Kevin Gorman: Upsets best part of Day 1 at March Matness

When you see the dizzying display of wrestling on eight mats covering the floor of PPG Paints Arena, you begin to understand why they call this March Matness.

The NCAA wrestling championships are like an eight-ring circus full of takedowns, escapes and falls, of twists and turns and contortionist moves that make me want to schedule someone an appointment with a chiropractor.

The best part is the upsets.

Like its basketball counterpart, which this venue hosted NCAA second- and third-round games a year ago, there is nothing quite like watching a lower seed stun a favorite.

“That’s the best feeling in the world to me,” said North Carolina senior 184-pounder Chip Ness, who pulled off the biggest upset Thursday. “I love this crowd. I think that’s why I do better at NCAAs than I do the rest of the regular season. When you get a crowd, there’s nothing better than to be an entertainer in this sport.”

Ness went from unseeded to All-American last year, beating three top-10 wrestlers on his way to a seventh-place finish. Ness went 20-12 this season and earned the 15th seed, so he understood the difficulty of duplicating that feat.

An 8-2 decision over Wyoming’s Tate Samuelson in the first round drew Ness a second-round match with previously undefeated and No. 2-seeded Shakur Rasheed of Penn State. Rasheed had a 5-2 lead with seven seconds of riding time, but Ness fed off the frenzied crowd and rallied for an 8-5 decision.

“That’s not an easy deficit to overcome. You never think you’re out, but you’re never that confident that you’re getting it, either,” Ness said. “I knew to keep believing I had a chance. That’s all that matters. I needed a chance. I found a chance and took advantage of the opportunity.”

And the crowd went wild, watching an underdog defy the odds to defeat a Penn State wrestler. As much as this is an individual event, the team presence of perennial powerhouses Penn State, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Iowa is both overwhelming and intimidating. Their rosters are filled with All-Americans — a status awarded to wrestlers who place in the top eight in each weight class — so it’s hard to consider them as underdogs in any way.

Yet, the near-upsets electrified the arena. Oklahoma State’s Joe Smith had a 4-2 lead after two periods before top-ranked Alex Marinelli of Iowa won by decision, 7-4. That Smith is the son of legendary Cowboys coach John Smith and finished fourth in 2017 made the close outcome less stunning.

Iowa heavyweight Sam Stoll, seeded 28th, scored an 8-5 decision over No.5 Mason Parris of Michigan. But Stoll was an All-American who finished fifth last year, one whose season was delayed until December after he was accidentally shot in the knee last summer.

But Iowa’s Max Murin scored an upset at 141 pounds. The Central Cambria graduate scored a 4-3 decision over No. 6 Mike Carr of Illinois, a South Fayette graduate, despite a bout filled with blood stoppages that left Murin with a cut above his left eyebrow and a black eye and Carr with his head wrapped.

“I should love it, to be honest,” Murin said. “I came in and didn’t really look at seeds, but someone told me I was the 22nd seed and I was like, ‘I guess I’m going to be the dark horse of the tournament.’ That was my goal coming in. No matter what the seed is, I’m just wrestling my match and having fun.”

Murin wasn’t the only No. 22 seed to win twice Thursday. Army 174-pounder Ben Harvey beat 11th seeded Dylan Lydy of Purdue by an 8-3 decision, then topped sixth-seeded David McFadden of Virginia Tech, 5-3, in sudden victory.

They were made for this moment, the ringleaders of this circus.

“That stuff happens at this tournament, right?” said North Carolina coach Coleman Scott, a Waynesburg graduate who won the 2008 NCAA title at 133 pounds. “It happens all tournament. That’s the cool thing about this thing: The guys that are ready are going to win. It’s not always the higher-seeded or higher-ranked guy.”

For one day anyway, wrestlers like Ness felt untouchable.