Wrestling: One Remains After Session III
March 17, 2006 03:33 PM | General
March 17, 2006
 |
||
| Brandon Rader |
OKLAHOMA CITY – One West Virginia University wrestler remains alive heading into Session IV of the NCAA Championships at the Ford Center on Friday, March 17, in Oklahoma City.
Freshman Brandon Rader will represent the Mountaineers Friday evening in the 141-pound consolation bracket, while all five of his teammates were eliminated from the tournament in Session III on Friday morning.
Rader gave No. 1 seed Nate Gallick all he could handle in the championship quarterfinals. The 2005 runner-up entered the match with a 35-0 record, while Rader entered riding a 12-match winning streak and two pins already in the tournament.
Gallick scored on a takedown with only 10 seconds remaining in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. He chose to start from the top in the second and rode Rader for the entire period to earn a point for riding time. Neither grappler scored in the third and Gallick moved on with a 3-0 decision.
Rader will face EWL rival, and No. 10 seed, Ron Tarquinio of Pitt in this evening’s Session III. He defeated Tarquinio on March 5, in the EWL championship bout, 10-6.
Larry Hall got the Mountaineer’s first win of the morning as he defeated Cal State Bakersfield’s Brian Busby, 7-3. The Jeannette, Pa., native scored four points on a pair of takedowns to take a 4-1 lead through the first period, building up 1:29 in riding time along the way. Busby answered in the second with two near fall points, but Hall got two points on a takedown just seven seconds into the third and rode Busby for the rest of the bout.
Hall wasn’t as fortunate in his second bout of the day though, as he fell, 7-3, to No. 10-seeded Patrick Pitsch of Arizona St.
Kurt Brenner won his first consolation match, 8-4, over Minnesota’s No. 10-seeded Gabriel Dretsch. The Freedom, Pa., native used two takedowns to build a 4-2 lead in the first and added a takedown in the second and third periods, respectively. Dretsch did not score an offensive point in the bout as all four of his points came on escapes.
Penn’s Matthew Herrington proved to be too much for Brenner in his second bout of the day as he lost an 11-2 major decision.
Sophomore Jared Villers, freshman David Jauregui and senior Matt Lebe bowed out of the tournament Friday morning after their first bouts. Villers fell to Purdue’s Nathan Moore 3-1 in his consolation bout. Jauregui dropped a 7-2 decision to Cornell’s Keith Dickey, while Lebe lost a tough 6-3 decision to No. 7 seed Dustin Manotti of Cornell.
“It is tough to swallow but it just wasn’t meant to be,” said Lebe. “I thought I wrestled hard and tough, but I just wasn’t able to pull it out.
Lebe ends his career for the Mountaineers with 120 wins, ranking second all-time in school history behind only Greg Jones. The two-time EWL champion is one of just nine WVU wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA tournament all four years of his career.
Session IV at the Ford Center begins at 6 p.m. this evening.
WVU Session III Results:
141: No. 1 Nate Gallick (Iowa St.) DEC No. 9 Brandon Rader (WVU), 3-0
149: Keith Dickey (Cornell) DEC David Jauregui (WVU), 7-2
157: No. 7 Dustin Manotti (Cornell) DEC No. 4 Matt Lebe (WVU), 6-3
165: Larry Hall (WVU) DEC Brian Busby (Cal St. Bakersfield), 7-3
165: No. 10 Patrick Pitsch (Arizona St.) DEC Larry Hall (WVU), 7-2
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) DEC No. 10 Gabriel Dretsch (Minnesota), 8-4
174: Matthew Herrington (Penn) MAJOR Kurt Brenner (WVU), 11-2
197: Nathan Moore (Purdue) DEC Jared Villers (WVU), 3-0
