Wrestling: Grapplers Head to Reno for Tournament
December 17, 2010 02:48 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Following two weeks of preparation and focusing on finals since the Las Vegas Invitational, the West Virginia University wrestling team returns to the mat on Sunday, Dec. 19, to compete at the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.
The event will begin at 9 a.m. PT and run all day as wrestlers from the ten weight divisions will compete for placement in their individual brackets.
“The Reno tournament is very similar to the Las Vegas Invitational as far as why we schedule it and what we hope to get out of it,” says WVU coach Craig Turnbull. “We’re going to see a lot of teams and a lot of individuals that we don’t get to see during our dual meet schedule. We’re going to see a lot of the stronger teams from the Midwest and West that we don’t see very often.”
Grapplers from several ranked programs will compete at the tourney, including No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Boise State, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 17 Wyoming and No. 18 Cal Poly, among other strong teams in Stanford, Ohio, Navy and Buffalo.
“With the new qualifying system to get to nationals, the more exposure we can get by wrestling national-caliber opponents, the better our chances are of sending a large group to the national tournament in March,” Turnbull says. “It also gives great experience for our guys to wrestle with quality competition.”
Along with the usual starting lineup of Shane Young (125), Nathan Pennesi (133), Michael Morales (141), Brandon Rader (149), Ryan Goodman (157), Matt Weston (174), Kyle Rooney (197) and Philip Mandzik (HWT), several others will make their first appearance with the starters, including Mac Mancuso (184) and Cameron Gallaher (197).
Mancuso last competed at the Navy Classic on Nov. 20 where he earned a third-place finish, while Gallaher last competed at the Sprawl & Brawl on Nov. 21. Mancuso is 10-2 on the year while Gallaher is 6-2 overall.
Donnie Jones (165) will return to action following several weeks of sitting out with an injury, while Matt Ryan (184) will not travel to Reno due to injury.
Last year in Reno, Jones had a successful outing as he went 5-2 overall, including a win over No. 8 Alex Meade of Oklahoma State, en route to a fourth-place finish. He ultimately fell twice to Stanford’s No. 16 Nick Amuchastegui. Current redshirt Colin Johnston (133) also performed well with a third-place run.
“This is a great opportunity to go to a premier tournament to help us to prepare for the second half of the year,” Turnbull says.
Results from the Reno Tournament of Champions will be seen shortly after its completion at www.MSNsportsNET.com.
The event will begin at 9 a.m. PT and run all day as wrestlers from the ten weight divisions will compete for placement in their individual brackets.
“The Reno tournament is very similar to the Las Vegas Invitational as far as why we schedule it and what we hope to get out of it,” says WVU coach Craig Turnbull. “We’re going to see a lot of teams and a lot of individuals that we don’t get to see during our dual meet schedule. We’re going to see a lot of the stronger teams from the Midwest and West that we don’t see very often.”
Grapplers from several ranked programs will compete at the tourney, including No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 5 Boise State, No. 11 Arizona State, No. 17 Wyoming and No. 18 Cal Poly, among other strong teams in Stanford, Ohio, Navy and Buffalo.
“With the new qualifying system to get to nationals, the more exposure we can get by wrestling national-caliber opponents, the better our chances are of sending a large group to the national tournament in March,” Turnbull says. “It also gives great experience for our guys to wrestle with quality competition.”
Along with the usual starting lineup of Shane Young (125), Nathan Pennesi (133), Michael Morales (141), Brandon Rader (149), Ryan Goodman (157), Matt Weston (174), Kyle Rooney (197) and Philip Mandzik (HWT), several others will make their first appearance with the starters, including Mac Mancuso (184) and Cameron Gallaher (197).
Mancuso last competed at the Navy Classic on Nov. 20 where he earned a third-place finish, while Gallaher last competed at the Sprawl & Brawl on Nov. 21. Mancuso is 10-2 on the year while Gallaher is 6-2 overall.
Donnie Jones (165) will return to action following several weeks of sitting out with an injury, while Matt Ryan (184) will not travel to Reno due to injury.
Last year in Reno, Jones had a successful outing as he went 5-2 overall, including a win over No. 8 Alex Meade of Oklahoma State, en route to a fourth-place finish. He ultimately fell twice to Stanford’s No. 16 Nick Amuchastegui. Current redshirt Colin Johnston (133) also performed well with a third-place run.
“This is a great opportunity to go to a premier tournament to help us to prepare for the second half of the year,” Turnbull says.
Results from the Reno Tournament of Champions will be seen shortly after its completion at www.MSNsportsNET.com.
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