Kokesh, Green Advance to Big Ten Semifinals

Columbus, Ohio – All-Americans Robert Kokesh (174) and James Green (157) each advanced to the Big Ten Semifinals after Session I of the tournament on Saturday at St. John Arena.

Kokesh, the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 174 pounds, recorded the quickest pin in the 101-year history of the Big Ten Championships with his 15-second fall of Michigan’s Taylor Massa in the quarterfinals. Kokesh received a bye in the first round. He will face fourth-seeded Logan Storley of Minnesota in Saturday night’s semifinals.

Green opened his day with a pin against Michigan State’s Travis Curley in 4:27 before notching an 8-2 decision over No. 6 seed Josh Demas of Ohio State in the quarterfinals. Green, a three-time All-American, improves to 28-3 this season and extends his winning streak to 10 matches. He will battle No. 2 seed Dylan Ness of Minnesota in Session II.

Green and Kokesh, who each captured Big Ten titles last season, led the Huskers, who are in seventh place after the first session with 30 points. Iowa leads the team race with 65 points, while Minnesota (55) and Ohio State (48) round out the top three.

Tim Lambert (125), Anthony Abidin (141), Justin Arthur (149), Austin Wilson (165) and TJ Dudley (184) each won first-round matches, but fell in the quarterfinals. Abidin earned a pin, while Wilson and Dudley each won by major decision. All five wrestlers will wrestle in the consolation bracket during Session II tonight.

Eric Montoya (133), Aaron Studebaker (197) and Collin Jensen (HWT) each fell in the first round, but remain in contention in the consolation brackets.

Session II of the Big Ten Championships starts at 5 p.m. (CT) tonight. The matches will be streamed on BTN Plus.

Big Ten Championships
March 7-8, 2015
St. John Arena
Columbus, Ohio

125 pounds
First Round: #4 Tim Lambert (NEB) by dec. over Sean McCabe (RUT), 7-2
Quarterfinals: #5 Jordan Conaway (PSU) by dec. over #4 Tim Lambert (NEB), 7-4

133 pounds
First Round: #8 Rossi Bruno (MICH) by dec. over #9 Eric Montoya (NEB), 5-3
Consolation First Round: #9 Eric Montoya (NEB) Bye

141 pounds
First Round: #3 Anthony Abidin (NEB) by pin over #14 Sean Brown (IND), 2:01
Quarterfinals: #6 Josh Dziewa (IOWA) by dec. over #3 Anthony Abidin (NEB), 3-1

149 pounds
First Round: #7 Justin Arthur (NEB) by dec. over Ben Dorsay (MD), 5-4
Quarterfinals: #2 Jason Tsirtsis (NW) by dec. over #7 Justin Arthur (NEB), 6-0

157 pounds
First Round: #3 James Green (NEB) by pin over #14 Travis Curley (MSU), 4:27
Quarterfinals: #3 James Green (NEB) by dec. over #6 Josh Demas (OSU), 8-2

165 pounds
First Round: #9 Austin Wilson (NEB) by major dec. over #8 Nick Wanzek (MINN), 11-2
Quarterfinals: #1 Bo Jordan (OSU) by dec. over #9 Austin Wilson (NEB), 4-1

174 pounds
First Round: #1 Robert Kokesh (NEB) Bye
Quarterfinals: #1 Robert Kokesh (NEB) by pin over #9 Taylor Massa (MICH), 0:15

184 pounds
First Round: #6 TJ Dudley (NEB) by major dec. over #11 Anthony Pafumi (RUT), 11-3
Quarterfinals: #3 Ricky Robertson (WIS) by tiebreaker-1 over #6 TJ Dudley (NEB), 10-9

197 pounds
First Round: #12 Hayden Hrymack (RUT) by dec. over #5 Aaron Studebaker (NEB), 6-3
Consolation First Round: #5 Aaron Studebaker (NEB) by dec. over #13 Rob Fitzgerald (MD), 6-2

Heavyweight
First Round: #6 Michael Kroells (MINN) by dec. over #11 Collin Jensen (NEB), 8-4
Consolation First Round: #11 Collin Jensen (NEB) by dec. over #14 Tyler Kral (PUR), 6-0