Former Ironwood Ridge wrestling standout Danny Vega qualified for the NCAA tournament by advancing to the semifinals of the Big 12 wrestling meet in Tulsa on Saturday.
Vega, the No. 5 seed in the 125-pound competition, lost to Northern Iowa’s Brody Teske, the top seed, in an 8-6 decision. Vega reached the semifinals by pinning No. 4 Killian Cardinale of West Virginia in 5:25.
Vega’s semifinal appearance automatically qualifies him for the NCAA tournament in St. Louis from March 18-20.
125 | Danny Vega with the pin! He moves into tonight’s semifinals after sticking No. 4 Killian Cardinale (West Virginia)#GetJacked pic.twitter.com/ukVISQK8ky
— Jackrabbit Wrestling (@GoJacksWrestle) March 6, 2021
Vega moved into the consolation bracket at the Big 12 meet, which concludes Sunday.
Teske, formerly at Penn State, traveled to Tucson with Nittany Lion teammate Roman Bravo-Young and trained at Jet Sports Training.
Vega also trains at the southside facility owned by former Sunnyside wrestler and football player Bobby Rodriguez.
Bravo-Young is also headed to the NCAA tournament after reaching the semifinals of the Big Ten meet on Saturday.
Vega, a senior, attended Iowa State before transferring to South Dakota State last year.He finished his career at Ironwood Ridge with a 181-3 record. He was a three-time Arizona state champion.
Vega is the son of Danny Vega Sr., who was a state champion wrestler at Sunnyside under Richard Sanchez.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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