Lehigh University
NCAA Championships
Ciasulli, Rey reach quarters; six still alive for LU
3/18/2010 10:45:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
 |
OMAHA, Neb. – Senior Seth Ciasulli and sophomore Zach Rey advanced to the quarterfinals with wins in Thursday’s evening session at the 80th NCAA Championships at Qwest Center. Ciasulli needed late heroics for the second time on Thursday, scoring a late takedown and holding on to beat Scott Clymer of Liberty 6-5 at 141. Rey made a first period takedown stand in a 3-2 win over Kurt Klimek of Cal-State Fullerton. Four other Mountain Hawks dropped their second round matches but remain alive in the consolations.
“We wrestled really hard,” said Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro. “We fought hard all day long. We had opportunities to put some matches away but didn’t. The effort has been much better than Easterns. We’re focused and trying to win. Even the matches we lost we were putting ourselves in a position to win and that’s what you need to do.”
Ciasulli wrestled an unconventional match for him against Clymer. He scored the first takedown in the first period but was reversed and ridden out. On top in the second period, Ciasulli was reversed and ridden out again. Trailing 4-2 in the third period, Ciasulli chose neutral, took down Clymer and then cut him loose before taking him down again in the final 15 seconds for the win. Ciasulli will next face the No. 4 seed, Reece Humphrey of Ohio State in the quarterfinals.
Rey only picked up one takedown against Klimek but it was enough to advance to the quarters where he will face Ben Berhow of Minnesota, who knocked off the No. 11 and No. 6 seeds.
Senior Matt Fisk could not replicate the magic of Thursday morning, when he picked up two wins, including a pin of the No. 11 seed, as he fell to sixth seed Dan Mitcheff of Kent State 4-3. Mitcheff scored takedowns in the first and third period. Fisk will now face Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan in a second round consolation Friday morning.
Faced with the task of facing the defending national champion, sophomore Brandon Hatchett gave his best effort but a first-period counter takedown gave No. 2 seed Jarrod King of Edinboro a 3-2 win at 165. Hatchett will meet the No. 12 seed Paul Young of Indiana in the consolations.
At 184 senior David Craig scored two first period takedowns to lead Clayton Foster of Oklahoma State after one period, but Foster reversed Craig to open the second period and added a two-point near fall to take the lead. Craig had a late opportunity to tie the match when he took down Foster for a third time, but Craig would have missed eliminating Foster’s riding time advantage by one second. By the time he cut Foster loose there was no time for another shot as Foster held on for a 10-8 win. Next up for Craig is Zac Thomusseit of Pitt, who Craig has already beaten twice this season.
Sophomore Joe Kennedy was also relegated to the wrestlebacks as he dropped a 9-2 decision to No. 3 seed Hudson Taylor of Maryland. Kennedy will look to stay alive against Chad Beatty of Iowa on Friday morning.
The lone Mountain Hawk eliminated on Thursday was freshman Robert Hamlin, who dropped his first round consolation to Duke Burk of Iowa State by a 7-3 score.
In the team race, Lehigh fell into a tie for tenth with Central Michigan, Penn State and Virginia with all four having 17 points. Iowa has opened up an 8.5 point lead over Oklahoma State for first, followed by Iowa State, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.
“We have six guys alive,” said Santoro. “Two guys are still in the title hunt and four others are in the All-American hunt, so it’s not a bad day. Tomorrow morning is going to be huge for us. We came here to get some medals and all our remaining guys have good chances at that.”
The 80th NCAA Championships continue Friday morning with quarterfinals and two rounds of consolations, beginning at 9:30 a.m. CDT from Qwest Center. The quarterfinals will be televised on ESPNU while live audio of all Lehigh matches can be heard for free at Lehighsports.com.
Round of 32
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Dan Mitcheff (Kent St.) |
dec. |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
4-3 |
|
141 |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Scott Clymer (Liberty) |
6-5 |
|
165 |
Jarrod King (Edinboro) |
dec. |
Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) |
3-2 |
|
184 |
Clayton Foster (Okla. St.) |
dec. |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
10-8 |
|
197 |
Hudson Taylor (Maryland) |
dec. |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
9-2 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Kurt Klimek (CS-Fullerton) |
3-2 |
First round consolations
|
Weight |
Matchup |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
174 |
Duke Burk (Iowa State) |
dec. |
Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) |
7-3 |
Team Standings
|
Team |
Points |
|
1. Iowa |
34.5 |
|
2. Oklahoma St. |
26 |
|
3. Iowa State |
24 |
|
T4. Ohio State |
23 |
|
T4. Oklahoma |
23 |
|
T4. Wisconsin |
23 |
|
7. Cornell |
22 |
|
8. Minnesota |
20 |
|
9. Missouri |
18.5 |
|
T10. Central Michigan |
17 |
|
T10. LEHIGH |
17 |
|
T10. Penn State |
17 |
|
T10. Virginia |
17 |
