WPU News
Fri, Mar 5, 2010 - [Wrestling]
Heavyweight Ryan Groom posted the only Statesmen pin of the day
Oklahoma City, Okla.--Five Statesmen wrestlers entered Thursday vying for an individual national championship. That dream is unfortunately no longer a reality for any of them, but four of Penn's grapplers are still alive for All-America status at the 53rd Annual NAIA Wrestling National Championships.
Current Team Standings and Brackets
As a team, Penn is 18th with nine points as four individuals remain in the consolation bracket at three different weights.
#1 rated Notre Dame (Ohio), who has ten of its 12 qualifiers in the championship bracket, leads the team standings with 44 points. Southern Oregon, with eight on the championship side, is second with 38 points, while Missouri Valley, the champion of the NAIA Central Qualifier, is third with 32 points and five in the championship bracket. A total of 36 different NAIA institutions have representation at the national meet.
All five Statesmen who qualified started their 2010 tournament experience on a sunny note with a victory. Unfortunately, each and every one then came up short in their second appearance on the mat. Four of the grapplers moved on to the next day courtesy of byes in the consolation bracket, but 165-pounder Chris Diaz (So., Montrose, Colo., Olathe HS) was not as lucky as he was eliminated from competition with a 1-2 record.
Penn has two individuals in the 125-pound bracket. Matt Chustz (Sr., Manassas Park, Va., Manassas Park HS) defeated Bryan Borst of Great Falls (Mont.) 12-6 before falling to Tyler Savage of Notre Dame 1-0. The senior, who owns a 30-11 record, returns to competition Friday against Akmal Adilov of Great Falls. He is three wins away from earning All-America status.
Also at 125 pounds, Taylor Louie (Jr., West Covina, Calif., West Covina HS) picked off Diego Quintana of Northwestern 8-3 prior to being pinned by Southern Oregon's Mitchell Lofstedt in a time of 5:36. Louie, who is 16-11 this year, will next face Alan Callahan of Baker (Kan.) Friday. He is also three wins shy of becoming an All-American.
141-pounder Dustin Howa (Sr., Price, Utah, Carbon HS) opened his national tournament by claiming an 11-2 major decision over Matthew Dowell of Northwestern. He then lost a tight 8-6 decision to Mikey Davis of Cumberland (Tenn.). Howa will begin Friday's consolation run against Davis' teammate Neil Bert. Howa, at 20-14 this season, is looking for three wins as well to obtain an All-America award.
Diaz dominated Cole Nelson of Oklahoma City with an 11-2 major decision win, but failed in appearances against Aaron Winning of McKendree (Ill.) (pinned in 56 seconds) and Luke Evjen of Northwestern (lost 9-4). His season concludes with an 18-24 mark.
Heavyweight Ryan Groom (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) notched the lone fall for the Statesmen on Thursday as he stuck Alex Will of Morningside in a time of 2:47. He then dropped to the consolation bracket with a 7-3 loss to John Bates of Southern Oregon. If Groom, who is now 20-19, is to become an All-American, he will need to be victorious three more times, beginning with the winner of the Ronnie Hood (Oklahoma City) vs. Alexander Evans (California Baptist) matchup.
Current Team Standings and Brackets
As a team, Penn is 18th with nine points as four individuals remain in the consolation bracket at three different weights.
#1 rated Notre Dame (Ohio), who has ten of its 12 qualifiers in the championship bracket, leads the team standings with 44 points. Southern Oregon, with eight on the championship side, is second with 38 points, while Missouri Valley, the champion of the NAIA Central Qualifier, is third with 32 points and five in the championship bracket. A total of 36 different NAIA institutions have representation at the national meet.
All five Statesmen who qualified started their 2010 tournament experience on a sunny note with a victory. Unfortunately, each and every one then came up short in their second appearance on the mat. Four of the grapplers moved on to the next day courtesy of byes in the consolation bracket, but 165-pounder Chris Diaz (So., Montrose, Colo., Olathe HS) was not as lucky as he was eliminated from competition with a 1-2 record.
Penn has two individuals in the 125-pound bracket. Matt Chustz (Sr., Manassas Park, Va., Manassas Park HS) defeated Bryan Borst of Great Falls (Mont.) 12-6 before falling to Tyler Savage of Notre Dame 1-0. The senior, who owns a 30-11 record, returns to competition Friday against Akmal Adilov of Great Falls. He is three wins away from earning All-America status.
Also at 125 pounds, Taylor Louie (Jr., West Covina, Calif., West Covina HS) picked off Diego Quintana of Northwestern 8-3 prior to being pinned by Southern Oregon's Mitchell Lofstedt in a time of 5:36. Louie, who is 16-11 this year, will next face Alan Callahan of Baker (Kan.) Friday. He is also three wins shy of becoming an All-American.
141-pounder Dustin Howa (Sr., Price, Utah, Carbon HS) opened his national tournament by claiming an 11-2 major decision over Matthew Dowell of Northwestern. He then lost a tight 8-6 decision to Mikey Davis of Cumberland (Tenn.). Howa will begin Friday's consolation run against Davis' teammate Neil Bert. Howa, at 20-14 this season, is looking for three wins as well to obtain an All-America award.
Diaz dominated Cole Nelson of Oklahoma City with an 11-2 major decision win, but failed in appearances against Aaron Winning of McKendree (Ill.) (pinned in 56 seconds) and Luke Evjen of Northwestern (lost 9-4). His season concludes with an 18-24 mark.
Heavyweight Ryan Groom (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) notched the lone fall for the Statesmen on Thursday as he stuck Alex Will of Morningside in a time of 2:47. He then dropped to the consolation bracket with a 7-3 loss to John Bates of Southern Oregon. If Groom, who is now 20-19, is to become an All-American, he will need to be victorious three more times, beginning with the winner of the Ronnie Hood (Oklahoma City) vs. Alexander Evans (California Baptist) matchup.
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