Lopouchanski falls just short of All-America honors
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Sophomore Ivan Lopouchanski was just seconds away from becoming the first All-American in UNCG wrestling history on Friday, but fell in overtime as UNCG concluded its stay at the 2011 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
After scoring a pair of decision wins earlier in the day, Lopouchanski found himself in the round of 12 just one win away from earning All-America status. In that match he was pitted against Jamal Parks from Oklahoma State, who is ranked fifth nationally.
After some back-and-forth action in the first period, Lopouchanski trailed 5-4, but earned an escape later in the match to tie things at five. Late in the third period, Lopouchanski had riding time locked up and was theoretically winning 6-5, but he was called for locking hands with just two seconds left in the match, which tied the match at six and forced sudden victory. In the extra session, Parks was able to score a takedown and won the match, 8-6.
Lopouchanski finished the season with an incredible 41-10 record, becoming the only UNCG wrestler to ever hit the 40-win plateau.
Lopouchanski started his day with an 8-3 decision victory over Joseph Napoli from Lehigh. He was then able to advance into the round of 12 with another 8-3 win, this time over Oregon State's Scott Sakaguchi, who is ranked 17th nationally.
Junior Manny Ramirez was also able to advance into the second day, but he fell in his first match of the day to No. 12 Jarrod Garnett from Virginia Tech, 8-4, to be eliminated.
AGATE
125 pounds:
No. 12 Jarrod Garnett (Virginia Tech) dec. Manny Ramirez (UNCG), 8-4
* Manny Ramirez eliminated from tournament
149 pounds:
No. 14 Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG) dec. Joseph Napoli (Lehigh), 8-3
No. 14 Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG) dec. No. 17 Scott Sakaguchi (Oregon State), 8-3
No. 5 Jamal Parks (Oklahoma State) dec. No. 14 Ivan Lopouchanski (UNCG), 8-6 SV1
* Ivan Lopouchanski eliminated from tournament
Blevins, Trotman End Competition at NCAA Tournament
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.- Appalachian State University wrestlers Kyle Blevins (Sapulpa, Okla./Sapulpa) and Austin Trotman (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) have ended their run at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
Blevins took on a familiar foe in Virginia Tech's Pete Yates for his first 165-pound match of the day. Blevins and Yates were scoreless after the first period and the only point recorded in the second was an escape by Blevins. But in the third period, Yates escaped to tie up the match, but Blevins was able to take down Yates in the final period to secure a 3-1 decision.
Blevins was next matched up with Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Clarion) after he defeated Donald Jones from West Virginia, 7-1.
Abdurakhmonov proved to be too much for Blevins as he was defeated by a 9-1 major decision. Abdurakhmonov took down Blevins and then nailed a three-point near fall to end the first period with a 5-0 lead. In the second, Blevins was taken down again by Abdurakhmonov, but escaped to bring the match to a score of 7-1. Abdurakhmonov escaped in the third and due to 3:24 worth of riding time was able to pull off the feat.
Abdurakhmonov faces the #4-seed Josh Asper from Maryland in his next match.
Blevins ends his season with a career-high 38 wins against nine defeats, tying him with Scott Ervin (2007-08) for most wins in a season all-time at Appalachian State. Blevins also moves his career tally to 84-38, good for seventh place in ASU history.
Like Blevins, Trotman was able to win his first 184 match by tallying a 3-1 decision over Rutgers's Daniel Rinaldi.
With a scoreless first period, Trotman escaped in the second to grab a 1-0 advantage. In the third, Rinaldi was able to tie the match up at 1-1 on an escape to send the bout into sudden victory. It did not take Trotman long to get the much needed points to end the match as he took down Rinaldi to earn a 3-1 sudden victory.
Trotman was pitted next against #10-seed Josh Ihnen (Nebraska) after he earned a 10-1 major decision over Erich Schmditke from Oklahoma.
Trotman was not able to get into a rhythm and fell to Ihnen, 8-1 for the major decision.
Ihnen went up 2-0 after the first period, but Trotman was able to not allow Ihnen to record anymore points in the second period. From there it was Ihnen. Ihnen notched back-to-back takedowns to take the lead, 5-0, but Trotman was able to escape for his only point of the match. Ihnen took down Trotman again for the 7-1 advantage and due to 2:24 worth of riding time, Ihnen was able to take the match.
Ihnen advances to face #1-seeded Christopher Honeycutt (Edinboro) in his next match.
Trotman concludes his season with a career-high 33-9 record. He is now 3-6 in his career at the NCAA Championships. With his career mark of 91-31, Trotman stays in fifth place all-time for career victories, but ties Donnell Rawls (1991-92) for fifth place for most wins in a season.