Thursday, March 21
Des Moines, Iowa
12:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
NCAA Championships
Cruz, Hamlin win; two seeds upset in opening session of NCAAs
3/21/2013 8:37:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
DES MOINES, Iowa – Freshman Randy Cruz and senior Robert Hamlin posted victories to lead Lehigh in the opening session of the NCAA Wrestling Championships Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena. The Mountain Hawks went 2-3 in Thursday's afternoon session with two of Lehigh's three seeded wrestlers falling victim to opening round upsets.
Cruz was the first Mountain Hawk on the mat and the most impressive, as he won an 11-0 major decision over Brian Owen of Boise State at 133. The Bethlehem native worked into a Peterson position to secure a first period takedown and added a three-point near fall off a cradle to lead 5-0 after one. Cruz extended his lead with a two point and a three point near fall in the second and rode out the final two periods to finish with 4:56 of riding time. Things will get tougher for the true freshman as Cruz will next face No. 3 seed Tyler Graff of Wisconsin in the round of 16 Thursday night.
Hamlin looked more the like the two-time All-American than the wrestler who had to default to sixth place at the EIWA Championships due to injury, with his 7-3 decision over Casey Newburg of Kent State at 184. The No. 3 seed, Hamlin opened the scoring with a first period takedown, and broke a 2-2 tie with a third period escape before adding two more takedowns in the final period. Hamlin will next face Dan Rinaldi of Rutgers Thursday night. Hamlin is 6-0 all-time versus the Rutgers senior.At 141, sophomore Anthony Salupo fought hard against No. 6 seed Undrakhbayar Khishignyam of the Citadel, but ultimately fell 6-3. Salupo scored a second period takedown to tie the match at three, but Khishingnyam escaped to open the third and added a takedown in the final seconds. Salupo now has to face the No. 11 seed Mike Nevinger of Cornell in the consolations. Nevinger defeated Salupo 5-3 in sudden victory in the EIWA consolation semifinals.
Third seeded Joey Napoli fell victim to an upset as he dropped a 6-0 decision to Taylor Walsh of Indiana at 157. After a scoreless first period, Walsh rode out the second period and reversed Napoli to his back for a five point move in the third. Napoli will now face Minnesota's Danny Zilverberg in the consolations.
Sophomore Nathaniel Brown, seeded ninth at 174 was knocked off by Hunter Gamble of Gardner-Webb 5-3. Brown opened the scoring with a first period takedown but was reversed and ridden out. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods, and late in the third Brown initiated a shot, but it was Gamble who scrambled into the winning takedown in the final seconds. Next up for Brown is Greg Zannetti of Rutgers.
The NCAA Championships continue Thursday evening with session two, featuring the round of 16 and pigtail and first round consolations from Wells Fargo Center. All of Lehigh's NCAA tournament action can be heard live (for free) at Lehighsports.com.
133 – Randy Cruz
Rd. of 32: major dec. Brian Owen (Boise State) 11-0
Rd. of 16: vs. No. 3 Tyler Graff (Wisconsin)
141 – Anthony Salupo
Rd. of 32: L by dec. No. 6 Undrakhbayar Khishignyam (The Citadel) 6-3
First round consolation: vs. No. 11 Mike Nevinger (Cornell)
157 – No. 3 Joey Napoli
Rd. of 32: L by dec. Taylor Walsh (Indiana) 6-0
First round consolation: vs. Danny Zilverberg (Minnesota)
174 – No. 9 Nathaniel Brown
Rd. of 32 L by dec. Hunter Gamble (Gardner-Webb) 5-3
First round consolation: vs. Greg Zannetti (Rutgers)
184 – No. 3 Robert Hamlin
Rd. of 32: dec. Casey Newburg (Kent State) 7-3
Rd. of 16: vs. Dan Ridaldi (Rutgers)
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