Saunders earns at-large bid to NCAA Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. ? Andrew Saunders will join teammates Ivan Lopouchanski, Victor Hojilla and Byron Sigmon next week at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb. after earning one of 50 at-large bids, the NCAA announced on Wednesday evening.
The 50 at-large wrestlers join the 280 student-athletes that qualified automatically through the conference and regional qualifying tournaments over the past two weekends. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the selection criteria without priority order, which consists of head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index (RPI), coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that weight class.
Saunders, a junior from Geneva, Ill., finished in third place this past weekend at the Southern Conference Championships. He dropped his first match of the day before recording a pin and then a decision in overtime against The Citadel’s Kelby Smith to finish in third.
Saunders currently has a record of 30-12 this year, making him just the eighth wrestler in school history to win 30 or more matches in a season. Lopouchanski and Peter Sturgeon also reached that mark this season.
With Saunders’ at-large bid, the Spartans will now send four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2006, when current assistant coach Daren Burns went along with Kevin Artis, Joe Lowe and Tyler Shovlin. The only other time in school history that UNCG has sent four wrestlers to nationals was back in 1999.
The 2010 NCAA Championships start next week on Thursday, March 18 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.
McCroskey Earns NCAA Bid
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga sophomore Jason McCroskey earned an at-large bid to the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The NCAA announced the 50 at-large selections on its website, www.NCAA.com, earlier in the evening.
The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the selection criteria without priority order, which consists of head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that weight class.
McCroskey received placement in the 184-pound competition at the NCAAs after finishing second at the 2010 Southern Conference Championships. He posted a 15-12 record during the regular season.
This is McCroskey's second trip to the NCAAs after winning the SoCon title at 174 as a freshman last season. He will be joined by freshman teammate Dean Pavlou at the NCAAs who scored an automatic bid by winning the 149-pound SoCon title last weekend.
The 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships take place on March 18-20 in Omaha, Neb.