Wrestling Recap:

-Iowa Wins National Duals Title:  Wrestling without the services of their captain, returning All-American, Charlie Falck (125), the Hawkeyes of the University of Iowa repeated as champions at the NWCA National Duals this past weekend.  Trailing 13-8 to Cornell after six bouts point of the title dual, The Brands led Hawkeyes responded by winning the final four contests to emerge walk away with the title, 23-13.  Proving especially big in U of I’s repeat efforts were Jay Borschel, who won a battle of top-5 wrestlers over the Big Red’s Steve Anceravage, 7-3.   Phil Keddy would follow up the Borschel win with a victory of his own, 6-2 over Justin Kerber to give Iowa its first lead of the afternoon, 14-13 with only a pair of matches to go.  Chad Beatty would pad the Hawk lead to 17-13 with a narrow 4-3 decision over Cam Simaz, who has come on strong of late for Cornell.   A Dan Erekson first period pin over third stringer, Taylor Moore, would put the final nail in the Big Red coffin.  Also winning for Iowa were Alex Tsirtsis (141) and returning NCAA Champion, Brent Metcalf (149).  The Hawkeyes advanced to the finals with a 38-3 win over Wyoming, a 27-7 triumph over rival, Minnesota, and a 23-11 semifinal victory against the Cornhuskers of Nebraska.

Cornell, who entered the event at the #3 team in the nation, earned their spot in the finals by upsetting #2 Iowa State, 22-15 behind clutch wins by Troy Nickerson (4-2 over #5 Tyler Clark), Mike Grey (7-5 SV over #6 Nick Fanthorpe), returning NCAA Champion, Jordan Leen (13-5 MD over #5 Cyler Sanderson), and #1 ranked Mack Lewnes (6-5 against #5 Jon Reader).  Prior to the victory over the Cyclones, Cornell posted duals wins over Michigan (23-9), and Ohio State (17-16). 

-Nickerson Makes Return (Again): After sitting out the majority of the first semester of the 2008/2009 season, two-time All-American, Troy Nickerson, made his return to the mat this past weekend for the Cornell Big Red.  Nickerson, the only five-time State Champion in Empire State history, was said to be questionable in the days leading up to the National duals.  In fact, as late as Friday night, a Cornell insider was quoted as saying that Nickerson would only wrestle in duals that his team was expected to need him.  If this is true, then apparently Coach Rob Koll felt that his squad needed Nickerson for every dual, as the junior out of Chenango Forks, suited up and wrestled in all four of his school’s duals, going undefeated along the way.  In Cornell’s 23-9 first round victory over Michigan, Nickerson pitched a shutout against #11 Mike Watts, just missing bonus points in a 7-0 decision victory.   The shutout streak would continue in his next bout.  This time, the victim was Buckeyes’ sophomore, Nikko Triggas, who found himself on the wrong end of a 2-0 decision.   Tyler Clark would be the first opponent to get on the board against Nickerson.  However, he too could not accumulate enough points, getting doubled up, 4-0.  Nickerson would close out his perfect record with a 4-0 win over Iowa backup, J.J. Krutsinger.

Despite going undefeated with a pair of wins over top-15 competition, the feeling among members of the peanut gallery (message board posters) was that they were were unsatisfied with Nickerson’s results, pointing to the fact that he was unable to muster bonus points in any single bout.   Coach Rob Koll provided clarification on this subject, saying that because this was the first time Nickerson had competed in a while, the strategy was to wrestle conservatively while also remainining in control of every bout.  Koll felt that Nickerson did this flawlessly. 

-Shenendehowa Are Eastern States Champions:  Despite seeing several of their highly regarded wrestlers get upset in the semifinals and other previous rounds of competition, the Shenendehowa coaching staff never waivered in their confidence.  This strong belief in their wrestlers paid off, as the Upstate school rallied from a 7-10 point deficit to pull ahead of Timberlane (N.H.) in the final team tally at the Eastern States tournament this past weekend on the campus of Sullivan Community College.  Despite crowning only a single individual champion, 189-pounder Austin Meys, the perenially strong wrestling program relied heavily on the inner strength of its wrestlers, asking them to put their losses in the championship bracket behind them and go out strong in their wrestle-back bouts.  This request was answered with conviction as Nick Kelley (3rd @103), Luke Popolizio (6th @112), John Belanger (3rd @119), Mike Almaviva (5th @215), and Adam Geleta (8th @285) all finished as placewinners. 

In addition to Meys, who pinned Miller Place’s Zach Buonaiuto in the first period to claim the title, other champions on the afternoon included: 96- Shane Connolly (Warwick), 103- Arik Robinson (Peru), 112- Sean Kempf (MacArthur), 119- Steven Keith (Shoreham-Wading River), 125- Jamie Franco (Monroe-Woodbury), 130-Cody Ruggirello (Valley Central), Stephen Dutton (Rocky Point), 140- Victor Cornado (BGA), 145- Zach Clemente (LaSalle), 152- Craig Scott (Lyons), 160- Billy Coggins (Rocky Point), Tyler Beckwith (Greene), 215-Steven Butler (Port Jervis), and 285- Brian Nicoll (Timberlane)….Congratulations to Rocky Point for being the lone school to crown multiple individual champions.

Finishing in the top-10 in the final team scores were: Shenendehowa (140.5), Timberlane (132), MacArthur (109), Wayne (106), Valley Central (104.5), Amsterdam (98), Monroe-Woodbury (96), Burnt Hills (93.5), Rocky Point (92.5), and Shoreham-Wading River (91.5).

Jamie Franco (96-125), Stephen Dutton (130-160), and Austin Meys (171-285) all shared M.O.W. honors.

-Where Have You Gone, Joe Fagiano (A Nation Turns It’s Lonely Eyes to You):  As per a message on his facebook account, Hofstra University 197-pounder, Joe Fagiano, has returned to his home in Illinois.  While it is not known how long Fagiano will be out of the Pride starting lineup, it is strongly rumored that HU fans should expect Anthony Tortora to be the one maning the weight class at this weekend’s CAA Duals.  Should the 2008 NCAA National qualifier be absent for a prolonged period or time (if not indefinitely), it will severely compromise the team’s ability to keep their consecutive conference championship streak intact.  Already considered an underdog to Old Dominion with Fagiano in the lineup, the toss of the Indiana transfer could all but ensure that the Pride will relinquish top conference honors in 2008/2009.  LHW will keep you updated as more information comes available.

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