Five Alive
March 15, 2007 10:46 PM | General
March 15, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – West Virginia University wrestler Dustin Rogers upset two seeded opponents on Thursday, March 15, to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships held at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
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| Dustin Rogers upset two nationally ranked wrestlers in Thursday's opening round of the NCAA championships.
Danielle Hobeika photo |
Rogers was the lone Mountaineer to escape the second round of the championship bracket. However, four West Virginia wrestlers are still alive in their respective consolation brackets. Brandon Rader (141), David Jauregui (149), Kurt Brenner (174) and Jared Villers (197) all survived the first day of competition.
“Today wasn’t what we expected but there were some positive performances from guys like Dustin that we can feel good about,” said head coach Craig Turnbull. “We still have five guys competing for All-America spots so we have to get mentally prepared for tomorrow.”
Rogers, a Corning, Calif., native, earned his way to the wound of eight by defeating No. 11-seeded Spencer Nadolsky of North Carolina in his first bout, 3-1 in overtime, and then dominated No. 6-seeded Ed Pendergrast of Navy, 8-3.
Rogers began his day with a gut-wrenching win over Nadolsky in Session I. After regulation ended with both wrestlers only able to score on an escape, Rogers found himself in a tough spot as Nadolsky got a hold of one of his legs and began to pull him back to the center of the mat. But the WVU heavyweight snared one of the Tar Heel’s ankles and maneuvered his way on top to earn the takedown.
In his second round bout Thursday evening, Rogers found a win much easier as he scored five points in the third period on a reversal and a three-point near fall. One more point earned for his 2:24 minutes of riding time brought the score to 8-3.
Rogers has now won seven of his last nine bouts. He will face No. 3-seeded Ryan “Bubba” Gritter of Central Michigan on Friday morning in the quarterfinals. Gritter defeated Cal. St.-Bakersfield’s Colton Nichols by a 9-0 major in his only match of the tournament after receiving a bye in the first round.
The Mountaineers only seeded wrestler, No. 7 Rader, lost his second round bout by a score of 14-13 to UT-Chattanooga’s Michael Keefe. The Parkersburg, W.Va., native led 13-12 in the third, but a Keefe reversal in the final 15 seconds doomed Rader’s shot at a national championship.
WVU’s Villers also fell in the second round of the championship bout in Session II when Hofstra’s Chris Weidman earned a 9-2 decision in their match.
Villers pulled off the biggest upset of the morning session for the Mountaineers as he defeated Ohio State’s No. 6-seeded J.D. Bergman, 8-5. The Akron, Ohio, native jumped out to an early 4-1 lead, but Bergman ended the first period on top as he reversed Villers and scored three more points with a near fall in the final 13 seconds. The WVU grappler scored the final three points of the match though on an escape and a takedown in the second and rode Bergman for the entire third to accumulate a total of 2:03 riding time in the third.
Rader, seeded seventh, took care of American’s Kyle Borshoff in a 14-10 decision before falling in the second round.
Mountaineers Mark Anderson (133) and Zac Fryling (157) both dropped two matches on Thursday to bow out of this year’s tournament. Anderson went 0-2 on the day, while Fryling finished 1-2.
Updated standings and brackets were not available at press time.
Session III in Auburn Hills gets underway 11 a.m. tomorrow morning. Live video coverage of Friday’s action can be watched on ESPN360.com. Live updates and results can also be tracked on InterMatWrestle.com or on NCAAsports.com.
Thursday’s Results
Session I
133: Christian Staylor (ODU) DEC Mark Anderson (WVU), 6-0
141: No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) DEC Kyle Borshoff (AU), 14-10
149: Matt Coughlin (IU) DEC David Jauregui (WVU), 5-3
157: Jacob Yost (UTC) DEC Zac Fryling (WVU), 9-3
174: Kenneth Robertson (EIU) DEC Kurt Brenner (WVU), 8-2
197: Jared Villers (WVU) DEC No. 6 J.D. Bergman (OSU), 8-5
HWT: Dustin Rogers (WVU) DEC No. 11 Spencer Nadolsky (UNC), 3-1 sv
Session II
Consolation Bracket
133; Rickey Donald (BU) DEC Mark Anderson (WVU), 1-0
149: David Jauregui (WVU) DEC Jermaine Thompson (EMU), 5-4
157: Zac Fryling (WVU) DEC Jake Frerichs (OU), 4-3
157: No. 8 Seth Martin (LHU) MAJOR Zac Fryling (WVU), 11-1
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) DEC Grant Turner (ISU), 9-4
Championship Bracket
141: Michael Keefe (UTC) DEC No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU), 14-13
197: Chris Weidman (HU) DEC Jared Villers (WVU), 9-2
HWT: Dustin Rogers (WVU) DEC No. 6 Ed Prendergrast (USNA), 8-3
