The Citadel’s Luvsandorj clinches All-America status
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Citadel's Turtogtokh Luvsandorj topped Hofstra's Joseph Booth, 4-3, and Northwestern's Pierce Harger, 3-1 (SV-1), on Friday evening to guarantee himself a spot on the podium Saturday at the 2014 NCAA Championships held in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Saturday’s morning session will be broadcast on ESPNU, while the evening session will air on ESPN. Both sessions will appear on ESPN3.
Luvsandorj will become the Bulldogs' fourth All-American in program history and third in the last two seasons on Saturday. The redshirt senior will have a chance to finish as high as third place depending on the results of Saturday's matches.
Luvsandorj, who dropped an overtime match to Booth earlier this season, earned an early takedown in the first period to take a 2-1 lead. In the second period, Booth tied it with an escape to go into the final two minutes tied at 2.
In the final period, Luvsandorj added a two-point takedown to offset an escape by Booth.
In his second match of the evening, Luvsandorj and Harger, who was seeded seventh, battled it out through three periods with the score tied at 1. In the one-minute overtime period, Luvsandorj earned the takedown and collected his fourth win of the tournament.
Luvsandorj has now beaten the sixth-, seventh- and ninth-seeded wrestlers in the tournament at 165 en route to a matchup against No. 3 Steven Monk of North Dakota State on Saturday morning. A win will put the Bulldog in the third-place bout, while a loss will have him vie for fifth place.
The redshirt senior will close out an historic career on Saturday as the Bulldogs' all-time winningest wrestler. In those four seasons, Luvsandorj earned two Southern Conference titles, made four trips to the NCAA tournament and was tabbed as the league's wrestler of the year twice.
Earlier, in the day, Luvsandorj absorbed a 4-3 overtime loss in the quarterfinals to No. 3 seed Nicholas Sulzer of Virginia.
The Bulldogs’ Matt Frisch and Aaron Walker were eliminated from the tournament in Session III at 149 and 157, respectively, after losing their consolation bracket bouts.
Luvsandorj and Sulzer, who also met at the Southern Scuffle with Sulzer earning the 8-4 win, entered the third period knotted at 2. An escape by Luvsandorj and a one-point stalling call in Sulzer's favor left the match even at the end of regulation.
Neither wrestler was able to earn a takedown during the allotted one-minute sudden victory, forcing two 30-second tiebreaker periods. Luvsandorj allowed an escape with 30 seconds remaining and was unable to get a takedown on the No. 3 seed to drop to the consolation bracket.
Frisch, who upset No. 2 seed Nick Dardanes of Minnesota on Thursday before losing an 8-1 match in the second round, found himself pitted against Justin Arthur of Clarion in an elimination bout.
After a scoreless first period, Arthur was able to get Frisch on his back and collect three points from a near fall. Two reversals in the third and a riding point eliminated Frisch by an 8-2 decision.
Walker struggled from the start against NC State's Thomas Gantt in his elimination bout, allowing 11 points through the first three minutes. Gantt added six more points off two near falls and ended the match in the second period with an 18-0 technical fall.
The redshirt freshman closed out his first season in the Bulldog lineup with a 31-9 record, including All-Academy and Southern Conference titles.
Walker, Frisch and Marshall Haas, who was eliminated Thursday, are all expected to return next season, while Ugi Khishignyam, who was also eliminated Thursday, finished his Bulldog career with 64 wins through two seasons and won two SoCon titles at 141 pounds.
Gardner-Webb’s Trott sees season end at NCAA Championships
OKLAHOMA CITY – Gardner-Webb redshirt freshman Austin Trott made a late charge against Stanford’s Jimmy Wilson in the second consolation round at 165 pounds on Friday at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, evening the bout at 6-6 but surrendered more than two minutes of riding time as Wilson advanced, 7-6.
Trott is the second Runnin’ Bulldog grappler in as many seasons to advance to the NCAA Championships and record at least one win, joining teammate Hunter Gamble, who accomplished the feat at 174 pounds in 2013.
After suffering a 10-1 major decision loss to Minnesota’s Daniel Zilverberg in Thursday’s first round, Trott rebounded with a 12-4 major decision of his own against Utah Valley’s Curtis Cook on Thursday evening, moving into Friday’s second consolation round against Wilson.
Wilson jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first period before Trott pulled within one with a late two-point takedown heading into the second stanza. A two-point takedown by Wilson and a one-point escape put Wilson ahead 6-4 midway through the third period, when Trott evened the tally at 6-6 with a two-point takedown.
Wilson’s accumulated riding time proved to be the difference in the bout, granting the Stanford freshman the 7-6 decision despite a late charge by Trott in what turned out to be the Kingsland, Ga., native’s final match of the season.
Trott finished the season with a 29-9 overall record after earning the Southern Conference’s third and final NCAA Championship bid at 165 pounds at the SoCon tournament on March 8.
Chattanooga’s run ends at NCAA Championships
OKLAHOMA CITY – The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga ended its run at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Friday. Junior Nick Soto posted a consolation win to give UTC 3.5 points in the event. The Mocs are currently in 51st place overall with the medal rounds still to go on Saturday.
Soto defeated Northern Illinois’ Nick Smith with a 10-7 decision in the backdraw. The match was tied late in the third, but Soto owned the riding time point. He scored a takedown with seven seconds left to clinch the victory. He was eliminated by Michigan’s Rosario Bruno in the next round.
Junior Corey Mock was also on the mat Friday. He is the sixth-seed in the 165 bracket and faced Iowa’s No. 5 seed Nick Moore. Moore used an escape in the second period to go up 1-0 and sealed the win with a takedown midway through the third for the 3-1 win.