Jones Wins Pair
March 17, 2005 08:01 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
March 17, 2005
ST. LOUIS – When the NCAA Wrestling Championships began on Thursday morning, 330 wrestlers set their sites on winning a national title in 2005. That number was cut down to 80 after two sessions and West Virginia University senior Greg Jones was one of them, surviving Thursday to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinals.
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| Greg Jones won his first match of the NCAA wrestling championships Thursday morning in St. Louis.
Bill Greenblatt photo |
Jones, one of only four undefeated wrestlers in the tournament, posted two impressive wins at 184 pounds on Thursday. In the opening round, Jones scored a 23-8 technical fall over Kent State’s Alex Camargo to break the school’s consecutive wins record. A 10th takedown in the final minute secured the win at 6:37 to run his win streak to 47 straight matches.
Two-time national champion Jones scored a 15-5 major decision over Hofstra’s Joe Rovelli in the nightcap. A takedown with nine seconds left in the first period put Jones up 10-2. Jones tallied a takedown and riding time in the final two minutes for the 10-point victory.
“It was a good day,” explained WVU’s all-time wins leader. “I put a lot of points on the board today and found a good rhythm in both matches. I’ve learned to take each match one at a time and that is what I have done.”
Three other Mountaineers advanced to day two going 1-1 on Thursday.
True freshman Shawn Cordell dropped a tough 6-2 decision to Penn State’s Adam Smith in the morning. WVU’s 125-pounder responded with a solid 5-1 decision over Jeff Schell of Brown in Session II. Leading 2-0 after one period, Cordell rode Schell the entire middle period for the time advantage. A takedown with 38 seconds remaining sealed the Mountaineer win.
Junior Matt Lebe remained alive in the consolation bracket with a tough 2-1 decision over Hofstra’s James Strouse. The two wrestled to a scoreless opening three minutes at 157 pounds. Lebe and Strouse traded escapes to begin the final two periods as Lebe built enough riding time in the third for the winning point. Seventh-seeded Lebe was mildly upset by unseeded Nate Galloway, 7-4, in his opening bout.
At 165 pounds, WVU’s Zac Fryling posted his second win of the season over Illinois’ Donny Reynolds. Sophomore Fryling took an early 7-2 lead on three takedowns in the opening period. A pair of takedowns and riding time in the final stanza earned Fryling a 14-5 major decision. In the morning, Fryling has dropped a tough 8-3 decision to Hofstra’s No 12 seed Mike Patrovich.
Junior Seth Lisa was the first Mountaineer to exit the tournament after dropping two matches at 133 pounds. Fifth-seeded Tom McClum of Wisconsin posted a fall over at 6:49 in round one. Matt Benza of Air Force took an early 6-0 lead en route to a 15-6 major decision.
Session III (quarterfinals and wrestle-backs) resumes action at the Savvis Center on Friday morning at 10 a.m. CST.
Match-by-Match Results:
125: Adam Smith (Penn State) DEC Shawn Cordell (WVU), 6-2
125: Shawn Cordell (WVU) DEC Jeff Schell (Brown), 5-1
Next up: John Velez (Northwestern)
133: No. 5 Tom McClum (Wisconsin) FALL Seth Lisa (WVU), 6:49
133: Matt Benza (Air Force) MAJOR Seth Lisa (WVU), 15-6
157: Nate Galloway (Penn State) DEC No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU), 7-4
157: No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC James Strouse (Hofstra), 2-1
Next up: Chris Bitetto (Northern Iowa)
165: No. 12 Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) DEC Zac Fryling (WVU), 8-3
165: Zac Fryling (WVU) MAJOR Donny Reynolds (Illinois), 14-5
Next up: Matt Ellis (Oregon State)
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) TECH Alex Camargo (Kent State), 23-8 6:37
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) MAJOR Joe Rovelli (Hofstra), 15-5
Next up: Matt Pell (Missouri)
