NCAA Wrestling Championships Update: Session 1
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 18, 2010
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OMAHA, Neb. - Franklin Gomez (133), Anthony Jones Jr. (157) and Nick Palmieri (184) all won their first-round matches on Thursday at Session I of the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb. All three remain in the championship bracket and will wrestle in tonight's second session, which begins at 7:30 p.m. ET. David Cheza (149), Kyle Bounds (165) and Ian Hinton (174) all fell in their first-round bouts and will return to action tonight in the consolation bracket.
"I was certainly pleased with the matches we won," said MSU head coach Tom Minkel. "Franklin got us off to a good start and Anthony Jones continues to be on somewhat of a roll from the Big Ten Championships. Nick also did a good job."
Bounds and Cheza each competed in the first bouts of the day at 12 p.m. ET. At 149 pounds, Cheza took on eighth-seeded Jason Chamberlin of Boise State. Chamberlin led, 2-1, at the start of the second period but Cheza quickly tied it with an escape, 10 seconds into the round. Cheza then followed with a takedown to take his first lead of the match, 4-2. Chamberlin fought back with an escape and takedown but with two seconds left in the second, Cheza got an escape to tie the score at five. In the third, Chamberlin got a quick escape and later a takedown for an 8-5 advantage. Cheza was unable to escape from Chamberlin, who ended up winning, 9-5, with riding time.
Cheza will meet Frank Gayeski of Liberty tonight.
At 165, ninth-seeded Andrew Rendos of Bucknell carried a 5-0 lead over Bounds into the third period and ended up winning, 8-2. Bounds will next face Rob Morrison of Rider.
In his first action of the day, defending 133-pound national champion Gomez overpowered Utah Valley's Flint Ray, 8-4. Gomez took a 5-0 lead before Ray got a reversal just before the end of the second period. In the third, Gomez let Ray escape and then took him down again for a 7-3 advantage en route to the win.
Jones, who entered the tournament as perhaps the Spartans' hottest wrestler, continued to impress with a come-from-behind win over Iowa State's Andrew Sorenson in the first round. With Jones leading, 2-1, in the second, Sorenson got a quick escape to tie the score and with 19 seconds remaining in the period and then got his first lead with a takedown. After working himself free of Sorenson and getting an escape with 50 seconds remaining in the third to cut his deficit to one, 4-3, Jones went on the offensive and got a takedown with 25 seconds left to regain the lead, 5-4. Jones kept Sorenson on his back and picked up three more near fall points to secure the win, 8-4.
Hinton met UNC Greensboro's Byron Sigmon in the opening round at 174 pounds. The two wrestled a scoreless first period and Hinton got the first points of the match with an escape with 50 seconds remaining in the second period. Sigmon tied the score early in the third and then got a takedown with 41 second left. Hinton was able to escape quickly but Sigmon got a takedown in the final seconds for a 5-2 win.
Hinton will take on David Rella of Ohio State this evening.
Palmieri was the final Spartan in action in Thursday's first session as he took on Ben Clymer of Hofstra at 184 pounds. Palmieri got a takedown less than 20 seconds in to the match for a quick score and led 2-1 after the first period. An escape by Clymer was the only point of the second period. Palmieri started down in the third and Clymer worked his riding time to 54 seconds before Palmieri escaped and took a 3-2 lead and hung on for the win.
"The key thing now is to remain focused and deal with the match at hand, and I think we'll do that," said Minkel.
This evening, the third-seeded Gomez will meet Rutgers' Billy Ashnault, Jones will take on No. 3 Jesse Dong of Virginia Tech and Palmieri will battle No. 3 Dustin Kilgore of Kent State.
Players Mentioned
