Sheaffer and Nauman Advance to Semifinals at Las Vegas Invitational
12/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 6, 2008
LAS VEGAS -- Eight University of Pittsburgh wrestlers advanced to the second day of the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Of the 47 teams competing this year, the Panthers have the highest number of wrestlers still in action.
The Panthers head into tomorrow in fourth place with 54.0 points. Nebraska leads all challengers with 74.0 overall points and will have a total of six wrestlers on the mats tomorrow. Minnesota stands in second with 59.5 points followed by Boise State in third with 56.0. Rounding out the top 10 is Indiana (53.5), Michigan (52.0), Purdue (50.5), Ohio State (50.0), Cal State Bakersfield (47.0) and Cornell (47.0).
Freshman Tyler Nauman and senior Zach Sheaffer will both be competing for a spot in tomorrow night's championship finals while Chris Albright (125), Jimmy Conroy (133), Mark Powell (149), Ethan Headlee (165), Zac Thomusseit (184) and Matt Wilps (197) will all look to charge through the consolation bracket and into place finishes.
The 11th seeded Nauman continued to dominate in tournament action, picking up the a first-period pin in opening round action against Cole Dallasera (Wyoming) just over two minutes in. In the second round, he was a 14-6, major decision winner over Filip Novachkov (Cal Poly). Nauman advanced to the semifinals with an 11-7 decision over third seeded Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin). His semifinal opponent will be Michigan's Kellen Russell, the second seeded wrestler at the tournament and No. 5 ranked wrestler in the latest USA Today/Intermat/NWCA 141-pound poll.
Coming off a four-match, four-pin first place effort at the Keystone Classic, Sheaffer continued to roll round after round. The second seeded heavyweight started the morning off with a pin just over one minute into the first period against Robbie Shaw (Montana State). Three straight decisions, 5-2 over Kurt Klimek (Cal State Fullerton), 8-1 over Steve Franklin (San Francisco State) and a 3-1 tiebreaker over Tucker Lane (Nebraska) punched his ticket to the semifinals where he will meet third seeded Corey Morrison (Ohio State).
After a first-round bye, the ninth seeded Albright earned a third-period pin over Jimmy Marx (Northern State). In his second match of the day, he fell victim to Ben Kjar (Utah Valley State), dropping to the consolation bracket. Albright picked up two wins in the consolations - a second-period fall over Andre Gonzales (Cal State Fullerton) and a 4-3 decision over Alan Bartelli (Boise State) - to advance to day two of the tournament.
Conroy opened up with two quick wins, advancing to the quarterfinals. A 13-2 major decision over Colt Heger (Montana State) preceded an 8-5 decision Zac Stevens (Michigan). In the quarterfinals, he fell by an 11-2 major decision to Jayson Ness (Minnesota). Conroy opens up tomorrow against Matt Ortega (Indiana).
Powell followed Albright's footsteps into the consolation bracket, winning his opening match 9-2 over Chris Hacker (Nebraska) before falling to third seeded Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin). In the consolation bracket he yielded just one point in two matches, earning the 5-0 shutout decision over Nick Blackshaw (Cal State Fullerton) before defeating Kevin LeValley (Bucknell) 3-1. On the plate tomorrow for Powell is Peter Yates (Virginia Tech).
Headlee, the 13th seed, dropped a 6-4 decision to Matt Epperly (Virginia Tech) but fought his way back through the consolation bracket to advance to day two where he will meet Andrew Howe (Wisconsin). A 7-0 shutout over Christian Mory (West Virginia) was followed by an injury forfeit from Chris Bullins (UNC Greensboro). In his final consolation match of the day, Headlee carded an 11-0 major decision over Kyle Deberry (Arizona State).
Thomusseit earned a quarterfinal berth with back-to-back decisions. He opened with a 10-6 win over Larry Willbanks (Western State) and followed it with a 3-1 victory over David Thompson (Bucknell). His lone setback of the day, a 6-5 loss to Joe Leblanc (Wyoming) that came down to the final seconds, set up a consolation match with EWL rival Lance Bryson (West Virginia).
Wilps was a winner by fall in the opening round over Ryan Can Doren (Embry Briddle) and a 7-5 winner over seventh seeded Cam Simaz (Cornell) in the second round. In the quarterfinals, returning All-American and number two seed Craig Brester (Nebraska) handed Wilps a 12-4 major decision. Wilps will commence action tomorrow with a rematch against Joe Kennedy (Lehigh). Kennedy was a 12-6 winner over Wilps in the season opener for Pitt back on Nov. 15.
Action picks up tomorrow starting at 9 a.m. at the 27th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.