March 12, 2008

Former Mercyhurst wrestling coach Tony Cipollone, now the associate athletic director, will keep a live blog during the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships and provide periodic updates of the action.

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Latest Updates from Cedar Rapids

*Friday, 9:12 pm
197-Trevor Gallo took on familar foe, Josh Ohl of Ashland in the 197 quarterfinals. It was obvious early that both were familar with each other as they were very cautious with their movements. Ohl hit a nice duck under for a takedown with :45 seconds left in the period and sunk the legs in to ride him out. Ohl started down in the second and escaped within 10 seconds. Gallo had a hard time of breaking through Ohl's tight defense but got a nice counter shot but Ohl countered back and stuck Gallo with a cradle with 26 seconds left in the period. Gallo will now face either Kelly Anundson of Newberry or Kevin Domian of Central Missouri to become an All American.

*Friday, 8:39 pm
174-Josh Shields squared off against Corey Van Groll of Wisconsin Parkside. Van Groll was in on an early shot but Shields in his typical fashion put it right into a scramble situation and Van Groll was left empty handed. Again Van Groll got in on a shot, but Shields again countered well and no points. They started the 2nd period 0-0 and Shields took bottom. He escaped within 5 seconds to take the 1-0 lead. Van Groll again was in on a shot and again he is left frustrated. Shield got in on his own shot with 20 seconds left but a stalemate ensued and the period ended 1-0. Van Groll took down to start the 3rd and got a quick reversal and Shields immediately escaped to tie the match 2-2. Van Groll got in a deep shot and again Shields countered into his own opportunity on the edge but couldn't score. Regulation ended with Shields getting called for a stall but tied. They started the sudden victory and Van Groll was again in on a shot and a scramble ensued but no points. Van Groll started down in the first tiebreaker. Shields slipped a leg in and scored with a banana split with two back points. Shields went down in the 2nd half of the tiebreaker and Van Groll rode him out but it didn't matter as Shields becomes an All-American!!!! He will face Ross Taplin of Nebraska Omaha in the semi's.

*Friday, 8:22 pm
165-Harrsion starts off with a quick takedown of Becker. Becker then escaped to make the score 2-1 and Harrison promptly scored another takedown to take a 4-1 and ended the period with that lead and :45 seconds of riding time. Becker took down to start the second and escaped to cut the lead to 4-2. Becker scored the next takedown to tie the match up with 1:15 left in the period. Harrison got an escape with :40 seconds left in the 2nd and regained the lead 5-4 and took that lead into the 3rd where he started down. He escaped 10 seconds into the period to extend the lead to 6-4. Harrison took injury time with 1:30 left in the match. Harrison got in on a quick shot off the whistle but couldn't finish as they went out of bounds. Becker went after him but Harrison wouldn't let him get it and Harrison becomes an All-American in his 4th attempt. He will face the winner of JJ Davis of UNC-Pembroke and Zack Lee of Western State in the semi's.

*Friday, 8:01 pm
Lamancusa faced off against another Peacock from Upper Iowa, Travis Eggers. Eggers caught Lamancusa with a 5 point throw at the end of the first period and worked a bow and arrow turn into three more points for an 8-0 lead. Eggers took down to start the 2nd and promptly escaped to extend his lead to 9-0. Eggers got called for stalling with :45 left in 2nd as Lamancusa turned up the attack but couldn't score. Lamancusa took neutral in the third and kept the pressure on but Eggers countered well. Lamancusa did get a stall point at the 1:00 mark of the third. Eggers got another takedown on a desparation throw attempt by Lamancusa to take the score to 11-1. Eggers added a nearfall to win the match 15-1. Lamancusa will now await the winner of Joe Ellenberger from Nebraska Kearney and Daniel Nauman from Shippensburg to be an All-American.

*Friday, 7:51 pm
149-Brian Pogel scored a quick takedown against returning All-American Monterious Adams of Upper Iowa. Adams responded with a reversal. Pogel took down to start the 2nd and quickly scored a reversal and racked up a huge riding time advantage. The period ended with Pogel leading 4-2 with over 2:30 of riding time. Adams took down in the third and Pogel continued his top domination by riding Adams out and winning 5-2. Pogel will face Ryan Etherton of Nebraska-Kearney for his chance to be an All-American later tonight.

*Friday, 6:09 pm
Tonight's the night where the five Lakers will find out who will live to be an All-American. Lamancusa, Harrison, Shields and Gallo all need just one more win, either in their first match or if they lose in their second match to join the ranks of names like Mautz, McAvinew, Zanetta, and Schafer while Brian Pogel will now need to win 2 straight to join in the fun.

149-Pogel will take on Tee Adams of Upper Iowa. Adams was an All-American last year.

157-Lamancusa will take on Travis Eggers of Minnesota Mankato in a key match for the team race.

165-Harrison will tangle with Kyle Becker of Wisconsin-Parkside.

174-Shield will also battle a Ranger from Wisconsin-Parkside as he will take on Corey Van Groll.

197-Gallo will face a familiar foe in Ashland's Josh Ohl. Ohl owns two wins over Gallo already this season.

The Lakers ended the first session tied for 9th with Chadron State (NE) and Upper Iowa University with 4 points. Minnesota State Mankato and Western State (CO) are tied for the lead with 15 points.

*Friday, 3:36 pm
197-Gallo took on Matt Norton of Upper Iowa University. Gallo scored a quick takedown and followed it up with a tilt on the edge for a 5-0 lead. Norton picked up a reversal and two nearfall but Gallo countered with a reversal to take a 7-4 lead at the end of the first period. Gallo started down in the seocond and scored an escape and added a takedown to lead 10-4 with 44 seconds left in the second and also had riding time advantage. Norton scored a late reversal and closed the gap to 10-6. Norton took down to star the 3rd and scored a quick escape to cut the lead to 10-7 and then countered a great double from Gallo to a takedown to cut the lead to 10-9. Gallo then took a 2nd injury timeout which gave Norton his choice and he took down and scored an escape to tie the match at 10-10 but Gallo still had injury time. Gallo got hit with a stall with 25 seconds left. Gallo hangs on to win 11-10 and give the Lakers a 4-1 opening round their best first round ever!!!!

Stay tuned for tonight's quarterfinals and consolations to determine who will be the All-Americans who will wrestled on Saturday!

*Friday, 1:45 pm
165-Harrison entered the third period tied with Aaron Denson of U. Nebraska-Omaha but had 2:21 of riding time built up. He extended the lead with a couple of takedowns and a nearfall to take the decision 14-6 major decision.

174-Shields tangled with Blake Malloy of Fort Hays State U. (KS). Malloy scored the first takedown and Shields promptly escaped. Malloy got a second takedown with 20 seconds left in the 1st and Shields finished the period with an escape to trail 4-2. They started the 2nd period in the neutral position. Nobody could score and the period ended with Malloy still in the lead. Shields choice was down in the third. Shields promptly scored an escape to cut the lead to 4-3 and immediately got a takedown to take a 5-4 lead but got called for an illegal move to tie it up and send it to overtime. There was no score in the sudden victory and Shields rode Malloy out in the first tiebreaker and got an escape and fought off the takedown attempt to take the win.

*Friday, 1:13 pm
149-In a stunning upset, Brian Pogel was defeated 10-8 by Joshua Nolan from San Francisco State in a back and forth match. He had a comfortable lead but got caught on a questionable takedown and two nearfall move about halfway throught the third. Pogel will now have to defeat Monterrious Adams of Upper Iowa to stay alive in the tournament.

157-Lamancusa scored two third period takedowns to defeat Eric Pretto from Southern Illinois Edwardsville, who has defeated the returning national champion this season, 5-2. He will face Travis Eggers from Minnesota State Mankato in the quarterfinals tonight.

*Thursday, 6:18 pm-The following is a look at the Laker's first round opponents. Wrestling will begin at 12 noon and not 11 am (I forgot Cedar Rapids is on Central time!)

149-#3 Brian Pogel vs. Joshua Nolan (San Francisco State U.) Nolan comes in with at 15-17 record. He finished 4th at the West Regional and became only the 5th true freshman in school history to qualify for nationals.

157-#5 Andy Lamancusa vs. Eric Pretto (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville) Pretto enters with a 21-15 record and was ranked as high as 6th in the nation after a stunning upset of two-time national champion, Tony Guerra (Findlay) at the Midwest Classic in January. SIUE will be moving to Division I after this championship.

165-Hudson Harrison vs. #4 Aaron Denson (U. of Nebraska-Omaha) Denson comes in with a 30-5 record and a runnerup finish at the tough North regional.

174-Josh Shields vs. #8 Blake Malloy (Fort Hays State U.) Malloy sports a 24-8 record and a third place finish at the West Regional Championships. He narrowly missed qualifying for nationals last year with a 5th place regional finish.

197-Trevor Gallo vs. #6 Matt Norton (Upper Iowa U.) Norton, from the host school, is 14-13 on the season. In the tough North Regional, he upset the #1 and #4 seeds during the tournament. More impressive is that he won both by pin.

*Thursday, 3:55 pm-The competitors have all gathered in Cedar Rapids and after a day of workouts at the US Cellular Center and coaches meetings, the festivities will kick off tomorrow morning at 11:00 am. The weather is fantastic and they are expecting big crowds as many of the top teams are within driving distance. #1 Minnesota State-Mankato, #2 Nebraska-Omaha and #3 Nebraska-Kearney are all within a reasonable distance from the site.