Gambrall one of five Hawkeye quarterfinalists

PHILADELPHIA - University of Iowa's Grant Gambrall took to the road to do a little what he called "soul searching" late in the season.

The Hawkeyes' 184-pounder jumped in his car and drove the nearly 20-minute drive to West Branch, focusing solely on wrestling and how to improve and be more consistent on the mat. It seems to have paid off.

Gambrall scored a huge win, dropping Wyoming's two-time All-American Joe LeBlanc, 8-3, in the second round of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday night at Wells Fargo Center. Gambrall is one of five quarterfinalists, who are tied for third with 25 points after the first day.

Penn State leads with 30 1/2 points and Cornell is second at 29. Oklahoma State is tied with Iowa.

Gambrall (22-7) spent time, after a sixth-place finish at the Midlands and late in the season, on the road, and racked his brain on how to become more consistent as he went to sleep at night.

“At this level, the biggest key to success is consistency,” Gambrall said. “That's something I've struggled with ever since I got into college is consistency.

“It's about doing it right all the time and always being 100 percent focused on what you're doing. Not thinking about other things.”

Gambrall was focused never trailing against LeBlanc, scoring a takedown in the first and then put things away with a six-point third period against the fifth-seed. The sophomore from Iowa City West is confident he can compete with anyone in a wide-open weight class.

“I know I can beat all these guys if I wrestle well,” Gambrall said. “If I wrestle my match, go to my offense and I stay in position and battle in every position."

Iowa Coach Tom Brands said it is a positive that Gambrall is feeling good and that success can be a quick cure.

“I know winning solves a lot of mentality problems,” Brands said. “When he's winning like that I know his mood level goes up.”

Gambrall had a pair of tough decisions before the match with LeBlanc. Gambrall edged Corey Peltier of Maryland, 3-2, and then scored a takedown as time expired to ice an 8-5 win over Appalachian State's Austin Trotman.

“In a tournament like this, I think you have to improve every round,” Gambrall said. “Get better as the tournament goes on. I think I've done a pretty good job of doing that so far.”

Luke Lofthouse (22-5) followed Gambrall into the 197 quarterfinals with an 8-3 decision over Stanford's Zach Giesen. The fifth-seeded Lofthouse opened with a 4-1 win over CS-Bakersfield's Riley Orozco.

Matt McDonough (25-1) was the only wrestler to score bonus points for the Hawkeyes. McDonough, the defending 125-pound national champ, followed a first-period pin over Manuel Ramirez of UNC-Greensboro with a 14-4 major decision of Michigan's Sean Boyle to advance to the 125-pound quarterfinals.

“He's been our best example and certainly is consistent,” Brands said. “A lot of good things are happening with bonus points.”

After Tony Ramos dropped a 2-0 decision to Central Michigan's Scotti Sentes, Montell Marion (11-3) gave the Hawkeyes another quarterfinalists. Marion used a five-point throw to break open a tight match in the third and defeated Penn's Zack Kemmerer at 141.

Derek St. John (21-4) was one that Brands said took control of his contests. St. John beat Harvard's Will Peppelman, 8-2, in the second round at 157. St. John's performance lies in preparation before the match.

“St. John is one of those guys where he's been feeling pretty good the last however many weeks,” Brands said. “He can wrestle. He knows he can wrestle. We just have to get him primed and ready to go when he goes out there so he's doing the things he can do.”

Ethen Lofthouse (174) and heavyweight Blake Rasing also dropped second-round bouts for Iowa.

“We have work to do on both sides of the bracket tomorrow,” Brands said.

The Hawkeyes went 16-4 during the opening day, including a 10-1 mark through the first round. Aaron Janssen lost his first round match, but rebounded for a 10-6 win over Oklahoma State's Dallas Bailey in a 165-pound consolation. It avenged two previous losses.

Brands said the wrestlers needed to get tougher as the competition and tournament advances. The nine individuals need to pull together for the team to climb the ranks.

“At this point, it's really not about the team,” Brands said. “It's about nine guys coming together and doing things for the team. We have to get ready to go this next round.”

Penn State grabbed control of the team race early. The Nittany Lions won 15 straight matches after Brad Pataky lost his opening round match at 125. Penn state has all eight of its wrestlers alive, including seven in the quarterfinals.

"I guess that is right, it does feel pretty good. It feels good, but the big matches are coming up. The quarters and semifinals is where the national tournament is usually won

"Every year the national tournament is won in the quarters and semifinals so we have to be at our best tomorrow."

Top-seeded 174-pound senior Jon Reader was the lone Iowa State quarterfinalist. Reader was dominant in his first two matches. Reader (36-0) posted consecutive major decisions, dropping Michigan's Justin Zeerip, 13-3, and Purdue's Luke Manuel, 13-0. It is Reader's third trip to the quarterfinals, placing fourth as a sophomore and seventh as a freshman.

He has national title aspirations and is focused on advancing through the tournament.

“Just wrestle and compete for seven minutes,” said Reader, who added “Just continue to score points and compete. Just wrestle.”

Cyclones 11th-seeded Jerome Ward (17-8) won his opening match but fell in the second round, 2-1, to Penn's Miach Burak.

The University of Northern Iowa has all three of its qualifiers alive in the consolation round. David Bonin (157) and Ryan Loder (184) notched first-round victories, but lost in the second round. Loder (28-10), seeded sixth, lost a wild 12-10 match against Duke's Diego Bencomo. Penn State's Taylor beat Bonin (26-12), 20-3, to drop him into the consolation round.

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