Wrestling: WVU in Second Place, Qualifies Five
March 08, 2008 04:02 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
March 8, 2008
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The West Virginia University wrestling team is in second place through two rounds of action at the EWL tournament.
WVU has 84 points and remains behind tournament leader Edinboro, who has 102 points.
Five Mountaineers have already earned automatic bids to the NCAA tournament in St. Louis, Mo., after reaching the championship bout for their weight class. They include David Jauregui, Donnie Jones, Chance Litton, Kurt Brenner and Jared Villers.
Jauregui earned his third qualifying bid by defeating Lock Haven’s Matt Fittery in an 8-2 decision. A key second period in which he scored a takedown followed by three near fall points sealed the win for the 149-pounder, who avenged a loss to Fittery in the regular season.
Jones reaches the NCAA Championships for the first time after an impressive performance as the tournament’s No. 2 seed. He earned a 7-4 decision over Cleveland State’s Marcus Effner courtesy of three takedowns and an escape. Jones will match up against top-seeded and No. 16 ranked Jarrod King of Edinboro in the 165-pound championship bout.
Litton (174), another first-time qualifier, continues his season after getting a 10-5 decision over No. 18 Phil Moricone of Edinboro. He will now face top-ranked Keith Gavin of Pitt for the third time this season as they square off in the finals.
Brenner (184), who earned a first-round bye, won easily over Clarion’s Scott Joseph in a 19-5 major decision. The top-seeded junior out of Freedom, Pa., makes his third trip to the NCAA championships and looks to win his second EWL title. He will try to win his second match of the season against No. 19 Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro in the finals.
Villers (197) scored a convincing win after defeating Clarion’s Jamie Luckett in a 10-1 major decision. He becomes the tenth four-time NCAA qualifier in WVU history, and will try to earn his third EWL championship against Lock Haven’s Ben Hepburn.
Seniors Zac Fryling and Dustin Rogers will both try for third place finishes after falling in the second round. Both grapplers remain candidates for the wild card selection process, in which 12 at-large bids will be chosen by all seven EWL coaches following the tournament.
The second round of the consolation bracket will begin at 5 p.m., followed by the championship matches at 7 p.m.
125: Mike Sees (BLOOM) DEF Kyle Turnbull (WVU), 2:48
133: Rick Deubel (ED) MAJOR Jared Garvin (WVU), 12-4
149: David Jauregui (WVU) DEC Matt Fittery (LH), 8-4
157: Matt Moley (BLOOM) FALL Zac Fryling (WVU), 5:57
165: Donnie Jones (WVU) DEC Marcus Effner (CSU), 7-4
174: Chance Litton (WVU) DEC Phil Moricone (ED), 10-5
184: Kurt Brenner (WVU) MAJOR Chris Honeycutt (ED), 19-5
197: Jared Villers (WVU) MAJOR Jamie Luckett (CLAR), 10-1
HWT: Mike Spaid (BLOOM) DEC Dustin Rogers (WVU), 7-3
