifinals. Penn State's Matt Brown scored a second-period escape and fought off two third-period leg attacks for a 1-0 win at 174.

'We've had two matches with Matt Brown that basically have gone the same way,' Brands said. 'He looked at me and said he wanted it to be my call. I told him I want it to be your call. That's a situation if you go down you have to come out.

'The right decision will never be known. We lost the match.'

The Hawkeyes have six All-Americans. Freshman Brandon Sorensen (149), Nathan Burak at 197 and heavyweight Bobby Telford moved into the top eight. Telford will cap his career as a three-time All-American, while Burak reached the podium for the second consecutive year.

Iowa is second with 73 points, trailing Ohio State by 13 1/2. Cornell is third with 66 1/2.

'Those matches are big and we have big matches (Saturday),' Brands said. 'I've been saying that for two days now and it continues into the third day now.'

The University of Northern Iowa had its tournament come to an end last night. The Panthers didn't have an All-American. Cooper Moore (165) and heavyweight Blaize Cabell won their first two matches of the tournament, reaching Friday's quarterfinals. Both lost their next two matches and were one win from placing.

Ohio State took command of the team race, going 5-0 in the quarterfinals. The Buckeyes pushed X to the finals, including 141-pounder Logan Stieber. He is attempting to become just the fourth four-time NCAA champion, joining Oklahoma State's Pat Smith, Iowa State's Cael Sanderson and Cornell's Kyle Dake, who achieved the feat in 2013.

'Just trying to enjoy it,' Stieber said. 'It's been a fun ride. And if we could win a team title along the way, that would be cool.'

Host Missouri is second, heading into the final day of the tournament. The Tigers have one finalist and five All-Americans, including former Southeast Polk two-time state champion Willie Miklus, who won three straight consolation matches at 184 to earn a top-eight finish. Missouri is fifth with 60 points.

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