Pitt
NCAA Championships
Pitt Wrestlers Advance In First Day Of NCAA Championship
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 19, 2010
PITTSBURGH - After the first day of action at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship, Pitt's six representatives, are standing strong as they have led Pitt to a 17th place team mark after Thursday's matches.
At 125, freshman Anthony Zanetta faced Andre Gonzalez of Cal State Fullerton in the opening round and defeated his opponent, 8-6 in sudden victory. Zanetta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) went on to meet up with third-seed Matt McDonough of Iowa and fell in a tough match, 10-6.
Zanetta will now face either James Knox of Maryland, or No. 9 seed Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma in wrestlebacks Friday morning.
Sophomore Tyler Nauman continues his impressive domination at 141 as he won his two matches of the day including a 6-2 decision over Cole Schmitt of Wisconsin and a 6-5 win over seventh-seeded Filip Novachkov of Cal Poly. Nauman (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) will meet up with No. 2 seed Jamal Parks of Oklahoma State Friday morning in the quarterfinals.
In his last NCAA Championship, senior Eric Albright, who earned an at-large bid, is making a mark, defeating No. 12 seed Mario Mason of Minnesota, 2-1 in overtime. Albright (York, Pa./Red Lion Area/Virginia) then fell to fifth-ranked Frank Molinaro of Penn State, 8-0. Albright will face the winner of James Fleming of Clarion, versus Trenton Washington of Northern Iowa.
Zac Thomusseit (St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham) faced a difficult opening round match against No. 2 seeded John Dergo of Illinois at 184. Thomusseit held strong, falling 6-1 in his initial match. Thomusseit will face Nick Knowles of Liberty in the wrestlebacks Friday morning in hopes of advancing.
Sophomore Matt Wilps (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) upset No. 11 seed Patrick Bond of Illinois, 2-0 in the first round match. His reward was a meeting with No. 6 seed Eric Lapotsky of Oklahoma, who defeated Wilps by fall (2:23). Wilps will wrestle the winner of Lamar Brown of Rutgers versus Matt Casperson of Boise State on Friday morning.
In the final matches of the day, Ryan Tomei matched up against Ziad Haddad of North Carolina as Tomei, the No. 8 seed, won 7-3. In the second round, Tomei fell to No. 9 seed Mark Ellis of Missouri by a slim, 2-1 margin as Ellis won by riding time. Tomei (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) will meet up with either David Wade of Eastern Michigan or Cameron Wade of Penn State.
The NCAA Championship will continue through Saturday with two sessions to be held Friday, and two on Saturday.
