NCAAs do in wrestlers

Unlike senior co-captain Gary Baker and sophomore Brandon Slay, senior Gonz Medina had never been to the NCAA Championships. Baker had qualified twice before; Slay made it last year. But Medina, who was making his NCAA debut as a senior at wrestling-crazy Iowa, performed a feat the NCAA veterans failed to achieve -- he won a match. "It was special going into the national tournament and qualifying," Medina said. "I knew my my first match was a must-win match because I had to wrestle the No. 1 seed in the second match." Medina's initial opponent at 142 pounds was Jason Guyton, the East regional champion from Howard. Medina -- up a point with seconds remaining -- was called for stalling. That call tied things up and sent the match to overtime. In the extra round, Medina executed a move called the 'Medina Mixer' (no relation to the wrestler) in which he used a front headlock to throw Guyton on his back. Medina pinned his Howard foe and captured the Quakers' sole victory in the NCAAs. His next two matches -- a 20-10 drubbing by eventual finalist Gerry Abas and a 13-3 loss to a quarterfinalist, Tony DeSousa -- eliminated Medina from the NCAAs. "I gave it my best shot," Medina said. "I just had a really good season this year and whatever happened, happened." The other senior representing the Quakers in the NCAAs, Baker, found himself in a familiar position and ended up with a familiar result. For the third time, Baker was pitted against the No. 7 seed. And for the third time he was eliminated from the national championship with an opening-round defeat. Baker, who came into the NCAAs ranked No. 15 in the country at 118 pounds, was paired with the lanky Kevin Roberts of Oregon. The junior Roberts, a three-time all-American, finished fourth in the NCAAs a season ago. "Going into the NCAAs I was confident," Baker said. "I knew I could wrestle with anyone in the country. No one in my weight was dominant. It was up for grabs." The hard-fought match was close until the end. Roberts was able to stave off Baker in the third round to capture the 8-5 victory. "It was an honor to go," Baker said. "I just wish I wrestled a little bit better and a little more aggressive. The chances of drawing an all-American is slim and I drew one." Slay can sympathize with Baker in getting a hard draw. His opponent at 167 was Michigan's Chad Biggert, the Big Ten champion and No. 3 seed. Slay lost in a positional battle, 4-2. He was eliminated from the NCAAs when Biggert failed to reach the quarterfinals. "I was really excited," Slay said. "I thought I had a really good experience. I wrestled pretty well, but I did not wrestle to my expectations." Against the nation's best, meeting expectations is sometimes hard to do.