By Jim & Tony Nordland
Defending champion Oklahoma State (16-2) will have to work a ltitle harder than expected to capture their fourth consecutive NCAA title. The 76th edition of the NCAA Championships will be at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, OK, on March 16th -18th. The Cowboys were upended by Minnesota (20-1), 21-14, at the National Duals and the Golden Golphers appear ready to challenge for the crown, their last NCAA championship was in 2002. Other top teams that will be in the hunt are Michigan (16-2), who finished as runners-ups at the 2005 NCAA meet, Illinois (9-2-1) and Oklahoma (11-6-1). The Cowboys have four defending champions, Zack Esposito (22-3) at 149, Johny Hendricks (24-1) at 165, Jake Rosholt (22-4) at 197 and two-time titlist Steve Mocco (23-2) at heavyweight. Minnesota will be paced by NCAA runner-up, junior Cole Konrad (33-0), who was recently named the Big Ten Wrestler of the Year. He pinned Mocco at their dual and most likely, will face each other for the NCAA crown and perhaps the team title on Saturday night. Other Golden Gophers that are potential finalists are the Schlatter brothers; freshman phenom, Dustin (37-1) at 149 and C.P. (34-5) at 157, along with Big Ten champion Roger Kish (33-4) at 184 pounds. The Wolverines point to two-time All-American unbeaten Ryan Churella (25-0) at 165, his younger brother Josh (25-3) at 141, along with Eric Tannenbaum (22-8) at 149 and Greg Wagner (24-2) at heavyweight. Illinois has NCAA finalist Kyle Ott (11-4) at 125, the Tirapalle brothers; Troy (24-9) at 149, Alex (27-2) at 157, along with Pete Friedl (24-2) at 184 pounds. Oklahoma has two-time winner Teyon Ware (22-2) at 141, he could face nemesis, Nate Gallick (33-0) of Iowa State in the finals. In last year's NCAA championship bout, Ware edged Gallick, 3-2, but recently lost to him in the Big 12 championship. Other Sooners to watch are two-time All-American, junior Sam Hazewinkel (25-1) at 125, Matt Storniolo (20-4) at 149 and Joel Flaggert (21-4) at 197 pounds. The other defending NCAA Champion is senior Joe Dubuque (23-1) of Indiana at 125 pounds. Teams that could finish in the top ten at the NCAA meet are Nebraska (12-5), Central Michigan (13-4), Iowa State (11-7), Iowa (11-7), Missouri (13-5) , Penn State (13-4), Northwestern (10-5), Lehigh (14-5) and Arizona State (13-7).
New York State has 17 prepped wrestlers that will compete in the NCAA Championships and have four potential finalists. Sensational freshman, Troy Nickerson (Chenango Forks HS, 32-1) of Cornell at 125, Hofstra's two-time All-American, Jon Masa (Long Beach HS, 30-8) at 149, sophomore Josh Glenn (Johnson City HS, 31-1) of American University at 184 and All-American Kyle Cerminara (Lewiston-Porter HS, 37-2) of Buffalo at 197 pounds, all are possible champions. Other top prospects that will vie for All-American status are freshman Gregor Gilllespie (Webster-Schroeder HS, 36-2) of Edinboro at 149, Hofstra's Mike Patrovich (Islip HS, 31-3) at 174. Matt Herrington (LaSalle HS, 17-4) of Penn at 174 and Joe Mazzurco (Mahopac HS, 21-2) of Cornell at 184 pounds. Other Empire State grapplers include, Lucas Magnani (St. Anthony's HS, 15-12) of Iowa at 125, Chris Clarke (Arlington HS, 23-22) of Slippery Rock at 125, Mike Mormile (Monroe-Woodbury HS, 26-4) of Cornell at 133, Chris Davis (Mohawk HS, 26-7) of Sacred Heart at 141, Trevor Chinn (Canandaigua HS, 17-13) of Lehigh at 149, MacArthur's James Strouse (28-10) of Hofstra at 157, Dan Miracola (SWRiver HS, 16-13) of Cornell at 174, Chris Weidman (Baldwin HS, 15-11) of Hofstra at 197 and Harold Sherrell (Liverpool HS, 35-7) of Buffalo at heavyweight.
MAT NOTES...
Troy Nickerson's lone setback this season was a 2-0 decision to Oklahoma's Sam Hazewinkel. Nickerson won five state titles and was a HS National Champion last season... Also winning HS National titles as seniors were, Jon Masa and Mike Patrovich...The last NCAA Champion for New York was Jesse Jantzen (Harvard) in 2004, Jantzen was also voted the outstanding wrestler in the nation...Reigning NCAA champion, Joe Dubuque finished third in the Big Ten Championships... Lehigh's Troy Letters (17-4) is a 2004 NCAA titlist, he finished fourth in the EIWA and has been hampered with a neck injury throughout the season... Cornell (10-4) finished fourth at the 2005 NCAA meet and could have a top ten finish, but will need valuable points from Dustin Manotti (26-4) at 157 and Jerry Rinaldi (29-4) at 197 pounds... Hofstra (10-8-1) hopes to improve on their 17th place team finish last year and with help from their eight NCAA qualifiers, including Charles Griffin (27-6) at 141 and Chris Vondruska (23-9) at 165, the Pride could move up in the team standings... ESPN will televise the NCAA finals live on Saturday night at 7:30 PM... Best of Luck to all the wrestlers... |
