Wrestling: Six Earn Bids To NCAA Tournament
March 07, 2005 10:07 PM | General
By Tim Goodenow for MSNsportsNET.com
March 7, 2005
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Six West Virginia University wrestlers, including two first-time qualifiers, earned trips to the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., on March 17-19.
Mountaineers Matt Lebe (157) and Greg Jones (184) earned their third and fourth consecutive bids to the national tournament after winning Eastern Wrestling League titles on Sunday.
Two WVU grapplers will make their second appearance at the NCAAs in junior Seth Lisa (133) and sophomore Zac Fryling (165). Lisa posted a runner-up finish while Fryling took third-place honors.
Freshmen Shawn Cordell (125) and Jared Villers (197) punched their first tickets to the NCAA tournament with solid rookie seasons for the Mountaineers. Cordell placed second while Villers earned a wildcard bid after taking injury defaulting during his second round bout.
West Virginia joins Edinboro, Lock Haven and Pitt as four teams who qualified six grapplers for the national tournament.
WVU has qualified six or more wrestlers to the NCAA Wrestling Championships in nine of the last 10 seasons.
Below is the complete list of EWL national qualifiers from the 2005 EWL Wrestling Championships:
125 pounds
1st place: Mike Sees (Bloomsburg)
2nd place: Shawn Cordell (West Virginia)
3rd place: Obe Blanc (Lock Haven)
133 pounds
1st place: Shawn Bunch (Edinboro)
2nd place: Seth Lisa (West Virginia)
3rd place: Drew Headlee (Pitt)
Wildcard: Tony Curto (Bloomsburg)
141 pounds
1st place: Frank Edgar (Clarion)
2nd place: Ron Tarquinio (Pitt)
3rd place: Matt Fittery (Lock Haven)
149 pounds
1st place: Josh Medina (Lock Haven)
2nd place: Ron Doppelheuer (Edinboro)
3rd place: Ryan Hurley (Cleveland State)
157 pounds
1st place: Matt Lebe (West Virginia)
2nd place: Chris Horning (Clarion)
3rd place: Seth Martin (Lock Haven)
Wildcard: Matt Hill (Edinboro)
Wildcard: Marcus Effner (Cleveland State)
Wildcard: Matt Kocher (Pitt)
165 pounds
1st place: Jim Bertulis (Bloomsburg)
2nd place: Nate Yetzer (Edinboro)
3rd place: Zac Fryling (West Virginia)
Wildcard: Justin Nestor (Pitt)
174 pounds
1st place: Bryce Hasseman (Bloomsburg)
2nd place: Eric Ring (Edinboro)
3rd place: Carlos Ponce (Lock Haven)
184 pounds
1st place: Greg Jones (West Virginia)
2nd place: Keith Gavin (Pitt)
3rd place: Ron Howard (Cleveland State)
197 pounds
1st place: Morgan Horner (Lock Haven)
2nd place: Chad Hoare (Bloomsburg)
3rd place: Joe Phillips (Cleveland State)
Wildcard: Jared Villers (West Virginia)
285 pounds
1st place: Zach Sheaffer (Pitt)
2nd place: Joe Dennis (Cleveland State)
3rd place: Joe Hennis (Edinboro)
Alternates
1. Mike Spaid (Bloomsburg/285)
2. Ryan Wilman (West Virginia/174)
