The Predicament.com-your ultimate Iowa wrestling source

125
No. 5 Charlie Falck (Iowa) vs. No. 4 Tanner Gardner (Stanford)
Gardner pinned Falck in their last meeting, the seventh-place bout at the NCAA Championships last season. Falck has been good enough to win his first two matches, but will need to pick it up to defeat the Cardinal grappler. Gardner struggle to a 3-0 win in the first round, but pounded his second-round opponent, 16-0.

No. 10 James Nicholson (Old Dominion - Des Moines Roosevelt) vs. No. 2 Jayson Ness (Minnesota)
Both of these wrestlers were very impressive in their second-round matches Thursday night. Nicholson breezed past No. 7 Michael Sees of Bloomsburg, 8-2, while Ness dominated Luke Smith of Central Michigan, 9-0. Nicholson will want to stay off the mat with Ness as much as possible. The Gopher can turn any match into a rout with his ability to hammer his opponents from the top position.

133
No. 8 Mack Reiter (Minnesota - Don Bosco) vs. No. 1 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State)
Gomez barely survived a marathon overtime match in the second round against Reece Humphrey of Indiana, while Reiter has looked very impressive in wins by fall and 15-6. Reiter may be wrestling as well as he has all season and is definitely capable of beating the Spartan.

No. 4 Joey Slaton (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Nick Fanthorpe (Iowa State)
At this point, it looks like any of the eight wrestlers left at 133 in the quarters are capable of winning the title if they put three more solid matches together. Slaton and Fanthorpe meet for the third time and look to get the first of those three wins. Slaton won the first two meetings, but they were far from easy victories. This match is not only big for both individuals, but could also play a key role in the team race.

141
No. 9 Nick Gallick (Iowa State) vs. No. 1 Chad Mendes (Cal Poly)
Mendes is undefeated on the season, but didn't exactly roll through his second round opponent, with a 7-4 victory over Ryan Williams of Old Dominion. Gallick has won a pair of three-point matches in the tournament and will be looking to hand Mendes his first defeat of the year.

149
No. 1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) vs. No. 9 Lance Palmer (Ohio State)
Metcalf has not lost a match to a Big 10 opponent this season, including Palmer. The Buckeye was impressive in a major decision win over No. 8 Jake Patacsil of Purdue Thursday night, but it's hard to see him knocking off the top-ranked Hawkeye.

165
No. 8 Moza Fay (Northern Iowa) vs. No. 1 Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan)
Fay is the lone Panther still alive on the front side of the bracket. He has done it in impressive fashion, with a 9-0 first-round win and a pin Thursday night. Tannenbaum slipped past his first-round foe, 5-3, but came back strong in the second round with a 10-2 win. The Wolverine is a solid wrestler who stays in good position, while Fay likes to create scrambles and roll around on the mat. The winner will probably be who comes out on top on more scrambles than his opponent.

No. 6 Jon Reader (Iowa State) vs. No. 3 Nick Marable (Missouri)
Reader has looked like anything but a freshman wrestling in his first NCAA Tournament with two easy wins. Marable, on the other hand, has won a pair of two-point matches.

No. 2 Mark Perry (Iowa) vs. No. 10 Michael Cannon (American)
Perry looked a little nicked up during his 12-2 second round win over Stephen Crozier of the Air Force, but has the night to rest up and get ready for a match he should be heavily favored in.

174
No. 4 Jay Borschel (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Brandon Sinnott (Central Michigan)
Sinnott has no doubt been waiting for this chance ever since the Midlands, where Borschel scored a come-from-behind victory on his way to the finals. Sinnott survived an overtime scare against Ryan Duke Burk of Northern Illinois in the second round, while Borschel has maybe been the most impressive Hawkeye through two rounds. He has a 13-2 major decision and pin under his belt and will be out to prove that his win over Sinnott in December was no fluke.

184
No. 1 Jake Varner (Iowa State) vs. No. 8 Roger Kish (Minnesota)
Kish is obviously not 100 percent, while Varner has breezed into the quarters with a 6-0 win and first-period fall. This is a rematch of last year's semifinals, in a bout won by Varner. The Cyclone also beat Kish twice early in the season and will be favored to do so again.

No. 7 Philip Keddy (Iowa) vs. No. 2 Mike Pucillo (Ohio State)
The Buckeye freshman is a perfect 27-0 on the season and has a pair of major decision wins under his belt in the tournament. Keddy also has a major decision win, but had to win in the tiebreaker Thursday night against another tough-as-nails freshman, Kirk Smith of Boise State. Pucillo is definitely the favorite here, but with Keddy's motor, he is never out of a match. He will be looking to keep it close heading into the third period.

197
David Bertolino (Iowa State) vs. No. 6 Dallas Herbst (Wisconsin)
Bertolino has already knocked off third-ranked Mike Tamillow of Northwestern, so a win here is definitely not out of the question. Herbst has been as impressive as anyone in the tournament so far, with a pair of pins in under a minute. Bertolino never quits and will not be an easy out whatsoever for the Badger.

285
No. 4 Matt Fields (Iowa) vs. No. 5 Jared Rosholt (Oklahoma State)
Fields won the only meeting between these two this season in a close decision in the January dual meet. If the Hawkeye senior wants to ensure his first All-American finish, he wants to take care of business here. Expect a tight, typical heavyweight match here.

No. 7 David Zabriskie (Iowa State) vs. No. 2 J.D. Bergman (Ohio State)
The Cyclone big man edged No. 10 Zach Sheaffer of Pittsburgh Thursday night, 3-2, while Bergman had a 27-second pin and 6-3 victory in his first day of work. Both are very active heavyweights and this should be an entertaining bout. Like the 133-pound weight class, heavyweight seems to be wide open and any of the eight quarterfinalists have to believe they can win the title.