NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships continue in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. - Three University of Iowa seniors capped their careers with All-American finishes Saturday morning at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Qwest Center.

The Hawkeyes' Ryan Morningstar (165) and heavyweight Dan Erekson earned seventh place, while Phil Keddy was eighth at 184.

Morningstar scored two quick nearfall points in the second and added a third-period escape for a 3-2 win over Old Dominion's Chris Brown.

“It feels good to get that last (collegiate) win,” Morningstar said. “It should have been more. I feel like I should be in the finals.”

Morningstar shared that he suffered a torn MCL and PCL during his last match of the Big Ten tournament. He bore a brace throughout the tournament, but he managed the pain earning gutsy wins.

“A lot of times I can block it out pretty well,” said Morningstar, noting he will take some time before deciding when to have surgery. “Some times were tougher than the others.”

Erekson scored takedowns in all three periods to beat Central Michigan's Jarod Trice, 8-2.

It's pretty good,” Erekson said. “It's not where I wanted to be.”

Morningstar and Erekson were All-Americans for the second straight year. Keddy earned his third All-American finish with an eighth-place, losing to Kent State's third-seeded Dustin Kilgore, 9-5.

Top-ranked Iowa clinched the team title Friday night, advancing five to tonight's finals. Matt McDonough (125), Daniel Dennis (133), Montell Marion (141), Brent Metcalf (149) and Jay Borschel (174) will compete for titles.

Iowa State University had no one in the placing matches, but have three finalists. Andrew Long (125), Jake Varner (197) and David Zabriskie (heavyweight) will compete tonight. Varner is looking for his second NCAA title and became the school's second four-time NCAA finalist, joining his former coach Cael Sanderson. The Cyclones were in fourth place before the finals, trailing Oklahoma for third by two points. Oklahoma has no finalists. Cornell has a lock on second with 86 points.

Long and McDonough will face each other, setting up the first Iowa/Iowa State championship match since Eric Juergens defeated Cody Sanderson for the 133-pound title in 2000.

University of Northern Iowa's Jarion Beets placed eighth at 174 pounds in his first NCAA tournament appearance.

I'm glad I was an All-American,” said Beets. “I had hoped a couple more steps than what I am.”

Beets injury defaulted his placing match to Penn's Scott Giffin. Beets tried to wrestle with what he said was a groin injury. Beets irritated during his 5-3 win over Edinboro's Philip Moricone on Friday night to assure a top-8 finish. The groin popped early in his final match Friday, but he decided to try and compete instead of forfeiting.

“I thought about it, but I felt like I'd be letting people down if I didn't give it a shot,” Beets said. “Just see what happens.”