Wrestling: WVU Seventh After Day One at LV Invite
December 03, 2005 01:08 AM | General
December 2, 2005
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Five West Virginia University wrestlers advanced to the second day of competition at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Friday, Dec. 2, including two that still remain in the championship bracket.
Through the quarterfinals the Mountaineers stand in seventh-place overall tied with Cal Poly with 45.5 points. Senior Matt Lebe (157) and sophomore Kurt Brenner (174) are both set to compete in the semifinals tomorrow, while Seth Lisa (133), David Jauregui (149) and Brandon Rader (141) are all scheduled to wrestle in the consolation semis.
Of the 10 WVU wrestlers competing at the Cashman Center an impressive eight made it through the first round in their respective weight classes.
That was no easy task as five of the 10 competing Mountaineer wrestlers got the unlucky draw of a pigtail bout to start the morning. However, they thrived as four came away as victorious. Rader and senior No. 4 seeded Lebe were able to cruise through their bouts, while Jared Villers (197) and Matt Holsopple (HWT) each earned hard fought wins. Eric Mullen (165) lost a very close 3-2 decision to Hofstra’s No. 11 seeded Chris Vondruska in his pigtail bout to fall to the consolation bracket.
Holsopple earned a thrilling 3-2 victory in his pigtail match against Missouri Valley’s Chris Johnson despite being outweighed by some 70 pounds. The Sharpsville, Pa., native recorded a point with only nine seconds remaining in the third period to advance. He followed that effort by winning a 7-2 decision over Dana College’s Armando Montoya.
Rader competed in one of the most entertaining matches of the day in the first round against Harvard’s Tom Picarsic. After falling behind 5-4 through two periods Rader battled back in the third with a reversal and added to his lead with two back points. In the final seconds the Parkersburg, W.Va., native added two more points to run away with a 10-6 win. The match followed his pigtail bout in which he pinned Nathan Troupe of Missouri Valley 2:38 minutes into the match.
The second round was not as kind to the Mountaineer grapplers as the inexperience of the team began to show and only three of eight wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals.
Senior Matt Lebe barreled through Dana’s Ben Henderson 8-3 to set up a match with Wisconsin’s No. 5 seeded Chris Henning. In that match Lebe earned two points for a reversal in the third period to take a 2-1 lead, but Henning battled back and grabbed an escape before the end of the period. In the second overtime period Lebe claimed a 4-3 win off of yet another reversal.
The win puts the Jeannette, Pa., native up against Illinois Alex Tirapelli, the No.1 ranked wrestler in his class, tomorrow in the semis. A win for Lebe would give him the 100th win of his career and make him just the ninth wrestler in Mountaineer history to have done so.
No. 11 seeded Brenner took care of business against Cal State Bakersfield’s Christian Arellano as he jumped out to an early lead and then held on for the 7-3 decision. That set up a bout in the quarterfinals against N.C. State’s Rick Brownlee. Brenner owned the first period as it ended at 4-1 in his favor, however, Brownlee earned an escape at the end of the second to make the score 4-2 and put himself back in contention. He was able to pull away in the third period through with a pair of reversals and make the final 9-4.
Brenner faces No. 2 seeded Mike Patrovich of Hofstra in his semifinal bout.
Freshman David Jauregui extended his tournament stay when he took down Stanford’s Josh Zupancic hard to the mat and Zupancic could not continue due to injury. The victory secured a date in the quarters against Wisconsin’s Tyler Turner. However, in that match Jauregui fell 8-4. He will face Columbia’s Ricky Turk in his consolation match.
Lisa and Rader both advanced in their consolation matches in the evening session to keep hopes alive for a third-place finish. Lisa will face Michigan’s Mark Moos, while Rader matches up against Missouri’s Chris McCormick.
Weigh-ins take place at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning and wrestling begins at 9 a.m. Up-to-date scores and brackets can be retrieved throughout the day tomorrow at www.thewrestlingmall.com.
