Wrestling: Lebe Advances in Las Vegas
December 05, 2003 07:56 PM | General
December 5, 2003
LAS VEGAS – Matt Lebe was the lone West Virginia University wrestler to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Collegiate Wrestling Invitational on Friday at the Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Lebe (157) remains undefeated on the year heading into Friday evening’s match. The sophomore won three matches including a 19-1 technical fall to open the pigtail round. Lebe survived a scare from Augustana’s Austin Scarset in taking an 8-7 decision in round one. The Jeannette, Pa., native then beat North Dakota State’s Paul Carlson to continue on in the championship bracket. After a scoreless first period, Lebe notched a single-leg takedown to take a 3-0 lead before winning the decision at 5-1.
Casey Brewster (125), like Lebe, started out with a pigtail round victory with a 12-9 decision over Central Oklahoma’s Jared Henning. Brewster would drop a 13-2 decision in round one before earning another win. The senior dominated Eastern Michigan’s Matt Cole in notching a major decision, 10-0. In the afternoon, the Nashville, Tenn., product upset No. 9 seed Austin DeVoe from Missouri. Brewster and DeVoe wrestled to a scoreless first period. In round three, Brewster turned a single-leg takedown into a double-leg for two points in earning a 3-1 victory.
Mike Torriero (149), Zac Fryling (165) and Matt Daddino (197) all won their opening matches for WVU. Torriero held a 7-2 lead after two periods against Mike Baria of Harvard. WVU’s senior scored two more takedowns to close the match with a 12-4 major decision. The senior then fell 8-2 to the fourth seed, Jeremy Spates of Missouri.
Opening the day in impressive fashion was Fryling with a fall (2:21) over Sean Early of George Mason. The second round wasn’t the same as the freshman failed to take advantage of some scoring opportunities. Fryling dropped a 14-1 decision to sixth-seeded Shawn Silvis of Central Oklahoma.
Daddino scored an injury default over Pete Gladish of Brown in round one. In round two, Daddino scored first to take an early 2-0 lead against J.D. Bergman of Ohio State. Bergman then turned Daddino over for a pin in the third period.
Joe Clarke (141) suffered his first losses of the year on Friday. The senior was taken down in overtime in round one by George Mason’s Rob Becker. Clarke then battled South Dakota State’s Lenny Tol to leading 3-2 before falling in the waning seconds for a 5-4 loss.
Junior Greg Jones did not wrestle for West Virginia as only six Mountaineers wrestled on Friday. A year ago, Jones won the 174-pound bracket to help lead the Mountaineers to a fifth place team finish in Las Vegas.
Rounds three and four, along with consolations rounds, begin at 7 p.m. (PST) Friday evening. Saturday’s action begins at 9 a.m. (PST) and concludes with the placing rounds that evening at 5 p.m. (PST).
