Lehigh University
NCAA Championships
Rey reaches quarters; Lehigh 13th after day one
3/19/2009 10:30:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
ST. LOUIS – Freshman Zach Rey defeated No. 6 seed Mitch Monteiro of Cal State Bakersfield 4-2 in sudden victory to reach the quarterfinals at heavyweight, leading the group of six Lehigh wrestlers who survived day one at the NCAA Championships Thursday at Scottrade Center. Of the four wrestlers who won first round matches on Thursday afternoon, Rey was the only Mountain Hawk to win his round of 16 match as Lehigh dropped out of the top ten and sits in 13th place with 17 points after day one.
Rey scored the only two takedowns of the bout to become Lehigh’s first quarterfinalist since the Mountain Hawks placed three in the quarters in 2006. He converted a single leg shot in the first period and led 2-1 after one period. Monteiro was able to ride Rey for the full two minutes in the second period and escaped for the only point of the third. In sudden victory, Rey initiated several shots and was able to pounce on Monteiro for the decisive takedown with eight seconds remaining in sudden victory. Rey will meet the No. 3 seed Jermail Porter of Kent State in the quarterfinals.
The round of 16 was not as kind to Seth Ciasulli, Trevor Chinn or David Craig who all lost and will wrestle in the consolations on Friday.
Ciasulli gave up two first period takedowns and never recovered in a 6-4 loss to Nick Gallick of Iowa State at 141. Next up for Ciasulli is Chris Bencivenga of UNC Greensboro.
At 149, Chinn lost a 3-0 decision to Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. Ruschell escaped in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Chinn chose neutral in the third, but was unable to penetrate Ruschell’s defense as the Badger added a late takedown. Chinn will next face David Jauregui of West Virginia in the second round of consolations.
Craig scored the first takedown in his match with Joe LeBlanc at 184, but a takedown by the Wyoming freshman changed the complexion of the bout. LeBlanc escaped in the second period to build a 4-2 lead and added two two-point near falls to extend the lead as he finished with an 11-3 major decision over Craig, who will now face Chris McNeil of Oklahoma State on Friday.
In the consolation bracket, Mike Galante and Alex Caruso picked up victories to extend their NCAA tournaments. Galante knocked off No. 10 seed Chris Brown of Old Dominion 5-3 with takedowns in each of the first two periods. He will face Tyler Sherfey of Boise State in the second round of consolations. Caruso was a 6-3 winner over Jason McCroskey of Chattanooga as he earns a matchup with Iowa State’s Duke Burk.
The only Lehigh wrestler who failed to win a match was junior Matt Fisk, who dropped his consolation match to Thomas Kimbrell of Cal State Bakersfield 5-2.
In the team race, Iowa and Iowa State finished tied for first at the end of day one with 33 points apiece. Ohio State, Nebraska and Edinboro round out the top five.
The NCAA Championships continue on Friday morning with the quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations, beginning at 10 a.m. CDT from Scottrade Center. The quarterfinals will be televised on ESPNU, while all the Lehigh action from St. Louis can be heard for free on Lehighsports.com with streaming powered by Yahoo! Sports.
Round of 16
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
141 |
Nick Gallick (Iowa St.) |
dec. |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
6-4 |
|
149 |
Kyle Ruschell (Wisconsin) |
dec. |
Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) |
3-0 |
|
184 |
Joe LeBlanc (Wyoming) |
maj. dec. |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
11-3 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Mitch Monteiro (Bakersfield) |
4-2 s.v. |
First Round Consolations
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Thomas Kimbrell (Bakersfield) |
dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
5-2 |
|
165 |
Mike Galante (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Chris Brown (ODU) |
5-3 |
|
174 |
Alex Caruso (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Jason McCroskey (UTC) |
6-3 |
Team Scores after session two
|
Team |
Pts. |
|
T1. Iowa State |
33 |
|
T1. Iowa |
33 |
|
3. Ohio State |
30 |
|
4. Nebraska |
24 |
|
5. Edinboro |
22.5 |
|
6. Boise State |
22 |
|
7. Illinois |
20.5 |
|
8. Hofstra |
20 |
|
9. Cornell |
18.5 |
|
T10. Missouri |
18 |
|
T10. Penn State |
18 |
|
12. Kent State |
17.5 |
|
13. Lehigh |
17 |
|
14. Oklahoma State |
16.5 |
|
15. Oklahoma |
16 |
