Wrestling: Rader Advances to Quarterfinals
March 17, 2006 12:07 AM | General
March 16, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY – West Virginia University freshman 141-pounder Brandon Rader advanced to the championship quarterfinals, while the rest of his five teammates were able to stay alive by winning one of two bouts through the first day of the NCAA championships at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Thursday, March 16.
WVU sits at 15th through the first day of wrestling with 15 team points.
15,752 fans attended Thursday evening’s session that included the second round of the championship bracket as well as a round of consolation pigtails and another consolation round.
No. 9-seeded Brandon Rader was the lone Mountaineer to qualify for Friday morning’s championship quarterfinal round.
The true freshman did so by pinning No. 8-seed Derek Moore of UC-Davis in the first period. Moore struck first with a takedown and Rader quickly answered with a reversal. Moore would escape, but find himself on the mat again at the 1:14 mark in the first period. Rader was able to turn him over and get the pin 2:17 into the bout.
“He’s off to a great start,” said head coach Craig Turnbull. “He’s been so focused all year and he is wrestling his matches like they are in the Coliseum.”
Iowa State’s No. 1-seeded Nick Gallick awaits Rader in the quarterfinals. Gallick was one of eight undefeated wrestlers entering this year’s tournament and through two rounds is 35-0 in 2006.
“Anyone can win this tournament,” said Rader. “His ranking doesn’t matter now. Any wrestler can beat anybody else on any given day.”
Senior Matt Lebe (157), sophomore Jared Villers (197) and freshmen Larry Hall and Kurt Brenner won their opening round matches, but fell in the second round and will compete in tomorrow’s consolations. Freshman David Jauregui lost his first round bout and had to rebound in his first consolation match.
Lebe dropped a heartbreaker in his second round match as Missouri’s Michael Chandler came away with a 3-2 decision. The senior led 2-1 for most of the third period, but Chandler was able to score on a reversal with less than 20 seconds remaining on the clock to pull the upset.
“Things just seemed to line up for his opponent at the end of that match,” said Turnbull.
Lebe will face Cornell’s Dustin Manotti Friday morning.
Villers looked to be on track to one of the tournament’s biggest upsets in his 197-pound weight class bout as he led 1-0 on riding time in the waning seconds against No. 2-seeded Kyle Cerminara of Buffalo.
With 10 seconds remaining Cerminara was able to get a hold of Villers’ leg and bring him to the mat. The referee did not award the takedown points at first, however, the second referee came over and, after the two conferred, decided in Cerminara’s favor.
Villers next match will be against Purdue’s Nathan Moore.
Oregon’s Joey Bracamonte defeated Hall 5-2 in the 165-pound second round. Bracamonte led throughout the match as he took a 2-1 advantage in the first and increased the lead to 4-2 heading into the third period. Hall did not score in the third, while Bracamonte would add a point for riding time.
Tomorrow Hall will face Cal State Bakersfield’s Brian Bushby.
Brenner fell short in his upset of Nebraska’s No. 4-seeded Jacob Klein, losing a 4-1 decision. Brenner’s only point came on an escape in the third period.
Friday morning Brenner will go up against Minnesota’s Gabriel Dretsch.
Jauregui rebounded from a first round loss with a 12-5 decision over Penn State’s James Woodall. His next bout will be against Cornell’s Keith Dickey.
A crowd of 15,694 fans watched Thursday morning’s first round that included 210 bouts.
The Mountaineers got off to a good start when Rader defeated Pennsylvania’s Cesar Grajales in the first round of the 141-pound tournament. Seeded ninth, the Parkersburg, W.Va., native took a 4-2 lead through the first period and had pulled away with an 8-3 lead by the end of the second. Rader was not satisfied though, as 24 seconds into the third period he performed a reversal on Grajales and pinned him.
Lebe won an 11-2 major decision over Brown’s Michael Savino. The Jeannette, Pa., got out of the gates quickly with a pair of takedowns in the first period, while Savino could only score on an escape. Starting from the bottom in the second Lebe added an escape and a takedown heading into the third period. Two more takedowns would give Lebe his final four points in the third.
Hall continued his momentum that he gained from the EWL tournament, as he was one of five 165-pound wrestlers to knock off a seeded opponent. The Jeannette, Pa., native led 2-1 after the first against No. 12 Marc Harwood, but exploded in the second on three takedowns to increase the deficit to 8-3. With 55 seconds remaining in the third period Hall took Harwood down one more time and then received a point for his 2:25 minutes of riding time to cap off an 11-3 major decision.
Brenner came next for the Mountaineers and didn’t disappoint as he pulled off a 5-3 decision against UNC-Greensboro’s Joseph Lowe. Brenner led from the start, scoring on two takedowns and an escape in his bout.
Villers shut out Nebraska’s Andrew Anderson in his opening round bout, 5-0. After a scoreless first period Villers took advantage of starting from the top in the second as Anderson could not shake for the entire two minutes. With the riding time point in the bank the sophomore from Akron, Ohio, scored on a takedown and a two-point near fall in the third.
Jauregui lost a close 6-3 decision in his opening round bout to Nebraska’s Robert Sanders. The Santa Ana, Calif., native led 2-1 on a takedown through the first but could not hold on as an escape and a pair of takedowns over the next two periods would be too much for him to overcome.
Session III begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning at the Ford Center. Complete results from tomorrow’s action will be available on MSNsportsNET.com after Session IV tomorrow evening. Updated results throughout the day will be available on intermatwrestle.com and ncaasports.com.
WVU Session I Results:
141: No. 9 Brandon Rader (WVU) FALL Cesar Grajales (Penn), 5:24
149: Robert Sanduers (Nebraska) DEC David Jauregui, 6-3
157: No. 4 Matt Lebe (WVU) MAJOR Michael Savino (Brown), 11-2
165: Larry Hall (WVU) MAJOR No. 12 Marc Harwood (Nebraska), 11-3
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) DEC Joseph Lowe (UNC-G), 5-3
197: Jared Villers (WVU) DEC Andrew Anderson (No. Iowa), 5-0
WVU Session II Results:
141:No. 9 Brandon Rader (WVU) FALL No. 8 Derek Moore (UC Davis), 2:17
149: David Jauregui (WVU) DEC James Woodall (PSU), 12-5*
157: Michael Chandler (Missouri) DEC No. 9 Matt Lebe (WVU), 3-2
165: Joey Bracamonte (Oregon) DEC Larry Hall (WVU), 5-2
174: No. 4 Jacob Klein (Nebraska) DEC Kurt Brenner (WVU), 4-1
197: No. 2 Kyle Cerminara (Buffalo) DEC Jared Villers (WVU), 2-1
*Consolation bout
