March 14, 2008

Wrestling Sits in 2nd Place after First Day of NCAA's

Eight Alive; Four Champ, Four Consoles

Full Brackets....Team Standings

     Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney wrestling team scored 57.5 points and sits in second place after the first day of the 2008 Division II Championships in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

      UNK has four individuals in the semifinals and another four competing in the consolation bracket. Top-ranked Minnesota State leads the field with 66.5 points; the Mavericks have five in the semifinals and another two alive in wrestlebacks.

      Eighth-ranked Pittsburgh-Johnstown was the surprise of the day, putting five into the semifinals and currently sitting third with 51.0 points. Nebraska-Omaha (49.5) and Western State (42.5) round out the top five.

      For UNK, making it to the final four are seniors Brett Allgood (133 lbs.), Tervel Dlagnev (Hwt.) and Jeff Rutledge (141 lbs.) and sophomore Marty Usman (174 lbs.).

      Lopers who suffered one loss today and are aiming for a third place finish are senior Joe Ellenberger (157 lbs.), junior Keenan McCurdy (165 lbs.) and sophomores Ryan Etherton (149 lbs.) and Derek Ross (197 lbs.).

      Finally, Wahoo junior Paul Sutton (184 lbs.) won his opening round match this morning but loss to Heath Jolley of Central Oklahoma in the quarterfinals (8-6), then fell to Jeremy Hudson of Central Missouri (5-3) in wrestlebacks to be eliminated.

      Allgood (Bennington) moved to 5-1 on the year by beating UNO's Mario Morgan, 12-6, and Tim Elliott of Central Oklahoma, 9-5. The '06 national champion will face John Putnam of Minnesota tomorrow in the semifinals.

      Shane Perkey of Indianapolis is on the other side of the bracket; Allgood dominated him, 17-2, in last year's third place match.

      At 141 lbs., Rutledge (Lincoln East) got by Cory Bloodgood of Central Missouri, 8-3, then edged rival Sim Bribieseca of UNO, 2-1, in the quarterfinals. The third-ranked Rutledge will face top-ranked Kyle Evans of UCO in the semifinals. Evans blanked Rutledge, 5-0, at the National Duals in January.

      In his first NCAA meet, Etherton (Lincoln East) shut out Zack McEndree of Gannon, 3-0, in the first round but lost to defending national champ Todd Meneely of UNO in the quarters, 6-1.

      The Lincoln East grad bounced back by majoring Brian Pogel of Mercyhurst to stay alive. He could face Mankato's Tommy Abbott in the third place bout.

      For the second straight year, UNK suffered an upset in the opening round as Ellenberger (Millard South) lost to UNO's Henry Wahle, 5-3. Ellenberger was 2-0 vs. Wahle this year, who would lose his next two matches and be eliminated.

      Ellenberger, trying to follow in Allgood's footsteps from a year ago and finish third, easily won his next two matches to remain in the tournament. He'll face Noomis Jones of Adams, a wrestler he has beaten twice this year, in his first bout tomorrow.

      Like Etherton, McCurdy (Lincoln East) was making his NCAA debut and he bounced back from an opening round loss to beat Jacob Wilson of Shippensburg, 9-2, and Western State's Zach Lee, 5-2. Lee came into the tourney ranked No. 1 nationally.

      Usman (Arlington, Texas) advanced to the quarters with a major decision victory but had to battle 5^th-ranked Tyler Tubbs of Minnesota State-Moorhead to advance. Usman, ranked No. 1 at this weight, managed a 7-5 win in sudden victory. He'll see 6^th-ranked Albert Miles of Pittsburgh-Johnstown tomorrow.

      Second-ranked Ross Taplin of UNO is one of the wrestlers alive on the other side of the bracket.

      Ross (St. Francis, Kan.), unfortunately, didn't have Usman's overtime luck. After a 7-5 win over UCO's Jarrett Edison in round one, Ross loss 6-5 -- in a second tiebreaker -- to 3^rd-ranked Ty Copsey of Augustana.

      Just a few weeks ago, Copsey beat Ross in overtime, 3-1. Ross did come back to beat Pat Walsh of UPJ, 9-4, and will face UNO's Jacob Marrs tomorrow.

      Finally, Dlagnev (Arlington, Texas) recorded UNK's only fall of the day when he got to Niall McGrath of Gannon at 4:21. Dlagnev then recorded a tech fall of Upper Iowa's Dan Goodson, 21-6.

      Third-ranked Cy Wainwright of Newberry (S.C.) awaits in the semis with 2^nd-ranked Brady Wilson of Mankato still alive as well.