March 20, 2009

Henrich, Nelson Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals
Virginia wrestlers Chris Henrich (So., Lansdale, Pa.) and Nick Nelson (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) each advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. The Cavaliers, with a school-record seven wrestlers competing, are in a tie for 20th place (12 points) with Purdue and Northwestern in the team standings.

Henrich (38-1), seeded eighth at 174 pounds, moved into the quarterfinals with two wins. He opened with a pin of Millersville’s Shane Smith in 4:05 and returned Thursday evening and earned a 5-2 decision over No. 9-seed Newly McFadden of Oklahoma State. Henrich will face top-seeded and undefeated Steve Luke of Michigan in the quarterfinals. 

Three Tar Heels Remain Alive At NCAA Championships
North Carolina's Thomas Scotton, Keegan Mueller and Justin Dobies each won their first-round match but fell short in a bid to advance to the quarterfinals at the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships Thursday at the Scottrade Center. This trio is still alive in the double-elimination tournament and will be back on the mat Friday when action resumes.

Mike Rappo (133), Vincent Ramirez (141), Nick Stabile (149) and Dennis Drury (197) were eliminated with consecutive losses to open the tournament.

At 157 pounds, Scotton broke open a tight match in the third period with a takedown, an escape and the riding time point for a 6-1 win over Aaron Hynes of Michigan in the first round. The Willingboro, N.J., native followed that up with a 6-2 loss to No. 3 seed Jordan Leen of Cornell in the second round to drop to the consolation bracket. Scotton will enter Friday's match with Bryan Deustch of Northern Illinois with a 22-14 season mark. 

Four Hokies still alive after day one of NCAA Championships
Four Virginia Tech wrestlers survived the first day of NCAA Championship action after competition completed Thursday at the Scottrade Center. In the second session, Chris Diaz and David Marone were the only Hokies to pick up wins. They will be joined by true freshman Jarrod Garnett and sophomore Tommy Spellman in Friday’s action.

The third session will begin at 10 a.m., local time as all four Hokies will be looking to extend their seasons. They’ll each have to win two matches if they want to move to Session Four Friday night.

Caldwell Advances to Wrestling Quarterfinals
Junior 149-pounder Darrion Caldwell won his second-round match at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday evening, taking a 10-2 major decision from Buffalo freshman Desmond Green. The win lifts Caldwell to 35-1 this season and moves him into a quarterfinal bout on Friday vs. Purdue’s Jake Patacsil. The winner automatically will qualify as All-American.

Senior 141-pounder Joe Caramanica, meanwhile, dropped his second-round bout to eighth-seeded Ryan Williams of Old Dominion, 10-5. Caramanica fell to 11-9 and will return to action Friday in the wrestleback bracket.  

Dudziak Advances To NCAA Quarterfinals
Duke University junior Konrad Dudziak won twice in the opening day of the NCAA Wrestling Championships to move into the quarterfinal round tomorrow at the Scottrade Center. Dudziak, John Barone, and Dan Tulley all competed in the first day of the championship.

Dudziak captured a win at heavyweight in the first session, while Barone and Tulley both suffered setbacks at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively. The trio came back in the evening looking for more competition. Dudziak registered his second win of the day, while Barone and Tulley both fell in their consolation matches.

Fifth-seeded Dudziak moved onto the second round with a 4-1 decision over Josh Wine of VMI in his opening round match. After a scoreless first session, Dudziak registered an escape 21 seconds into the second period and held Wine off the scoreboard to go into the final two minutes with a 1-0 lead. 

Krom Leads Terps on First Day of NCAA Championships
Redshirt junior Alex Krom led four University of Maryland wrestlers at the first day of the NCAA Championships Thursday at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, winning both his matches at 141 pounds to advance to Friday's quarterfinals.

All-American Hudson Taylor (197 pounds), Steven Bell (133 pounds) and Brendan Byrne (125 pounds) all went 1-1 in their respective weight classes and will look to advance through the consolation bracket tomorrow.

The Terrapins scored a combined 10 points Thursday to put them in a tie for 21st place. Maryland and NC State each scored 10 points to tie for the most by ACC schools on the first day. Iowa State is in the lead with 32 points.