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game-winning touchdown. I dreamed about being part of the NCAA Championships, with the team title on the line. I get my hand raised and we win the team championship.
“That is what I dreamed as a kid, and it sums up tonight. Being able to wrestle for the best fans, and to have the best coaches in my corner, makes me pretty happy and I don't think this happiness will go away for a long time.” Ruth scored two early takedowns and piled up over three minutes of riding time in controlling No. 1 seed Jimmy Sheptock of Maryland 7-2 in the 184 finals. Ruth finished his collegiate career with
a sparkling 136-3 record. He was third at the NCAAs as a freshman.
“It's big, because there have been a lot of great wrestlers that have come through Penn State,” Ruth said of his third title. “I see them every time they come in. I go like, wow. It just makes me proud to be one of those guys.”
Perry wrestled superbly in a 4-0 win
over past NCAA champion Andrew Howe of Oklahoma in the first match of the finals at 174 pounds.
The match was scoreless after the first period before Perry escaped right away in the second. Perry then shot in on a beau- tiful high-crotch leg attack that lifted Howe off the mat and resulted in a takedown. Perry piled up over a minute of riding time for the final point.
“I haven't beaten a guy of an Andrew Howe quality in an NCAA finals or an NCAA tournament,” Perry said. “That's the best guy I've ever wrestled in an NCAA tournament. Hands down, he’s one of the best competitors I've ever compet- ed against, counting even guys overseas. He's a tough dude.” Perry joins his brother, Mark, as a two- time NCAA champion. Mark Perry won two national titles for Iowa. Dieringer, a sophomore, came out strong in a dominating 13-4 win over Minnesota’s Dylan Ness in the 157 finals. Dieringer won a Junior World silver medal in freestyle in 2013. “Winning on that big stage, there’s real- ly nothing better,” Dieringer said. “I've been working so hard in the room, and doing extra workouts. So to know that it all paid off, it's a great feeling.” North Carolina State sophomore Nick Gwiazdowski scored two third-period takedowns on leg attacks to knock off two-time NCAA champion Tony Nelson of Minnesota 4-2 in the 285 finals. “Right now, I can't really believe it,” Gwiazdowski said. “I grew up in a small town, with 80 kids in my graduating class.
Oklahoma State’s Chris Perry won his second straight title. John Sachs photo.
And a lot of them I'm still in contact with. So after the quarterfinals, when I became an All-American again, my Facebook, Twitter and text messages have been blowing up. It's bizarre.” Freshman Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern drove in on a leg attack and finished for the winning takedown to defeat Oklahoma State’s Josh Kindig 3-1 in sudden victory at 149.
“I went out there, I was confident, and I wasn't worried about it being NCAA finals,” Tsirtsis said. “I was just focused on winning that match and wrestling tough.”
Fourth-ranked Iowa finished in fourth place with 78.5 points. Hawkeye senior Tony Ramos earned a dramatic 3-1 overtime win over Wisconsin’s Tyler Graff in the 133 finals. Graff rode Ramos out in the first 30-sec- ond tiebreaker before Ramos held Graff on his back for a two-point near fall in the second 30-second tiebreaker to earn the dramatic victory.
Ramos, second in this event last year, showed plenty of grit and moxie in this tournament. He won five tough matches by a combined 12 points.
“It's awesome,” Ramos said. “I'm excit- ed. I can't wait to get out of here, go take that drug test, and then celebrate with my family, get my bracket, and go home and put it on the wall.” Ohio State junior Logan Stieber moved
another step closer to history in a domi- nant 10-1 win over Virginia Tech’s Devin Carter in the 141 finals. Stieber won his third straight NCAA title. Only three wrestlers have won four NCAA titles. Stieber becomes Ohio State’s first three-time national champion. “It feels great,” Stieber said. “I know Devin is a really, really tough individual. I knew he had to be really tough to make it through that injury. It felt good to get to my offense and ride him tough. And my defense was great, and I just kept getting after him.”
Illinois junior Jesse Delgado finished a
leg attack for a takedown late in the sec- ond period en route to topping Cornell’s Nahshon Garrett 3-2 in the 125 finals. Delgado captured his second NCAA title. “They were both hard,” Delgado said. “I think it's always harder repeating, but they both presented their challenges. He threw me off in that match a little bit. He controlled the match again, but I came out with the win.”
Missouri freshman J’Den Cox edged
Ohio State’s Nick Heflin 2-1 in the 197 finals. Cox scored the eventual winning point when Heflin was called for stalling with 30 seconds left in the match. “It feels amazing,” Cox said. “I've worked so hard. I'm very proud.” Edinboro’s Tim Flynn, whose team fin- ished fifth, was named Coach of the Year. The NCAAs return to St. Louis in 2015.
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