Lehigh University
NCAA Championships
Rey reaches semifinals; earns All-America honors
3/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Wrestling
 |
OMAHA, Neb. – Sophomore Zach Rey became the 128th wrestling All-American in Lehigh history and advanced to the national semifinals at 285 with a 2-1 tiebreaker win in the quarterfinals over Minnesota’s Ben Berhow Friday morning at the 80th NCAA Championships at Qwest Center. Rey’s win ends Lehigh’s three-year All-American drought and also becomes Lehigh’s first semifinalist since 2006 as he will face No. 2 Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State Friday night for a spot in the national title match.
In addition to Rey, senior captains Matt Fisk and Seth Ciasulli can join Rey in earning All-America honors with victories in the Round of 12 Friday night.
Rey and Berhow struggled to generate offense through seven minutes of regulation and a minute of sudden victory. Berhow earned his point with a second period escape, while Rey tied the bout with a third period escape. In the tiebreakers, Berhow won the toss and went on bottom first, but Rey was able to ride him for the entire 30 second period. Rey escaped early in the second 30 second period and continued his solid defense to earn his 31st win of the season.
With the win, Rey is guaranteed a top-six finish and becomes Lehigh’s first heavyweight All-American since Bill Closson in 1998. Rey will look to avenge two prior losses to Rosholt and try to become Lehigh’s first finalist since Troy Letters won his national title in 2004.
Lehigh’s only other quarterfinalist; Ciasulli dropped a 5-3 decision to No. 4 seed Reece Humphrey of Ohio State at 141. Humphrey took down Ciasulli in the first period and iced the match with a third-period score. Ciasulli can still earn a spot on the podium with a win over No. 3 seed Mike Thorn of Minnesota Friday night.
Fisk battled back through the consolations at 133 with two victories in Friday’s early session. He opened with a convincing 11-1 major decision over Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan and then defeated Rutgers’ Bill Ashnault 5-1. Fisk scored a takedown late in the first period versus Ashnault and added a second early in the second period. In the All-America round of 12, Fisk will meet the No. 5 seed Boris Novachkov of Cal Poly.
Three Mountain Hawks saw their seasons come to an end with losses in the second round of consolations. At 165, sophomore Brandon Hatchett dropped a 6-1 decision to Paul Young of Indiana. Senior David Craig saw his career end with a 4-0 loss to Zac Thomusseit of Pittsburgh. Sophomore Joe Kennedy took Chad Beatty of Iowa into overtime, but couldn’t escape in the tiebreakers and was eliminated with a 2-1 loss.
In the team race, Lehigh sits in 14th place with 26 points. Iowa continues to lead with 73 points followed by Cornell (54), Iowa State (46), Ohio State (46) and Oklahoma (44).
The 80th NCAA Championships continue Friday night with the semifinals and two rounds of consolations, including Rey’s semifinal bout and the round of 12 matches for Fisk and Ciasulli. Action begins at 6 p.m. CDT with television coverage on ESPNU and audio coverage of all Lehigh matches at Lehighsports.com.
Quarterfinals
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
141 |
Reece Humphrey (Ohio St.) |
dec. |
Seth Ciasulli (Lehigh) |
5-3 |
|
285 |
Zach Rey (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Ben Berhow (Minnesota) |
2-1, tb. |
Second round consolations
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
maj. dec. |
Sean Clair (E. Mich.) |
11-1 |
|
165 |
Paul Young (Indiana) |
dec. |
Brandon Hatchett (Lehigh) |
6-1 |
|
184 |
Zac Thomusseit (Pitt) |
dec. |
David Craig (Lehigh) |
4-0, t.b. |
|
197 |
Chad Beatty (Iowa) |
dec. |
Joe Kennedy (Lehigh) |
2-1, t.b. |
Third round consolations
|
Weight |
Match-up |
Result |
|
Score/Time |
|
133 |
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) |
dec. |
Bill Ashnault (Rutgers) |
5-1 |
