Wrestling: Three Still Alive
March 19, 2004 02:58 PM | General
March 19, 2004
 |
||
| Clarke |
ST. LOUIS – West Virginia University’s Greg Jones won his quarterfinal bout to advance to the semifinals of the 2004 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.
Jones will face No. 12-seeded Paul Bradley of Iowa in one 184-pound semifinal bout. No. 2-seeded Ben Heizer of Northern Illinois will take on No. 3 seed Jake Roshult of Oklahoma State in the other semifinal match.
Two other Mountaineers survived and will wrestle tonight with winners guaranteeing All-America status. Joe Clarke and Matt Lebe both won two matches on Friday morning to advance in the wrestleback bracket.
Clarke will meet up against Iowa's Nate Gallick in the 141-pound wrestlebacks and Lebe will take on Army's Phillip Simpson in the 157-pound wrestlebacks.
Earlier today, 2002 NCAA champion Jones wrestled to a scoreless first period with Illinois’ Bryan Glynn. The two traded escapes to open the second and third periods. An aggressive Jones hit a double-leg takedown for a 3-1 lead. Glynn escaped as time expired for Jones’ 3-2 victory.
Clarke defeated Anthony Coleman of Cleveland State for the third time this season in his opening match at 141-pounds. Down 3-2 entering the final period, Clarke escaped to tie the match at 3-3 and used his riding time advantage in earning a 4-3 victory. In his second match of the afternoon, Clarke posted a 4-2 decision over Cal Poly’s Steve Esparza. Clarke escaped from the defensive position in the third period to make in 4-2 and held on for the win.
At 157 pounds, Lebe posted 3-2 and 7-4 decisions to advance in the wrestlebacks. His first victory came over Wyoming’s Andrew Shuler. Lebe led 1-0 after two periods and scored the winning takedown with :30 seconds left for a 3-2 final score. Mountaineer Lebe tallied three takedowns in defeating Cal State-Bakersfield’s Brian Cobb.
New York natives Mike Torriero and Matt Daddino were eliminated in their first round bouts in Session III.
Torriero led 3-1 after two periods against North Carolina State’s Jake Giamoni at 149-pounds. With :15 seconds remaining in the match, a five-point move by Giamoni closed the match with a 5-3 decision.
Daddino led 4-2 after one period of action against Matt Greenberg of Cornell. A strong third period from Greenberg put the match at 11-6 his his favor.
West Virginia stands in a tie for 17th place with 20.0 team points while Oklahoma State leads with 61.0 points.
Session IV is slated to begin at 6 p.m. (CST) Friday evening.
