App duo advances at NCAA Championships
ST. LOUIS – Appalachian State wrestling saw each of its representatives at the NCAA Championships pick up a win on Thursday with two wrestlers advancing into day-two action.
Dominic Parisi was in the opening match of the tournament, taking on Josh Martinez of Air Force. Parisi trailed 5-0 at the end of the first but fought back to make it a one point match in the third period. Martinez held off the late rally and edged Parisi 8-5.
The Concord, N.C., native matched up with No. 16 seed Paul Petrov of Bucknell in the first match in the wrestle-back bracket. Parisi was up 4-3 after two periods and hung on to win 6-4. With the win, Parisi advanced to wrestle Brandon Jeske of Old Dominion.
In his third match of the day, Parisi took a 1-0 lead going into the third period. Jeske rallied past Parisi in the last period to advance on a 6-4 decision.
Parisi ends his career with 82 career wins, tied for 10th in program history, including three NCAA Championships wins.
True-freshman Michael Longo faced No. 7 seed Anthony Ashnault of Rutgers in his first match of the championship. Longo dropped a 9-2 decision and moved into the wrestleback bracket.
In Longo's second match of the day, he squared off with Arizona State's Mattew Kaus. Longo used a late first-round reversal to take a 4-3 lead into the second round. With 53 seconds left in the period, Longo pinned Kaus. Longo stays alive for day two in the wrestleback and will face No. 8 seed Geo Martinez of Boise State.
No. 12 seed Denzel Dejournette fought past Mimmo Lytle of Kent State via a 7-4 decision victory in his NCAA championship debut. Dejournette was the only Mountaineer to advance in the championship bracket.
In Dejournette's second round match, he faced No. 5 seed Connor Medbery of Wisconsin. Medbery took a 7-3 lead into the third period and held off Dejourette in a scoreless last period. Denzel will take on Nebraska's Collin Jenson in the second round of the consolation bracket.
The 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships continues at the Scottrade Center on Friday starting at 11 a.m.
Patrick earns Davidson’s first NCAA win since 1968
ST. LOUIS – Scott Patrick became the first Davidson wrestler since 1968 to win a match at the NCAA Championships when he knocked off 11th-seeded Brett Pfarr of Minnesota, 8-6, in the first round before falling to Kenny Courts of Ohio State 12-8 in his second match Thursday at the Scottrade Center.
In his first match of the day, the Ellicott City, Md. native struck first with a takedown with just 24 seconds remaining in the first period, before Pfarr registered an escape to make it 2-1 at the end of three minutes.
With Patrick on top to start the second, Pfarr was able to even the score with an escape, but the senior responded with another takedown and padded his lead with a three-point near fall. Patrick ended the second period on top 7-3.
Pfarr scored his first and only takedown with just six seconds remaining in the final period, but it wasn't enough as Patrick took the match 8-6.
In the second match, Patrick struggled earlier to find his rhythm. Courts struck first midway through the opening period with two takedowns before Patrick registered an escape and a reversal to make it 4-3. Courts was quick to escape and added another takedown to end the first.
Courts padded his lead early on with two takedowns in the second frame. Patrick kept battling and responded with a takedown and rode Courts out until the end of the second to cut the deficit 11-7.
In the third, Patrick started on top and Courts scored an escape. Patrick kept fighting but struggled to find his shot and ultimately fell, 12-8.
Patrick will return to the mats in the second round Friday. The senior will face Iowa State's Lelund Weatherspoon.
Gardner-Webb’s Mosley eliminated at NCAA Championships
ST. LOUIS – Gardner-Webb’s Ryan Mosley dropped a 14-5 major decision to 15th-ranked Bryant Clagon of Rider on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships and his run came to a close Thursday night in a 7-1 consolation loss at 149 pounds to Lock Haven's Daniel Neff.
Only four seeded wrestlers were upset in the 16 first-round matches Thursday.
In the wrestlebacks, Mosley fell behind late in the first period, as Neff (22-13) executed a takedown with just two seconds left on the period clock. The lead extended to 3-0 after the second period, as Neff controlled riding time and earned an escape midway through the third moved to margin to 4-0.
Mosley made a quick move with a minute left in the match, but Neff countered for a takedown and a 6-0 lead. Mosley scored on an escape late in the third and fought hard until the final buzzer in a 7-1 decision.
The NCAA Championships appearance was the first for Mosley, who burst onto the scene with a superb redshirt sophomore season. He finished with a career-high 26 wins (26-11) and went 7-0 in the Southern Conference regular season to earn that league's top seed in the Arby’s SoCon Championship at 149 pounds – along with a top-30 ranking by the NCAA Coaches' Ranking Panel.
Mosley's emergence adds high hopes for Gardner-Webb's wrestling program going forward.
Coach Daniel Elliott welcomes back three NCAA qualifiers next season in Mosley, Hunter Gamble (174, 2013) and Austin Trott (165, 2014) – along with all of his regular starting lineup and several key, talented reserves.
SIUE’s Tindle advances, McMahon eliminated at NCAA Championships
ST. LOUIS – SIUE's Jake Tindle will be back to wrestle one more day at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.
More than 18,000 fans at the Scottrade Center were on hand for the national championships. Both Tindle and Connor McMahon competed for the Cougars.
Tindle, a 197-pounder from Troy, Illinois, upset 11th-seeded Alex Polizzi, of Northwestern, in the opening round of the championships but fell into the consolation bracket Thursday evening with a 12-2 loss to Iowa's Nathan Burak.
Tindle's first match Friday morning when competition continues at 10 CDT is against Wisconsin's Timothy McCall, the No. 12 seed.
McMahon drew defending national champion and undefeated Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State in the opening round. Dieringer advanced to the second round with a pin in 4 minutes, 33 seconds. McMahon was eliminated from the tournament in the consolation round by Ohio's Harrison Hightower with a 3:22 pin.
Three Mocs still alive at NCAA Championships
ST. LOUIS – Three Mocs are still alive at the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Seniors Sean Boyle and Nick Soto and sophomore Scottie Boykin look to advance in the consolation brackets in Friday’s action.
The fifth-seeded Boyle opened with a tough battle against Lehigh’s Scott Parker. Parker took an early lead with a takedown in the first, but Boyle countered with a takedown of his own before the first buzzer. The match was tied at 5-5 after the second period, and Boyle escaped quickly in the third. He fought off a scramble at the end to advance to the second round.
There he met Edinboro’s Kory Mines. Mines is the No. 12 seed, and Boyle already had a win over him (5-2) at the Virginia Duals. Three takedowns and two back points in the first period gave Mines an 8-3 lead. Boyle could not get back on track and scored only one takedown in the 12-7 loss.
Boyle faces another familiar foe in Friday’s backdraw. He is pitted against The Citadel’s Joaquin Marquez in the consolations. He had major decision wins in the two meetings with Marquez in the regular season.
Soto was upset in the first round of the main draw when he was pinned by Cornell’s Mark Grey in the first period. Seeded 15th, Soto responded with an 8-4 win over North Carolina’s Troy Heilmann in the backdraw. He had lost to Heilmann twice in the regular season.
Soto next faces Kent State’s McKenzie McGuire. He scored a narrow 5-4 win over McGuire at the Eastern Michigan Duals early in the season.
Boykin opened with a tall task against top-seeded and defending NCAA Champion J’Den Cox of Missouri. The match was tight for the first two periods as Boykin only gave up a takedown and an escape to trail 3-0. Cox added a pair of takedowns and riding time in the final frame for the 8-1 win.
That loss put Boykin in a pigtail match in the consolations against South Dakota State’s Nathan Rotert. An escape in the second, plus riding time, was all the scoring in Boykin’s 2-0 win.
His final victory on the day was an impressive 8-6 win over No. 10 Elliott Riddick of Lehigh. Boykin jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Riddick came back to tie it at 5-5 early in the third period. Boykin scored a take down late in the final period and added riding time for the 8-6 win.
Boykin is now pitted against Nebraska’s 15th-seeded Aaron Studebaker in Friday’s backdraw action.
Senior Shawn Greevy (149) and sophomores Michael Pongracz (141), Sean Mappes (174) and Jared Johnson all went 0-2 in their first trips to the NCAA tournament. Of their eight combined matches, six were against seeded opponents.
The Mocs are back in action Friday with consolation rounds beginning at 11 a.m. (EDT).