Wrestling: Six to NCAAs
March 12, 2005 09:59 PM | General
March 8, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Led by four-time Eastern Wrestling League champion and defending national champion Greg Jones, six West Virginia University wrestlers will make the trip to the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships on March 17-19, in St. Louis, Mo.
Also making the trip for the No. 21-rated Mountaineers will be juniors Matt Lebe and Seth Lisa, sophomore Zac Fryling, true freshman Shawn Cordell and wildcard selection red-shirt freshman Jared Villers.
Jones (184) will be making his fourth straight NCAA appearance and will carry a 46-match win streak into next week’s national tournament. With a remarkable undefeated season at 20-0, Jones is a candidate for this year’s Hodge Trophy, which is given annually to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate wrestler.
Lebe, a Jeanette, Pa., native is coming off his first EWL title Sunday after defeating Clarion’s Chris Horning, 3-2, with a remarkable performance in the 157-pound weight class. Lebe had an impressive season finishing with an overall record of 32-6. When the brackets are announced next week, Lebe will likely earn a top-10 seed. This will mark the third time Lebe has appeared at the NCAA tournament as he looks for his first All-American finish.
Despite having wrestled the latter part of the season with an MCL injury, Lisa (133) will make his second NCAA tournament appearance with a 15-6 record. Lisa built his confidence heading into the NCAA tournament with two key victories before dropping a close 4-3 decision to No. 1 seed Shawn Bunch of Edinboro.
Last year’s wildcard entry, Fryling (165), solidified a second trip to the tournament when he placed third at the EWL Championships on Sunday. Fryling won the consolation championship match with a 6-3 decision over Justin Nestor of Pitt. He finished his sophomore regular season with a respectable 20-8 record.
Cordell (125) qualified for this year’s tournament with victories over Zach Bowman of Pitt and Obe Blanc of Lock Haven before narrowly falling to No. 1 seed Mike Sees of Bloomsburg. A true freshman from Cleveland, Tenn., Cordell takes his 13-8 record into his first NCAA tournament appearance.
Sunday evening the wild card selections were announced following the 30th annual EWL Championships. Representing West Virginia will be red-shirt freshman Villers (197). The Akron, Ohio, resident transferred to West Virginia from Illinois State where he played football. He has an 11-9 record on the season and notched two wins in last weekend’s EWL tournament.
West Virginia, Lock Haven, Edinboro, and Pitt will each have six wrestlers attending next week’s championships. This season marks the ninth time in the past decade in which West Virginia has had six or more wrestlers qualify for the tournament. Last year, the team ended the season ranked 17th in the country and looks to improve upon that this year with a solid performance.
If they are to do that they will be without two key components of last year’s squad: seniors Brandon Lauer and Mike Torriero. Lauer (133) and Torreiro (149) both fell to the injury bug and it was announced last week that their wrestling careers at West Virginia were finished. After a successful 2003 campaign in which he earned All-American honors, Lauer sat out last season as a medical redshirt. A third injury to his right shoulder abruptly put an end to his comeback season. Torriero, a Sound Beach, N.Y. native, was given the honor of being named this year’s team captain.
The team will leave for St. Louis on Tuesday, March 15.
