Ramos claims third at NCAAs

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The off-season might be a little easier to stomach for Tony Ramos.

The University of Iowa sophomore finished strong following a disappointment in the semifinals that derailed his title hopes.

Ramos capped his season with a pin for a third-place finish at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Saturday at the Scottrade Center.

Ramos built a 10-4 lead when he whipped over Minnesota's Chris Dardanes and decked him with 11 seconds remaining in his final match.

“My family always tells me you're only as good as your last match,” said Ramos. “If you go out with a loss you have to sit and sit, especially if you don't have anything to win over the summer. Now it's going to be a long wait; 365 days until next year because I didn't finish what I wanted.”

As a freshman, Ramos reached the NCAA tournament. He left empty-handed. This year, he has something to show for his performance, even if the sting of not winning a title is the same.

“It's better because I brought something home,” Ramos said. “I'm an All-American, but you didn't bring home what you wanted so it's kind of the same.”

The exclamation mark came after Iowa assistant coach Terry Brands stepped to the mat during a stoppage and Ramos holding on to a four-point lead and urged Ramos to keep battling.

“He did a good job,” Iowa head coach Tom Brands said. “He kept wrestling. It was because he kept wrestling why the around the back, over the head opened up.”

Ramos shared his disappointment in not scoring on a late takedown to tie his semifinal won by Ohio State's Logan Stieber, 4-2.

“I didn't finish with what I wanted,” Ramos said. “You're that close to finishing a takedown with time running out to send it to overtime and don't do it.

“That's going to haunt me forever.”

He refocused to help the Hawkeyes in the team standings, beating sixth-seeded Devin Carter, 8-3, to reach the third-place match.

“Both matches were good,” Brands said. “Building leads and attacking.”

Ramos finished 33-4 and has made strides from his first season. The goal is to continue building throughout he off-season, but that would be the case if he had won a title.

“Steady progress,” Brands said about Ramos' development. “So, he's doing well.

“It's not just a third-place finish, though that's part of it. It might be easier to go to work when you're third than off the stand. He's not wired that way anyway.”

Red-shirt freshman Bobby Telford (30-9) earned All-American honors in his first national tournament, placing fifth at heavyweight.

Ethen Lofthouse (29-9) qualified for a second NCAA tournament, and finished seventh a 174.

100-point club

For the first time in tournament history, four teams tallied more than 100 points.

Penn State had 143 points and locked up its second straight NCAA title. Minnesota was second with 113 1/2.

With a pin from Tony Ramos for third at 133, Ethen Lofthouse's decision for seventh at 174 and Heavyweight Bobby Telford's medical forfeit win for fifth, Iowa surpassed the 100-point plateau. The Hawkeyes had 103.5 points before finalists Matt McDonough (125), 141-pounder Montell Marion and Derek St. John at 157 took the mat.

McDonough won his second NCAA title at 125, defeating Penn State's Nico Megaludis, 4-1. That pushed Iowa to 107.5 points, while Cornell came in fourth with 102.5.

Ihnen reaches podium

Nebraska's Josh Ihnen, a native of Sheldon, Iowa, had missed earning a medal by one win each of the last two seasons. The two-time state finalist and 2008 Class 2A 189-pound champion became an All-American by placing eighth at 184 pounds.

The feat came with a price, which prevented the final result from being better. In the consolation semifinal, seventh-seeded Ihnen suffered a knee injury against Central Michigan's Ben Bennett and had to be helped from the mat area. He medical defaulted his seventh-place match Saturday morning.

Ihnen, a junior, finished the season 26-7.