Wrestling Southern Conference

SoCon Wrestling Capsules for December 2

VMI'S Britt Places Seventh at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Wrestling Invitational

LAS VEGAS, NV -- VMI junior wrestler Adam Britt (Mechanicsville, Va./Atlee) placed seventh in the 157 lb. bracket of the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held Friday and Saturday. Britt pinned Gus Anaya of Pacific Lutheran in 1:45 and defeated Virginia's Tim Foley, 19-8 to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost an 18-4 major decision to Nebraska's Bryan Snyder, 18-4. Britt came back to win the seventh place match over Oregon's Tony Overstake, 5-1.

Junior Matt Erwin (South Vienna, Ohio/ St. Paris Graham) also reached the quarterfinals for VMI. In the 174 lb. weight class, he defeated Luke Kuhl of Dana, 6-1; Quinn Collett of Portland State, 13-7; and Shane Webster of Oregon, 19-8 to reach the quarterfinals, where he was defeated by Otto Olson of Michigan, 14-2.

Michigan took first place at the tournament with 163 points. The Keydets did not place. Fresno State's 125-pounder Stephen Abas was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.


Tripp Wins Four Matches To Lead Spartans at Penn State Open

Ryan Tripp won four matches and nearly advanced into the consolation bracket finals to headline the UNC Greensboro wrestling team at the 2001 Penn State Open Sunday.

Tripp then defeated Patrick Lukanich of Navy, 5-2. After the two victories, Tripp faced Adrian Austin of George Mason. Austin, who upped his record to 9-3 on the season, doubled up Tripp, 6-3. Austin went on to place fourth.

Having to reach the round of 16 in a weight class to qualify for the consolation bracket, Tripp faced Steve Fox of SoCon foe Appalachian State in the first round of the consolation bracket. Tripp blanked Fox, 5-0, and then edged Joe Lloyd of Pittsburgh-Johnston, 3-1, in overtime. With a spot to the fifth place match on the line, Chris Pirch of Cornell took down Tripp in overtime to seal a 6-4 victory.

After losing, 13-5, to Joe Mazzurco of Cornell, Ritter dropped his first match in the consolation bracket, 8-5, to Ted Dufresne of Lehigh.

UNCG is now off for nearly four weeks. The Spartans do not return to action until December 29-30 at the Midlands Invitational on the campus of Northwestern.


CMU Takes Inaugural Citadel Wrestling Invitational Title; Bulldogs Finish Second

CHARLESTON, SC -- Coach Rob Hjerling's Bulldogs made a fine showing at their own tournament. It was indeed a sweet homecoming for Central Michigan's wrestling coach Tom Borrelli.

The Chippewas from the Mid-American Conference gave Borrelli, a 1979 Citadel graduate and the NCAA Division I Coach-of-the-Year two years ago, the best homecoming present he could imagine as Central Michigan captured the inaugural Citadel Invitational Wrestling Tournament Saturday at McAlister Field House. And Borrelli's alma mater, The Citadel, finished second.

And the only that could have made Borrelli's return to Charleston and his native Goose Creek more special was that his son, Jason, won the 125-pound title for Central Michigan.

All told, Central Michigan won the event with 181 points, outdistancing the Bulldogs by 83.5 points. Third place went to Binghamton (NY) while Campell finished fourth. Chattanooga, a long-time Southern Conference power, finished fifth, Duke sixth, UNC Pembroke seventh and Gardner-Webb eighth.

Central Michigan featured nine champions in the field that had over 140 wrestlers. A highlight came in the 165-pound bracket when CMU's Kevin Carr won by a decision over Duke's Mike Mitchell, 13-5.

For the Bulldogs, Southern Conference champion and two-time NCAA participant Mike Regner finished first in the 174-pound division with a 5-2 decision over CMU's Russ Vanderheyden. All told, The Citadel had 10 individuals who placed.

Of note, Regner's father, Mike, Sr., was a senior on The Citadel's wrestling team when Borrelli was a freshman. They were guided and influenced by legendary Citadel coach Ken Shelton.

The Bulldogs take to the mats next Saturday at the NC State duals in Raleigh.


Chattanooga Places Fifth at The Citadel Tournament

*Matt Pitts defeated teammate B.J. Malone to win fifth place in the 125-pound bracket.

*Craig Johnson won third place by defeating Matt Hoover of Duke in the 165-pound bracket.

*Quantrell Langford placed fifth in the 174-pound bracket by defeating James Rose of The Citadel.