Lehigh University
NCAA Championships
Lehigh advances four to second round at NCAAs
3/19/2009 3:00:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
ST. LOUIS – Lehigh advanced four wrestlers in the championship bracket at the opening session of the 2009 NCAA Championships, Thursday afternoon at Scottrade Center. Senior Trevor Chinn, junior Seth Ciasulli and freshman Zach Rey all earned bonus point wins for the Mountain Hawks, who sit in sixth place after session one with 14 points, more than double their point total from last year’s championships.
The Mountain Hawks caught a break before the tournament even began as Chinn’s first round opponent, Peter Yates of Virginia Tech had to withdraw with a tournament with an injury. Chinn, the No. 12 seed at 149 received a win by forfeit into the second round, where he will meet the No. 5 seed Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin.
Ciasulli was the first Mountain Hawk to take to the mats on Thursday and was the first wrestler to knock-off a seeded opponent as he pinned No. 11 seed Cody Cleveland of Chattanooga in a pigtail round match at 141. Cleveland scored a takedown at the end of the first period to lead 2-0, but Ciasulli used a Petersen roll to reverse Cleveland at the start of the second period. Ciasulli later used a half nelson to work over Cleveland for his ninth fall of the season. In the round of 32, Ciasulli avenged an early season loss with takedowns in each of the first two periods to defeat Tony D’Alie of Central Michigan 7-5. Next up for Ciasulli is No. 6 seed Nick Gallick of Iowa State.
At 184, junior David Craig reached the round of 16 with his first win in three tries against Virginia’s Rocco Caponi. Trailing 1-0 after two periods but holding a riding time advantage, Craig chose neutral in the third period and converted a takedown near the edge of the mat to take the lead. Craig, who is seeded eighth will next face No. 9 Joe LeBlanc of Wyoming.
Rey had the second pin of the day for the Brown and White as he made quick work of Gardner-Webb’s Dustin Porter at heavyweight. The No. 11 seed, Rey scored on a single leg shot in the first five seconds of the bout before slapping on a cradle to earn the fall in just 40 seconds. Rey will now face the No. 6 seed, Mitchell Monteiro of Cal State Bakersfield.
Junior Matt Fisk was the first Lehigh grappler to wrestle a first round match, but ninth-seed Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra proved to be too strong. Ruggirello scored an early takedown and built a large lead en route to a 10-2 major decision at 133. Fisk will meet Thomas Kimbrell of Bakersfield in the first round of consolations.
At 165, junior Mike Galante fell 6-1 to seventh seed Stephen Dwyer of Nebraska. Galante will need to defeat No. 10 seed Chris Brown of Old Dominion to remain alive in the consolations.
Sophomore Alex Caruso created several good scrambles in his match with Illinois’ John Dergo at 174, but was unable to convert the scrambles into takedowns. Tied at one in the third, Dergo scored the bout’s only takedown and went on to win 3-1. Next up for Caruso is Jason McCroskey of Chattanooga.
The NCAA Championships continue Thursday evening with second round championship matches and first round consolations. Action begins at 6:30 p.m. CDT with free live streaming audio of all Lehigh matches online at Lehighsports.com.
Pigtail Round
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Cody Cleveland (UTC) |
3:59 |
Round of 32
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra) |
maj. dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
10-2 |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Tony D’Alie (Cent. Mich.) |
7-5 |
|
149 |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
W |
Peter Yates (Va. Tech) |
Forfeit |
|
165 |
Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska) |
dec. |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
6-1 |
|
174 |
John Dergo (Illinois) |
dec. |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
3-1 |
|
184 |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Rocco Caponi (Virginia) |
3-1 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
Fall |
Dustin Porter (GWU) |
0:40 |
Team Scores after session one
|
Team |
Pts. |
|
1. Iowa State |
25 |
|
2. Iowa |
22 |
|
3. Ohio State |
17.5 |
|
T4. Boise State |
15 |
|
T4. Nebraska |
15 |
|
6. Lehigh |
14 |
|
7. Edinboro |
12.5 |
|
T8. Cent. Michigan |
12 |
|
T8. Cornell |
12 |
|
T10. Hofstra |
10 |
|
T10. Illinois |
10 |
|
T10. Missouri |
10 |
|
T10. Penn State |
10 |
