2010
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS PREVIEW
By Jim & Tony Nordland
Defending team champion Iowa is the pre-tournament favorite and hope to claim their third consecutive championship. A total of 330 wrestlers, including nine returning or former NCAA champions, prepare for the 80th annual NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, on March 18th-20th. The Iowa Hawkeyes are seeking their 23rd NCAA team title and led by 2008 titlist Brent Metcalf (31-1) at 149, unbeaten Jay Borschel (32-0) at 174 and returning All-American Phil Keddy (23-7) at 184 pounds. Teams that will challenge the Hawks over the three-day grueling competition will be Iowa State, Cornell, Minnesota, Oklahoma State and runners-up Ohio State. In the next tier are formidable squads; Boise State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Penn State.
Defending NCAA champions include Troy Nickerson (13-1) of Cornell at 125, Franklin Gomez (23-2) of Michigan State at 133, Jarrod King (34-1) of Edinboro at 165, unbeaten Jake Varner (26-0) of Iowa State at 197 and Missouri's Mark Ellis (16-10) at 285 pounds. Former NCAA winners are undefeated Angel Escobedo (33-0) of Indiana at 125, 2006 champ Dustin Schlatter (14-2) of Minnesota at 157 and Ohio State's Mike Pucillo (20-7) at 184 pounds.
New York State has 23 qualifiers and is the only state with two top-seeded matmen. At 141 pounds is freshman phenom Kyle Dake (29-2) from Lansing, now with the Big Red of Cornell and Harvard senior and two-time All-American J.P. O'Connor (30-0) from Oxford Academy at 157 pounds. Those two, along with the aformentioned Nickerson from Chenango Forks, give the Empire State a possibility of three NCAA champions. Returning NYS All-Americans in the field include Kyle Borshoff (24-5) from Pittsford, now at American at 149, and Binghamton senior Josh Patterson (26-6) of Wayne in the 174-pound class. Hofstra has three NCAA qualifiers, sophomore Ben Clymer (24-8) at 184 and two New York products; senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman (19-5) from East Ramapo at 157 and redshirt soph Paul Gillespie (29-12) of Long Beach at 165 pounds.
A quick glance at the weight classes:
125 pounds- Three-time All-American Troy Nickerson (2-3-1) drew the second seed and has an opening bout with Allen Bartell (25-17) of Boise State. He could face the winner of the James Nicholson (30-1) of Old Dominion and former Nassau CC star Chis Notte (23-8) of Oklahoma State match in the second round. Also looming in the bottom bracket is Ohio State's Nikko Triggas (27-17) and tough Matt McDonough (32-1) of Iowa. In the top tier is numer one-ranked Angel Esobedo and returning AA, junior Anthony Robles (28-2) of Arizona State. Also in that bracket is true freshman Steven Keith (20-10) from SWR, now at Harvard, who has a prelim with Ben Kjar (30-8) of Utah Valley. Look for a battle of NCAA champs Nickerson and Escobedo in the championship final on Saturday night.
133 pounds- Unbeaten Jayson Ness (26-0) is the top seed and could face freshman Ian Paddock (22-12) from Warsaw, now at Ohio State in the second round. Paddock has an opening bout with Alex Radsky (17-4) of Davidson. Also lodged in the top tier is Bucknell senior David Marble (28-8) of Harpursville, who meets John Trumbell (26-7) of Lock Haven in a prelim, along with Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver (28-2). Second-seeded Daniel Dennis (18-3) of Iowa meets Kevin Smith (27-11) from Mexico, now at Buffalo in a tough opening bout. Other bottom bracket contenders are former champ Franklin Gomez, Nick Fanthorpe (16-7) of Iowa State and Cornell's Mike Grey (35-6).
141 pounds- True freshman Kyle Dake is top-rated and meets Todd Schavrian (26-10) of Missouri. Dake could face returning AA Alex Krom (20-5) of Maryland in the quarterfinals and NCAA finalist Reece Humphrey (29-3) of Ohio State in a semifinal clash. In the bottom bracket is Anwar Goeres (35-8) from Phoenix, now Binghamton who squares off against third-seeded Mike Thorn (24-5) of Minnesota. Also in that bracket is Oklahoma State's Jamal Parks (28-5) and Filip Novachkov (23-6) of Cal Poly.
149 pounds- Top-seeded Lance Palmer (27-2) of Ohio State upended Brent Metcalf, 9-3, in the Big Ten finals and is the slight favorite. New Yorkers Donnie Vinson (32-11) from Whitney Point, now Binghamton and Torsten Gillespie (28-13) from Webster-Schroeder, now Edinboro are in the top bracket. Vinson faces Frank Molinaro (29-5) of Penn State and Gillespie will go against Chatt's Dean Cavlov (22-11) in opening round matches. Kyle Borshoff opens with James Fleming (28-6) of Clarion and could advance to meet Metcalf in the quarters. Desi Green (27-6) from Rush-Henrietta, now Buffalo has a first round bout with Shawn Harris (16-11) of Virginia. Look for three-time placer Palmer (4-8-4) to meet former champion Metcalf in a frenetic final and possible OSW Award.
157 pounds- The Empire State is well represented here, beginning with #1 JP O'Connor who meets Vince Salminen (22-7) of NDakota State in a prelim. Also in the top tier is Steven Brown (13-3) from Hermon, now at Central Michigan, he will face Turtogtokh Lusandork (Mongolia-The Citadel) and AA Cyler Sanderson (28-4) of Penn State. In the bottom bracket is Jonny Bonilla Bowman, who hopes to upset second-seeded Adam Hall (28-2) of Boise State in his opening bout. Also lodged in that bracket is Joseph Booth (21-7) from LI Lutheran and Justin Lister (28-8) from South Jefferson, now at Binghamton. Booth (now at Drexel) will face Jesse Dong (34-3) of Virginia Tech and Lister goes against Oklahoma State's Rob Erisman (27-8).
165 pounds- Wisconsin's undefeated Andrew Howe (32-0), a returning NCAA finalist is the top seed and should reach the finals through the top bracket. In that bracket is John-Martin Cannon (22-14) from Brockport, now Buffalo who is pitted against fifth-seeded Colt Sponseller (27-5) of Ohio State, along with Matt Kaylor (34-18) of Burnt Hills, now Binghamton who meets Robby Neill (24-14) of Navy. In the bottom bracket is Paul Gillespie who has an opening round bout with Rick Schmeyln (28-7) of Bloomsburg. Returning champ Jarrod King drew the second seed and could face challenger Nick Marable (33-3) of Missouri in the semifinals. Also to watch here is All-American Jon Reader (22-4) of Iowa State.
174 pounds- Cornell junior Mack Lewnes (36-0) has had a strong season and should coast in the top tier of this weight class. Nathan Graham (27-9) from Ravena, now Bloomsburg, will meet Jacob Ison (22-6) of Ohio University in a prelim, with the winner to face Lewnes in the quarterfinals. Also in that bracket is Nebraska's Stephen Dwyer (24-3). Josh Patterson opens with Shane Smith (23-7) of Millersville and hopes to advance to the quarterfinals to face second-seeded Jay Borschel (Iowa). Other contenders are David Rella (24-9) of Ohio State and Mike Benefiel (31-4) of Oklahoma State. Possible final could be Lewnes vs Borschel in a battle of unbeatens.
184 pounds- Boise State junior Kirk Smith (25-0) is the favorite in a weight class that features a stable of strong contenders. Nate Schiedel (30-7) from Caledonia-Mumford, now Binghamton, opens with Travis Rutt (16-11) of Wisconsin. If Schiedel gets past Rutt, he will face Smith in the second round. Other top bracket challengers are returning All-Americans Louis Caputo (22-3) of Harvard and American University's Mike Cannon (25-4). Former titlist and returning runner-up Mike Pucillo has a pigtail match and could emerge from the bottom bracket to the finals. Hofstra's Ben Clymer will face Nick Palmieri (15-16) of Michigan State in a prelimanary bout. Also in the bottom bracket is AAs Max Askren (15-2) of Missouri and Joe LeBlanc (35-4) of Wyoming, along with #3 Dustin Kilgore (33-1) of Kent State.
197 pounds- The name here is Jake Varner, already a three-time finalist and returning titlist. His top bracket challengers could be AA Cam Simaz (37-5) of Cornell or Missouri's Trevor Brandvold (20-3). NCAA finalist Craig Brester (26-2) of Nebraska is second seeded and could face either Eric Lapotsky (24-6) of Oklahoma or returning All-American Hudson Taylor (38-2) of Maryland in an intriguing semifinal skirmish.
285 pounds- Reigning champion Mark Ellis is here and drew the ninth seed. This balanced weight class features four returning All-Americans including #1 David Zabriskie (21-2) of Iowa State. Zabriskie awaits the winner of the Eddie Bordas (32-7) and Eric Nye (21-13) of Arizona State bout. New Yorker Bordas is from Valley Central and now competes for Rider University. Also in the top tier is returning finalist and unbeaten Konrad Dudziak (14-0) of Duke. He could meet another unbeaten in AA Daniel Erekson (12-0) of Iowa in the quarterfinals. Looming in the bottom bracket is NCAA bronze medalist Jared Rosholt (30-2) of Oklahoma St.
Mat Notes...
Look for the Big Red of Cornell, with veteran coach Rob Koll, now at the helm for 16 years, to make a serious run for the NCAA team title. Cornell's Troy Nickerson now boasts a career mark of 88-6. His lone loss this season was a medical default to Escobedo in the Southern Scuffle finals. The last time a team from the East coast won the NCAA Championships was in 1953, when Penn State edged Oklahoma, 21-15 ( a different scoring system was used). The Nittany Lion coach was the legendary Charlie Spiedel and about 15,000 fans witnessed the action at Penn State University. At the 80th edition of the NCAAs there are 54 returning All-Americans. Pennsylvania leads the nation with NCAA qualifiers, as the Keystone has 47 grapplers in the tournament. Of the Empire State's 23 representatives, 12 won NYS Championships... |
