Kansas City, Missouri- The Oklahoma State Cowboys ran away with the title at the 73rd annual NCAA Wrestling Championships held at the Kemper Arena. The Cowboys were led by defending champion Johnny Thompson (29-2) at 133 and redshirt freshman Jake Rosholt (21-9) at 184 pounds. The other returning champion that advanced to the championship finals was Jared Lawrence (32-3) of Minnesota at 149 pounds. Thompson faced nemesis Ryan Lewis (32-3) of Minnesota in a rematch of the 2002 NCAA finals, which Thompson won both. Lawrence defeated Jesse Jantzen (38-2) of Harvard, 7-2 but lost to top-seeded Eric Larkin (34-0) of Arizona State in the title bout. Larkin was voted the Outstanding Wrestler.
Former NYS champion Carl Fronhofer (24-7) of Pitt was unseeded and had recorded five straight victories but he lost to Robbie Waller (31-7) of Oklahoma in the 174-pound final.
MAT NOTES...
Cornell totaled 52 points and finished in tenth place, They advanced Travis Lee (34-0) to the championship bout where he beat top-seeded Chris Fleeger (32-1) of Purdue in the 125-pound final. Hofstra (27 points) finished in 21st place and emerged with two All-Americans, Jon Masa (39-5) finished seventh at 149 and Chris Skretkowicz (37-6) finished sixth at 197 pounds. Skretkowicz was defeated by NCAA runner-up Jon Trenge (35-2) of Lehigh in a 5-3 semifinal bout. Harvard junior Jesse Jantzen (38-2) finished third for the second consecutive year. New York State had five All-Americans in all, the others were; junior John Clark (39-9) of Ohio State finished sixth at 165 and Greg Parker (25-6) of Princeton finished eighth at 184 pounds. The last NCAA champion for Cornell was David Hirsch (Clarkstown South) who won the 126 pound title in 1994. Oklahoma State's last NCAA title was in 1994. Congratulations to head coach John Smith and his outstanding staff. |
