Wrestling: Lebe Earns A-A Honors; Jones In Finals
March 18, 2005 10:31 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
March 18, 2005
ST. LOUIS – West Virginia University junior Matt Lebe became the 20th different wrestler in school history to earn All-America honors on Friday evening at the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Savvis Center.
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| Matt Lebe gets a hug from his coach Craig Turnbull after his victory Friday to advance to the All-American round.
Bill Greenblatt photo |
Lebe guaranteed himself All-America honors by knocking off Stanford’s Matt Gentry, the defending national champion at 157 pounds. Lebe, a Jeannette, Pa., native scored a 5-3 decision in sudden victory to continue wrestling on Saturday. Gentry was called for stalling and Lebe tallied a takedown to go up 3-0. Third-seeded Gentry notched a reversal to make it 3-2 after one period. The two grapplers traded escapes to begin the final two periods for a 3-3 tie. Lebe connected on a double-leg takedown 25 seconds into overtime for the 5-3 victory.
"I came back the hard way," said Lebe, who won four straight matches out of the consolation bracket. "This has been my goal all season long. Then, to beat the defending champ to earn All-America honors, it feels great."
Senior Greg Jones advanced to his third career NCAA finals with a solid 5-2 decision over Illinois’ Brian Glynn. After a scoreless first period, Jones opened with an escape from the defensive position to start the middle period. He added a takedown at 1:17 to go up 3-0. Jones hit a double-leg takedown with 25 seconds remaining in the bout for the 5-2 victory.
Lebe, the 2005 Eastern Wrestling League champion, dropped a close 4-2 decision to Arizona State’s Brian Stith. The two wrestled to a scoreless opening period and traded escapes to start the final two periods to make it 1-1. A Stith takedown and riding time put him up 4-2 as he held on for the victory.
Lebe will face a familiar foe in Clarion’s Chris Horning tomorrow morning in the seventh/eighth-place match. Lebe’s 36 wins this season are the most by a WVU grappler since All-American Mike Mason finished 39-6 in 1998.
Hodge Trophy candidate Jones will meet Cornell’s Tyler Baier in the 184-pound NCAA finals. Baier, the No. 7 seed, scored a fall and four decisions in making it to his first-ever finals bout. He is the 2005 EIWA champion and sports an overall record of 40-3.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about it," Jones said of winning a third title. "But thinking about it isn't going to give me much help. One of my goals was, I want to have fun with this thing. I don't know much about the guy but it really doesn't matter."
West Virginia sits in 19th place in team standings with 29 points. Oklahoma State has locked up its third consecutive team championship with 127.5 points with one day remaining. Fourteen different schools will be represented in the championships finals on Saturday.
The 2005 NCAA Championships conclude tomorrow with two Sessions. Lebe will compete in Session V with medal round consolation matches set for 9:30 a.m. CST. Jones will wrestle in Session VI with championship finals schedule for 4 p.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
125: John Velez (Northwestern) DEC Shawn Cordell (WVU), 6-2
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
157: No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC Chris Bitetto (Northern Iowa), 6-2
157: No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC No. 12 Jim Medeiros (Fresno State), 4-1
157: No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC Matt Gentry (Stanford), 5-3 SV
157: No. 10 Brian Stith (Arizona State) DEC No. 7 Matt Lebe (WVU), 4-2
Next up: No. 11 Chris Horning (Clarion)
165: No. 12 Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) DEC Zac Fryling (WVU), 8-3
165: Zac Fryling (WVU) MAJOR Donny Reynolds (Illinois), 14-5
165: Matt Ellis (Oregon State) DEC Zac Fryling (WVU), 6-3
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
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) MAJOR Matt Pell (Missouri), 13-4
184: No. 1 Greg Jones (WVU) DEC No. 5 Brian Glynn (Illinois), 5-2
Next up: No. 7 Tyler Baier (Cornell)
