Chippewas out to fast start at NCAA Championships
CMU picks up big early round wins; Michigan's high seeds cruise through session #1
2008 NCAA Championships
March 20-22 - St Louis, MO
3/20 - Many people wondered if all of Central Michigan's 9 NCAA
qualifiers would contribute this weekend at the NCAA
Championships. So far, the answer is yes. CMU went a perfect
11-0 in the opening session of the tournament, with some big
upsets from Connor Beebe and Brandon Carter.
Beebe used a nice double leg late in the third to edge #7 seed
Zach Tanelli of Wisconsin 7-6 and move on the second round at
133lbs. Carter upended the #10 seed at 149lbs as he defeated
Scott Ervin of Appalachian State 5-3. Other unseeded Chippewas
to win their opening bouts were Luke Smith and Steve Brown at
133 and 157, respectively. Smith won two close matches as he
won his pigtail match 1-0 over Ross Gitomer of Virginia and then
squeeked by Tyler Clark of Iowa State 4-3 in the round of 32.
Brown, meanwhile, got by Army's Christian Snook 5-4 to advance.
CMU's big guns followed suit, winning their opening round
matches with relative ease. #9 Trevor Stewart, #5 Brandon
Sinnott, #4 Christian Sinnott, #4 Wynn Michalak, and #8 Bubba
Gritter all upheld their seeds with wins in the first round.
High seeds cruising was the theme of the session as none of Michigan's high seeds have been upset thus far. Davison native Brent Metcalf got his NCAA tournament career off to a good start as the #1 seeded Hawkeye pinned Will Rowe of Oklahoma in the first period. MSU's top seeded Franklin Gomez also won the his first ever NCAA tournament match handily with a 12-4 rout over Josh Baldridge of Norhtern Iowa at 133lbs.
The University of Michigan won all but one in the opening round as Kellen Russell, Josh Churella, Eric Tannenbaum, Steve Luke, and Tyrel Todd advanced to the round of 16. Jeff Marsh was the only Wolverine to lose as he was knocked off by 12th seeded Josh Zupancic of Stanford.
Three of the four former Davison standouts are still alive for the championship as Metcalf, along with returning national champ Paul Donahoe and Iowa State freshman Jon Reader won their first round matches. Trevor Perry was the lone former Cardinal to fall as he lost to 6th seeded Alton Lucas of Hofstra 7-4.
EMU's lone NCAA qualifier Charlie Pienaar lost his opening bout to Iowa's 7th seeded Phil Keddy at 184lbs 10-2.
Action will resume tonight at 6:30pm with the consolation prelims and the championship round of 16. Check back with Michigan Grappler for updates.
Here is the results of all the matches containing Michigan guys in the round of 64 and round of 32:
Round #1 (rd of 32)
125lbs - #3 Paul Donahoe (Nebraska) majdec Nikko Triggas (Ohio State) 8-0
125lbs - Luke Smith (Central Michigan) dec Tyler Clark (Iowa State) 4-3
133lbs - #1 Franklin Gomez (Michigan State) maj dec Josh Baldrigdge (Northern Iowa) 12-4
133lbs - Connor Beebe (Central Michigan) dec #9 Zach Tanelli (Wisconsin) 7-6
141lbs - #3 Kellen Russell (Michigan) dec Richard Rappo (Penn) 4-0
149lbs - #1 Brent Metcalf (Iowa) fall William Rowe (Oklahoma) 2:44
149lbs - Josh Churella (Michigan) majdec Ryan Adams (North Dakota State) 11-2
149lbs - Brandon Carter (Central Michigan) dec #10 Scott Ervin (Appalachian State) 5-3
157lbs - #12 Josh Zupancic (Stanford) majdec Jeff Marsh (Michigan) 13-4
157lbs - Steven Brown (Central Michigan) dec Christian Snook (Army) 5-4
165lbs - #1 Eric Tannenbaum (Michigan) dec Ethan Headlee (Pittsburgh) 5-3
165lbs - #9 Trevor Stewart (Central Michigan) dec Roger Smith-Bersgurd (Illinois) 4-2
165lbs - #6 Jonathan Reader (Iowa State) dec Andrew Rendos (Bucknell) 8-2
174lbs - #5 Brandon Sinnott (Central Michigan) dec Tyler Bernacchi (UC Davis) 5-1
174lbs - #6 Alton Lucas (Hofstra) dec Trevor Perry (Indiana) 7-4
174lbs - #2 Steve Luke (Michigan) majdec Joshua Patterson (Binghamton) 11-3
184lbs - #8 Roger Kish (Minnesota) dec Josh Edmondson (Tenn Chattanooga) 6-3
184lbs - #4 Chrisitan Sinnott (Central Michigan) dec Scott Ferguson (Army) 3-2
184lbs - #3 Tyrel Todd (Michigan) dec Kurt Brenner (West Virginia) 4-0
184lbs - #7 Phil Keddy (Iowa) majdec Charlie Pienaar (Eastern Michigan) 10-2
197lbs - #4 Wynn Michalak (Central Michigan) majdec John Drake (Cal St Fullerton) 12-2
285lbs - #8 Bubba Gritter (Central Michignan) fall Nathan Thobaben (Army) 4:44
[Bout 165] 285lbs - Levon Mock (Brown) vs #11 Michael Spaid (Bloomsburg)
Pigtail Round (rd of 64)
125lbs - Anthony Robles (Arizona State) dec Brandon Kinney (Columbia) 12-5
125lbs - Luke Smith (Central Michigan) dec Ross Gitomer (Virginia) 1-0
149lbs - #5 Josh Churella (Michigan) dec Trevor Chinn (Lehigh) 8-2
184lbs - AJ Kissell (Purdue) dec Manuel Schubert (Lehigh) 4-2
285lbs - #8 Ryan Gritter (Central Michigan) dec Justin Dobies (North Carolina) 5-1
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