NEW YORK CITY – Wisconsin junior wrestler
Isaac Jordan advanced to Friday's quarterfinal after sweeping his first two opponents in the opening sessions of the 2016 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday at historic Madison Square Garden.
Jordan (27-0) collected two major decisions on the day at 165 pounds to clinch his spot in the quarterfinals where he will face Nebraska's Austin Wilson. Jordan has a 2-0 record against Wilson after pinning him in the 2014-15 season at the 32-second mark and defeating him by major decision (8-0) in this season's regular season dual.
"It was good. I didn't the wrestle the best but I was getting my stuff and riding well," Jordan said. "I had good defense. I rode well, I didn't turn well but I rode well. I had like four minutes (of riding time) in the second match and two or three in my first match."
After knocking off CSU Bakersfield's Adam Fierro with a 10-1 major decision in his first bout of the day, Jordan compiled four takedowns, the most by any Badger in a single match during the championships, to trump Oklahoma's Clark Glass 9-1 with the additional riding time point.
Jordan had just a 2-0 lead after the first two periods, choosing to ride his opponent for the majority of the time and racking up more than three minutes of riding time in just two periods, but eventually tacked on two big takedowns in the final period to grasp the win. Jordan has gone to the quarterfinals in all three of his seasons competing for the Badgers.
"I've been in good position all day I think," Jordan added. "I'm wrestling a familiar opponent, I've wrestled him a few times already so I'll just carry over to the next day. I just need to open up and wrestle my style, don't worry about the crowd or the opponent, so I'll just wrestle my style and my match."
Johnny Jimenez,
Ryan Christensen and
Ricky Robertson were eliminated from the tournament after suffering losses in the consolation brackets.
After falling to Stanford's Keaton Subjeck's by a 9-4 decision earlier in the day, Robertson dropped a close 4-3 decision to David Kocer of South Dakota State. After a scoreless first period, Kocer used a takedown in the second and reversal in the third to take the win despite three escapes from Robertson.
It was a familiar battle at 133 pounds as Taylor faced Penn State's Jordan Conaway for the third time this season. Taylor took the first two matches of the rivalry but Conaway took the final one with a tight 8-5 decision.
Taylor led 2-1 after the first period but Conaway added three points of his own through a takedown and escape at the beginning of the second to capture the lead. Taylor countered with an escape, making it a 4-3 lead for Conaway headed into the final period. Conaway finished the match with two takedowns in the last period to top Taylor.
Jimenez dropped a 12-4 decision (125 pounds) to Pittsburgh's Lorenzo Bentley after falling behind 8-1 in the first period. He finished the season with an 18-16 record.
Christensen, a freshman from Woodinville, Washington, had a tough showing in his first NCAA championships but ultimately fell short after losing a closely contested 7-5 decision to Stanford's Garet Krohn at 184 pounds.
Christensen knotted the match at 2-2 early in the second but fell behind as Krohn took him down for the second time. He still trailed by just one at the start of the third period but Krohn went ahead early in the last period with an escape and takedown. Christensen concluded his first season with an 18-20 record.
The third session continues at 10 a.m. (CT) with an eight mat configuration. The quarterfinals will be on the four middle mats while the wrestle-back second and third rounds will be on the outside mats.
