(Editor’s note: Iowa State University athletics release)
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Iowa State wrestling team (10-4, 6-2 Big 12) wrapped up action at the 2019 NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon. As a team, the Cyclones scored 32 team points and will finish 16th at the NCAA Championships.
ISU’s Jarrett Degen was an All American at 149 pounds, finishing 7th. Willie Miklus became a four-time All-American in Pittsburgh and took 6th at 197 pounds.
149 Pound Seventh Place Match
No. 8 Degen had a rematch with in-state rival No. 10 Pat Lugo of Iowa in the seventh-place bout at 149 pounds. Just like their matchup in Iowa City, this match came down to a takedown late in the match.
After one period, Degen found himself in a 6-2 hole to the Hawkeye. Degen tied the match in the second period behind and escape, a takedown, Lugo’s second stall warning and a reversal. Heading to the third period, the two 149-pounders were tied at 8-8.
Lugo took a 9-8 lead with an escape to begin the third period. With 22 seconds left in the third, Degen countered Lugo’s shot and came out on top in a scramble to notch the go-ahead takedown. He tacked on a point for riding time and won the match by 11-9 decision.
Degen finished the tournament with a 4-2 record and became Iowa State’s first 149-pound All American since 2002. He concludes his sophomore campaign with a 29-8 record, and All-America honors.
197 Pound Fifth Place Match
No. 6 Miklus had a familiar opponent in No. 16 Josh Hokit of Fresno State. Miklus and the Bulldog had wrestled on two previous occasions during the season, splitting 1-1. The two traded escapes to begin the second and third periods, but that was all the scoring that came in regulation and they headed to sudden victory locked in a 1-1 tie.
In the sudden victory period, their tie could not be broken so the match would be decided in tiebreaker one. In the first 30 seconds, Willie escaped Hokit’s ride in just four seconds to take a 2-1 lead. In the second 30-second stanza, Hokit reversed Miklus and turned him for four points to win the match by 7-2 decision.
Miklus puts a bookend to an incredible career that includes being a four-time All American, a MAC Champion, tallying 105 career victories and 55 career dual victories. He finishes the season with a 27-6 record and All-America honors.
All American’s Tournament Match-by-Match
149: No. 8 Jarrett Degen maj. dec. No. 25 Russel Rohlfing (CSU-Bakersfield), 14-3.
No. 8 Jarrett Degen dec. No. 9 Justin Oliver (NC State), 11-8.
No. 1 Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers) dec. No. 8 Jarrett Degen, 10-3.
No. 8 Jarrett Degen dec. No. 13 Anthony Artalona (Penn), 6-5.
No. 4 Brock Mauller (Missouri) dec. No. 8 Jarrett Degen, 10-7.
No. 8 Jarrett Degen dec. No. 10 Pat Lugo (Iowa), 11-9.
197: No. 6 Willie Miklus dec. No. 27 Josh Roetman (Navy), 6-1.
No. 11 Christian Brunner (Purdue) dec. No. 6 Willie Miklus, 6-2.
No. 6 Willie Miklus maj. dec. No. 28 Drew Phipps (Bucknell), 17-4.
No. 6 Willie Miklus dec. No. 14 Eric Schultz (Nebraska), 3-2.
No. 6 Willie Miklus pinned No. 8 Nathan Traxler (Stanford), 0:27.
No. 6 Willie Miklus dec. No. 9 Ben Honnis (Cornell), 7-5.
No. 3 Preston Weigel (Oklahoma State) pinned No. 6 Willie Miklus, 2:09.
No. 16 Josh Hokit (Fresno State) dec. No. 6 Willie Miklus, 7-2 (TB-1).
