Three to quarters, eight alive for Lehigh
Posted: March 16, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Lehigh sent three wrestlers on to the championship quarterfinals while five others remain alive in the consolation bracket after day one of the 76th NCAA wrestling championships at Ford Center. Seniors Cory Cooperman, Derek Zinck and Travis Frick all won on Thursday night as the Mountain Hawks sit in eleventh place in the team standings with 19 team points.
Cooperman got Lehigh going in the round of 16 with a 9-1 major decision over Sal Tirico of Columbia in a rematch of the EIWA semifinal, which Cooperman also won. The eleventh seed Zinck pulled an upset at 157 outlasting No. 6 seed Brandon Becker of Indiana 8-6 in sudden victory. Zinck scored four takedowns in the match, including the winning score early in the extra period to advance. Frick became the third Mountain Hawk grappler to advance, utilizing two first period takedowns to hold off James Yonushonis of Penn State 6-4.
Two Mountain Hawks, senior Troy Letters and junior Paul Weibel were beaten in the round of 16. Letters was upset by unseeded Daniel Thompson after being reversed and pinned in the first period with a 2-0 lead. Weibel ran into No. 4 seed Cain Velasquez of Arizona State and was pinned in the first period.
In the evening’s consolation matches, Matt Fisk and Trevor Chinn both won two matches to stay alive for another day. Fisk turned Austin Devoe of Missouri for a three point nearfall in the second 30 second tiebreak to advance 4-1, while Chinn scored late in the third period to edge Joshua Medina of Lock Haven 5-4. Junior Dave Helfrich is also alive after pinning No. 12 seed Mike Tamilow of Northwestern in the consolation round.
Junior Matt Cassidy was the only Mountain Hawk eliminated on day one, as he fell 16-10 to Timothy Morrison of Rider.
Three-time defending champion Oklahoma State leads the team standings by 12 points over second place Oklahoma.
The 76th NCAA Championships continue with two sessions on Friday at Ford Center. The morning session gets underway at 10:00 CST with quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations. There will be continuing audio coverage of the NCAA Championships online at lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports.
Pigtail Consolations
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
125 |
Matt Fisk (LU) |
dec. |
Steve Mytych (Drexel) |
1-0 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (LU) |
dec. |
Chris Renninger (Drexel) |
7-2 |
Round of 16
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
141 |
Cory Cooperman (LU) |
maj. dec. |
Sal Tirico (Columbia) |
9-1 |
|
157 |
Derek Zinck (LU) |
dec. |
Brandon Becker (Indiana) |
8-6 s.v. |
|
165 |
Daniel Thompson (Citadel) |
WBF |
Troy Letters (LU) |
2:09 |
|
174 |
Travis Frick (LU) |
dec. |
James Yonushonis (PSU) |
6-4 |
|
285 |
Cain Velasquez (Ariz. St.) |
WBF |
Paul Weibel (LU) |
1:08 |
First Round Consolations
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score |
|
125 |
Matt Fisk (LU) |
dec. |
Austin DeVoe (Missouri) |
4-1 t.b. |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (LU) |
dec. |
Joshua Medina (LHU) |
5-4 |
|
184 |
David Helfrich (LU) |
WBF |
Mike Tamilow (N’western) |
4:09 |
|
197 |
Timothy Morrison (Rider) |
dec. |
Matt Cassidy (LU) |
16-10 |
|
Team Standings
Team |
Points |
|
|
1. Oklahoma State |
36.5 |
|
|
2. Oklahoma |
24.5 |
|
|
3. Edinboro |
23 |
|
|
4. Hofstra |
22.5 |
|
|
5. Michigan |
22 |
|
|
5. Nebraska |
22 |
|
|
7. Iowa |
21.5 |
|
|
7. Minnesota |
21.5 |
|
|
9. Penn State |
20.5 |
|
|
10. Arizona State |
19.5 |
|
|
11. LEHIGH |
19 |
|