Session I Recap
OMAHA, Neb. -
Matt Kyler
picked up his second win of the day and second bonus point victory and advanced
to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at Qwest
Center. Fellow senior
Richard Starks kept his season alive with a win in the
second round of consolations as Session II concluded late Thursday night.
Kyler, seeded sixth and
ranked sixth nationally, posted a 9-0 victory over 11th-seeded Desmond Green of
Buffalo Thursday evening to advance to the quarterfinals where he will oppose
third-seeded Kyle Terry of Oklahoma Friday morning.
Starks, wrestling in the
consolation bracket, rallied for a 7-3 win with over five minutes of riding
time. He will wrestle in the third round of consolations Friday morning.
Kyler, coming off a
third-period fall of Brian Bucher of George Mason in the morning session, was
again the aggressor early against Green, ranked 18th nationally in the latest
Intermat rankings.
Kyler, seeking his second
All-America honor in his fourth trip to nationals, picked up a takedown 46
seconds into the match and rode Green for the remainder of the period. Kyler
chose down in the second period and quickly escaped for a 3-0 advantage. A pair
of penalty points extended the leads to 5-0 and then Kyler secured a takedown
at the buzzer.
Green chose down in the final
period and Kyler picked up another penalty point and had more than four minutes
of riding time for the 9-0 victory.
Kyler will wrestle in the
quarterfinals Friday morning against Terry. Terry, the third seed and ranked
third nationally, beat Cesar Grajales of Pennsylvania 6-3 and then scored a
major decision over Bobby Ward of North Carolina State, 10-0.
Starks fell behind early when
Tyler Smith of Rider scored a takedown. Starks scored the reversal but Smith
escaped and led 3-2 after the first three minutes.
Smith chose down in the second period and Starks added to his riding time
advantage after getting a penalty point to tie the match.
Starks, making his third NCAA
appearance, chose the down position in the final period. He quickly escaped and
then posted a takedown for a 6-3 advantage. He continued to add to his riding
time and secured the final point with 5:02 of riding time.
Starks will wrestle in Friday's
third round of consolations against Brent Haynes of Missouri. Haynes, the #12
seed, beat Erik Schuth of Ohio 18-6 and then lost to fifth-seeded Trevor
Brandvold of Wisconsin, 7-2.
Session III of nationals will
be held Friday and gets underway at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. ESPNU and
espn360.com will have the coverage of the championship quarterfinals and the
third and fourth round of consolation.
BLACK KNIGHT BLOG: Cornell's Troy Nickerson, a three-time All-American and defending
national champion, lost in the second round to Fred Santaite of Boston, 2-1.
Nickerson was the No. 2 seed in the 125-pound bracket ... In the other 149-pound
quarterfinals, top-seed Lance Palmer of Ohio State faces Jason Chamberlain of
Boise State; Frank Molinaro of Penn State wrestles Torsten Gillespie, a 6-4
upset winner over #3-seed Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin; and second-seeded Brent
Metcalf faces Mitch Mueller of Iowa State ... Matt Kyler is now 32-3 this season
with 21 bonus point wins including 10 falls and 10 major decisions ... Starks is
now 26-3 this season and 105-24 for his career.
149 #6 Matt Kyler
Round of 32: pinned Brian Bucher, George Mason, 6:46
Round of 16: major dec. over #18 Desmond Green, Buffalo, 9-0
Quarterfinals: vs. #3 Kyle Terry, Oklahoma
197 Richard Starks
Round of 32: lost by dec. to #14 Logan Brown, Purdue, 6-2
Consolation Second Round: Tyler Smith, Rider, 7-3
Consolation Third Round: vs. Brent Haynes, Missouri
Courtesy: Army Athletic Communications
