March 16, 2012
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Stanford senior Nick Amuchastegui has advanced to the 174-pound finals at the 2012 NCAA Wrestling Championships, Friday, after defeating No. 2 Chris Perry of Oklahoma State, 6-3, in the semifinals at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Amuchastegui, the three seed, stays undefeated at 24-0 and handed Perry his first loss of the season. He quickly recorded a takedown against Perry and led 2-1 after the first period. Perry chose bottom to start the second and took the lead with a reversal. Amuchastegui tallied and escape to tie the score heading into the final period. He chose down to begin the third and took the lead with an escape. He recorded a second takedown and rode Perry out to seal the victory.
Amuchastegui reaches the NCAA finals for the second straight season, becoming the only Cardinal wrestler to reach the NCAA finals on more than one occasion. He will face top-seeded Ed Ruth of Penn State in the finals on Saturday. Ruth is also undefeated on the year at 30-0.
Junior Ryan Mango, seeded eighth at 125 pounds, secured his second career All-America honors with a 12-4 major decision over seventh-seeded Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma in the Round of 12. From the get-go, Mango was the aggressor, registering two takedowns and capturing riding time in the first period. Leading 4-3heading into the final period, Mango chose to start in the neutral position, allowing him tally two more takedowns and record three near fall points.
Mango picked up a second win during the session, topping fourth-seeded Jesse Delgado of Illinois, 4-3. Leading 2-1 after the first, Delgado chose down to start the second. He tied the score with an escape, but Mango countered with another takedown to regain the lead. Mango yielded another escape in the second, but kept the 4-3 advantage. No points were scored in the final period.
With the win, Mango improved to 29-6 on the year. He will take on sixth-seeded Frank Perrelli of Cornell on Saturday in the consolation bracket for a chance to advance to the third-place match. Perrelli fell to 10th-seeded Nicholas Megaludis of Penn State, 3-2 in overtime, in the semifinals.
Mango becomes just the fifth Stanford wrestler to earn multiple All-America honors in his career. He joins Chris Horpel (1973, 1975), Tanner Gardner (2006, 2007, 2008), Josh Zupancic (2007, 2008) and current teammate Nick Amuchastegui (2010, 2011, 2012).
The fifth session of the 2012 NCAA Wrestling Championships will begin at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday, March 17. The finals will begin at 4:30 p.m. PT. Session five will be available on ESPNU and ESPN3, while the finals will be broadcast live on ESPN and ESPN3.
Stanford's Tournament Results:
125 pounds
(8) Ryan Mango (4-1): dec. Shane Young (West Virginia) 10-8; maj. dec. (9) Levi Mele (Northwestern) 15-6; lost to (1) Matt McDonough (Iowa) 13-3; maj. dec. (7) Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) 12-4; dec. (7) Jesse Delgado (Illinois) 4-3.
174 pounds
(3) Nick Amuchastegui (4-0): fall Peter Huntley (Navy) 2:01; maj. dec. Tyler Koehn (Nebraska) 8-0; dec. (6) Ryan DesRoches (Cal Poly) 6-1; dec. (2) Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) 6-3.