March 16, 2001

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Two Maryland wrestlers have completed competition Friday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the University of Iowa. At the completion of the first day, junior Brandon York (Gaithersburg, Md.) and redshirt-sophomore Jake Stork (Mohrsville, Pa.) were still alive in wrestle-backs. But in a double elimination tournament, it only takes two losses to bring things to an end. York split two matches today defeating Ohio State's Jeff Ratliffe 8-6 in sudden victory overtime. He then loss to Minnesota's Brett Lawrence 3-2.

Stork wrestled one more match before falling out of the tournament. He met Pittburgh's Dan Stine in wrestle-backs and fell 10-8 in sudden victory overtime. This marks the end of the season for both wrestlers who emerged as strong leaders for Maryland.

As of the first session on Friday, Maryland stands at No. 55, out of 72 schools, with 2.50 team points. Perennial powerhouse Minnesota leads the tournament in first place with 89.5 team points. Oklahoma trails in second with 76.00 team points. The tournament resumes at 5:30 p.m. on Friday night and continues with sessions at 8:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.