#1 Flores and #5 Sanjaa Head to Semifinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships; Wat

#1 Flores and #5 Sanjaa Head to Semifinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships; Wat

Mar 16, 2012 by FloWrestling Staff
#1 Flores and #5 Sanjaa Head to Semifinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships; Wat

#1 Flores and #5 Sanjaa Head to Semifinals at NCAA Wrestling Championships; Watch Moore's Interview

Recap, Brackets, Photos, and Video Interview with Head Coach Teague Moore: http://aueagles.com/sports/m-wrestl/2011-12/releases/20120316

No. 1 Ryan Flores and No. 5 Ganbayar Sanjaa each won their quarterfinal bouts on Friday morning at the 2012 NCAA Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Both wrestlers advance to Friday night's semifinals for the second straight season as they have led the Eagles to the No. 9 spot in the team standings through Session 3.

With their quarterfinal victories, both Flores and Sanjaa have clinched spots as All-Americans for the second year in a row, becoming the 15th and 16th in program history. The duo also becomes the fifth and sixth student-athletes in AU history to be multiple All-Americans, joining Kyle Borshoff (2009, 10), Mike Cannon (2008, 09, 10), Steve Fittery (2010, 11), and Josh Glenn (2006, 07, 08).

Flores took care of business on Friday morning in impressive fashion yet again, registering his fourth pin in as many matches at the NCAA Championships. He is the only wrestler in the field with four pins, which have come in a total time of 14:47.

In addition to Flores and Sanjaa, Kevin Tao (149 lbs.) and Daniel Mitchell (197 lbs.) also took the mat but were both eliminated from the tournament with wrestleback losses. Tao ends his first NCAA Championship with 19-16 record this year while Mitchell, a three-time NCAA qualifier, closes out his campaign with a 21-12 mark.

Through Session 3, American has moved up four spots to No. 9 in the team standings with 31.0 points. Penn State leads the team chase with 78.5 points.

Both Flores and Sanjaa's semifinal bouts will be carried live on ESPNU on Friday night as the coverage kicks off at 7 p.m. ET. Flores will face No. 4 Zachery Rey of Lehigh in a rematch of last year's NCAA Final while Sanjaa will take on No. 1 and two-time defending national champion Kyle Dake of Cornell.

In addition to the ESPNU telecast, join the conversation tonight with fellow Eagles wrestling fans on AUeagles.com's live blog. Be sure to visit the NCAA Wrestling Homepage on AUeagles.com for all the latest from St. Louis.

Kevin Tao – 149

Tao's tournament came to an end on Friday morning with a pin by No. 10 Cam Tessari of Ohio State in the wrestlebacks. After a scoreless opening period, Tessari took a 2-0 lead in the second on a reversal. Tao began the third period on bottom and Tessari kept control, eventually rolling Tao over and recording the pin at the 5:51 mark of the match. Tao concludes his NCAA run with a 1-2 record and a 19-16 mark this season.

No. 5 Ganbayar Sanjaa – 157
Sanjaa advanced to the semifinals for the second year in a row with a 7-3 decision over Princeton's Daniel Kolodzik in the quarters. Sanjaa faced a 2-0 deficit after a quick Kolodzik takedown, but Sanjaa responded with the reversal to level the bout at two through one period. Sanjaa began the second period on top and rode Kolodzik the entire period before recording the two-point near-fall at the end to take a 4-2 lead through two periods. With riding time nearly locked up, Sanjaa was whistled for a stalling point in the third period but registered a late takedown to take a 6-3 advantage. With a riding-time point, Sanjaa earned the four-point win, moving on to the semifinals against top-seed and two-time defending national champion Kyle Dake of Cornell.

Daniel Mitchell – 197
Mitchell lost a 19-0 technical fall to A.J. Kinnel of Purdue in his wrestleback bout on Friday to end his tournament run. Mitchell fell behind 7-0 through one period and Kinnel continue to extend his lead throughout the match before it was called as a result of the technical fall. Mitchell's third straight NCAA berth finishes with a 1-2 mark, moving his season record to 21-12.

No. 1 Ryan Flores – HWT
Flores won his fourth straight NCAA match by way of a pin with a first-period fall against Andrew Delaney of The Citadel. Flores began the scoring with a takedown and then added a three-point near fall to take a 5-0 advantage. Flores was then able to turn that near-fall into the pin at the 2:27 mark. Flores has now pinned each of his four opponents at the NCAA Championships in a total time of 14:47. Flores will take on No. 4 Zachery Rey of Lehigh for the seventh time in their respective careers. Flores won each of the three EIWA Championship bouts while Rey has also defeated Flores on three occasions, including in last year's NCAA National Championship match.