Lehigh advances 5, Penn 4 into 2nd round at NCAA Wrestling championships
The Penn wrestling team has done a good job of defending its home turf at the end of the opening round of the 2011 Division I Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Quakers have advanced four to today’s second round and ended tied for 19th of 51 schools in the team standings with 8 points. In the 125 class junior Mark Rappo scored an opening round upset over #9 seeded Jonathon Morrison of Oklahoma State by an 8-4 decision. The Quakers also got contributions from senior Gabe Burak (165) with a 6-3 decision, sophomore Micah Burak (197) with a 7-3 decision and red shirt junior Zack Kemmerer (141) by a 7-5 decision.
The Penn wrestling team has done a good job of defending its home turf at the end of the opening round of the 2011 Division I Wrestling Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The Quakers have advanced four to today's second round and ended tied for 19th of 51 schools in the team standings with 8 points.
In the 125 class junior Mark Rappo scored an opening round upset over #9 seeded Jonathon Morrison of Oklahoma State by an 8-4 decision. The Quakers also got contributions from senior Gabe Burak (165) with a 6-3 decision, sophomore Micah Burak (197) with a 7-3 decision and red shirt junior Zack Kemmerer (141) by a 7-5 decision.
Rappo and both Burak brothers were both unseeded in the tournament and face seeded opponents in the second round. Kemmerer entered the field as the No. 12 seed after coming in third at the EIWA championships last week. Kemmerer will face No. 5 seeded Montell Marion of three-time defending national champion Iowa.
"It's a great opportunity for me to put myself out there," said Kemmerer of the second round bout. Despite his underdog status wrestling against Marion, who is ranked No. 5 by Intermat.com, Kemmerer feels good about his and his teams chances going forward.
"The way [we're] wrestling right now I'm very confident. [Marion's] going to have to beat me when I'm at my best," Kemmerer said.
Other local teams have fared well besides the Quakers.
Lehigh advanced five wrestlers including 285 heavyweight favorite and No. 1 seed Zachery Rey. Rey won by a 6-1 decision. The Mountain Hawks also received a strong performance from sophomore Joseph Napoli (149) who recorded a fall at the 6:00 mark. Lehigh ended the first round tied for eighth in team standings with 13 points.
Lock Haven's lone entrant, junior Matthew Bonson, recorded a fall on Levi Jones of Boise State to advance to the second round. Bonson is the 18th ranked 141 wrestler in the nation according to Intermat.com.