COMPLETE BRACKET RESULTS
Appalachian State
St. LOUIS, Mo. - Junior Frank Celorrio was unable to come up with a win in two matches at the NCAA Wrestling Championships dropping both of his matches today in the 133-pound bracket.
Celorrio lost his first match to Kent State's Dan Mitcheff by an 8-0 decision. Mitcheff went on to beat David Marble in the second round.
In the first round of wrestlebacks Celorrio fell to Wyoming's Cory Vom Baur 6-0. With the win Vom Baur moves to 28-13 on the season.
Celorrio finishes the year with his first-career 20 win season and his first Southern Conference championship.
Celorrio will return next year for his senior senior and will be just one of two ASU seniors on a team that returns all 10 starters.
The Citadel
St. Louis, Mo. ? Bulldog 197 pounder Odie Delany closed out his freshman season Thursday night in the second session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis Mo. The Cadet grappler was on the losing end of a tough first round consolation match-up with Buffalo’s James Hamel when his national tournament debut ended.
Delaney began the day facing a Maryland foe with three more years experience. The No. 10 seeded Hudson Taylor entered the tournament as the Div. I pins leader for the 197-pound weight class with 16 falls, but he was followed closely by Delaney who held the number two spot with 14 of his own. The battle concluded with the No. 9 national ranked Taylor sticking his Citadel opponent in the same fashion he had conquered nearly half of his challengers this season. The loss sent Delaney into the consolation bracket of competition.
The second session of competition got underway Thursday evening in the Scott Trade Center. Toward the end of the night the 197-pound grapplers took the mat where The Citadel’s young wrestler faced off against Hamel representing the Mid-American Conference. Hamel took control of the bout early and secured the 14-3 major decision to continue on in the tournament.
Delaney concluded his freshman campaign with a 25-18 overall record including 14 falls and four major decisions. He became The Citadel’s first true freshman to qualify for the NCAA Wrestling Championships and their 55th all-time Southern Conference Champion. Prior to the national tournament, the Bulldog earned 121 team points placing him tenth nationally among Division I 197-pound wrestlers.
UNC Greensboro
Day 1
ST. LOUIS, MO ? Despite less than ideal draws in the first round, all three members of the UNC Greensboro wrestling team are still alive at the NCAA Wrestling Championships on Thursday in St. Louis, Mo.
Senior Chris Bencivenga was the first wrestler on the mat for the Spartans and he was matched up against the No. 1 seed Kellen Russell from Michigan at 141 pounds. The two opponents wrestled to a scoreless first period, but Russell was eventually able to score a 13-1 major decision to move Bencivenga into the consolation bracket.
Bencivenga rebounded in the consolation bracket to defeat Liberty’s Tim Harner, 11-4, thanks to two reversals and three takedowns. He had previously beaten Harner, 2-1, back in February.
The next Spartan to compete was 174-pounder Byron Sigmon. Sigmon drew 11th seeded Quentin Wright from Penn State who recorded a first period fall to push Sigmon into the consolations.
Sigmon wasn't as lucky in the consolation bracket as his tournament came to an end on Thursday night. Sigmon was pitted against Jeff James, who came into the tournament ranked 12th nationally. James scored an early takedown scored two near-fall points in the first period on his way to knocking Sigmon out of the tournament by a 9-1 score.
The final member of the UNCG wrestling team to wrestle was Mikal McKee at 184 pounds, who advanced to the championships by winning the 184 pound title at the SoCon Championships. McKee was paired against No. 6 Joshua Patterson from Binghamton in the first round. Patterson scored an early takedown and McKee fell by a first period fall.
The opponents didn’t get any easier for the Spartans as McKee drew Anthony Biondo from Michigan who was ranked No. 13 in the nation before the tournament. Once again a UNCG wrestler pulled off the upset as McKee scored five takedowns on his way to a dominating 11-4 victory.
The Spartans will return to the mat tomorrow morning at 10 a.m.to kick off day two of the three day event.
AGATE
141 Pounds:
No. 1 Kellen Russell (Michigan) maj. dec. Chris Bencivenga (UNCG), 13-1
Chris Bencivenga (UNCG) dec. Tim Harner (Liberty), 11-4
174 Pounds:
No. 11 Quentin Wright (Penn State) fall Byron Sigmon (UNCG), 1:17
Byron Sigmon (UNCG) maj. dec. Jeff James (Oklahoma), 9-1
184 Pounds:
No. 6 Joshua Patterson (Binghamton) fall Mikal McKee (UNCG), 2:49
Mikal McKee (UNCG) dec. Anthony Biondo (Michigan), 11-4
Day 2
ST. LOUIS, MO ? UNC Greensboro wrapped up competition at the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships on Friday morning when the final two Spartan wrestlers were eliminated from contention.
Senior Chris Bencivenga began the day for UNCG at 141 pounds. He was pitted against Seth Ciasulli from Lehigh and lost by fall in the third round of the consolation bracket. The loss ended an exceptional career for Bencivenga. He finished his career in third place for the most career wins in school history.
Sophomore Mikal McKee was the final Spartan wrestler to finish and also lost his first match of the day. McKee dropped a 9-4 decision to Alex Dolly of Northern Iowa. McKee’s 33 wins this season puts him in second place in school history for the most wins in a single season. He was just two shy of Byron Sigmon’s 35 last season.
AGATE
141 Pounds:
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) fall Chris Bencivenga (UNCG), 1:37
184 Pounds:
Alex Dolly (Northern Iowa) dec. Mikal McKee (UNCG), 9-4
Chattanooga
Day 1
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga junior Joey Knox logged a win in his first match at the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships today. Knox scored a 15-12 decision over Hofstra’s Jonny Bonilla-Bowman in the 157-pound class.
Knox’s win was the only victory for UTC in the championship round today. The other five Mocs dropped their first matches of the championships and are now in the consolation brackets.
The Mocs are currently in 52nd place with three points. Iowa and Iowa State are tied for the team lead with 33 points each.
Senior Seth Garvin is set to take on North Carolina's Keegan Mueller in the 165-pound wrestleback bracket on Friday morning.
Day 2
The Chattanooga wrestling team got wins from senior Seth Gavin and junior Joey Knox in the Wrestleback brackets at the NCAA Championships today. UTC has four points in the event and is currently in 52nd place overall.
Knox defeated Riders’ Michael Kessler with a 4-2 decision in the morning session. He went on to drop a 6-1 decision to Bloomsburg’s Matt Maloney, the No. 7 seed in the 157-pound class.
Garvin posted an 8-4 decision over North Carolina’s Keegan Mueller in his first match of the third session. He ended with a 10-5 loss to Dan Vallimont of Penn State in the 165 wrestleback bracket.
VMI
ST. LOUIS- Facing a pair of seeded opponents, VMI sophomore Josh Wine was eliminated on the first day of the 79th Annual NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, being contested at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis this weekend.
Wine (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) opened the day by dropping a 4-1 decision against fifth-seeded Konrad Dudziak of Duke. After a scoreless first period, Dudziak chose the down position in the second period and escaped in 21 seconds to take a 1-0 advantage. Wine then chose the bottom position to start the third period and earned an escape to knot the match at one. Dudziak (28-2) managed the match's only takedown and maintained control for the rest of the match, earning a riding time point to bring the score to 4-1.
In the evening session, Wine faced 12th-seeded Christian Brantley of Northern Iowa, an upset victim in his first round match. In the consolation bracket, Brantley scored an early takedown before Wine answered with a reversal, tying the match at two. Brantley then posted a reversal of his own and scored two back points before the first period ended. In the second, Brantley escaped early and took an 11-4 lead with a pair of takedowns later in the stanza, followed by two Wine escapes. In the third, Brantley found three more back points on his way to a 15-7 major decision, improving to 26-9 on the year.
Wine wraps up his season at 14-8 after his second trip to Nationals in as many seasons. He became VMI’s first back-to-back conference champion in six years, capturing the heavyweight title at the Southern Conference Championships two weeks ago.