Andrew Howe of the University of Wisconsin-Madison won the 165-pound title at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Qwest Center in Omaha on Saturday evening.
The top-seeded Howe defeated Big Ten rival Dan Vallimont, the sixth seed from Penn State, 9-3 in the championship match.
Howe, a sophomore, had a perfect 36-0 record going into the finals; Vallimont, a redshirt senior, had 31 wins and 7 losses, and was the only wrestler coached by Cael Sanderson (in his first year at Penn State) to make it to the finals. Howe and Vallimont had wrestled each other twice this year, with the Badger winning both matches.
Howe also brought valuable experience to the finals, having been in the 165 title match at the 2009 NCAAs, losing to Edinboro's Jarrod King.
How Howe got to the finals: 1st Rd: pinned unseeded Chad Porter (Liberty), 2:03... 2d Rd: maj. dec. unseeded Justin Kerber (Cornell), 15-3... Qtrfinals: dec. No. 9 seed Andrew Rendos (Bucknell), 7-2... Semifinals: dec. unseeded Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma), 4-1.
How Vallimont got to the finals: 1st Rd: dec. unseeded Matt Epperly (Virginia Tech), 8-3... 2d Rd: maj. dec. unseeded Rich Schmelyun (Bloomsburg), 9-0... Qtrfinals: dec. unseeded Nick Amuchastigui (Stanford), 5-2... Semifinals: dec. No. 2 seed (and defending champ) Jarrod King (Edinboro), 3-1 SV1.
Finals Action:
- First Period: Howe scored a takedown. (Score: 2-0 Howe)
- Second Period: Howe started in down position, scored an escape in two seconds. (Score: 3-0 Howe)
- Second Period: Howe quickly followed with a takedown 12 seconds into the period. (Score: 5-0 Howe)
- Second Period: Vallimont got an escape. (Score: 5-1 Howe)
- Second Period: Howe scored a takedown. (Score: 7-1 Howe)
- Third Period: Vallimont scored a takedown one minute into the period. (Score: 7-3 Howe)
- Third Period: Howe got an escape almost immediately after the takedown. (Score: 8-3 Howe)
With riding time (including nearly two minutes accumulated in the first period), Andrew Howe won the match 9-3, and the 165-pound title, becoming the 13th individual champ for Wisconsin, and the first since Donny Pritzlaff in 2000 and 2001.
Quotes from the champ:
- On being a national champion: “It’s a great feeling. I can’t explain it yet. It’s good.”
- On his approach tonight: “I just wanted to keep my offense going. I got a takedown that match in the first period and I kind of let myself shut down a little bit, I think. The last match it wasn’t the same. I got the reshot in the first period, and I wanted to ride him tough and get a couple more.”
- On having been in the finals before: “I wasn’t going to let this one get away from me. I’ve been telling myself that for a whole year now. I’ve been thinking about that loss (in last year’s finals) every single day for that entire year and I didn’t want to go another year thinking the same thing.”
Perfect season, perfect company: Howe's 37-0 season makes him just the fourth Badger to go undefeated in a single season, joining all-time greats Matt Demaray (42-0 in 1990-91), Andy Rein (40-0 in 1979-80) and Lee Kemp (39-0 in 1975-76).
Dominating Badger: The majority of Howe's 37 wins were in big fashion, including four wins by pin, two by tech fall and 13 by major decision.
NCAAs a winner for Wisconsin in two more ways: First, Wisconsin finished in fourth place with 70.5 points, to tie for the best finish in school history. Second, long-time head coach Barry Davis was named NWCA Coach of the Year at the 2010 NCAAs.
2010 NCAA All-Americans -- 165 pounds:
1st: Andrew Howe (Wisconsin)
2d: Dan Vallimont (Penn State)
3d: Jarrod King (Edinboro)
4th: Nick Amuchastegui (Stanford)
5th: Tyler Caldwell (Oklahoma)
6th: Andrew Rendos (Bucknell)
7th: Ryan Morningstar (Iowa)
8th: Chris Brown (Old Dominion)
NOTE: In the coming days, College Wrestling Examiner will provide additional information from the 2010 NCAAs, including more detailed analysis of the finals bouts... fun facts about NCAA All-Americans... and more.
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Resources
Wisconsin wrestling: Howe caps perfect season with NCAA title
InterMat November 2008 profile: Howe looking to make immediate impact for Wisconsin
InterMat: Howe named 2009 InterMat Freshman of the Year
InterMat: Audio interviews with the individual champs
InterMat: Day Three recap (including finals)
College Wrestling Examiner: March Matness -- Your guide to the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships (including Mat Bracketology series)
TheMat.com Special Coverage Section
TheOpenMat.com: Special Coverage Section
TheMat.com: Video interviews with finalists (after semifinals wins), other video clips
2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships: Official website... List of seeds/qualifiers by weight... Brackets
TheMat.com: College postseason tournament schedule and scores
College Wrestling 101: Links to articles answering basic questions about wrestling, including rules, scoring, uniforms, more
