Curtain falls on Rock wrestling program
Charlie and David Pienaar both lost second-round consolation matches Saturday; three other Rock grapplers saw their seasons end Friday night
Oklahoma City, Okla. – The final curtain rung down on The Rock wrestling program Saturday morning when both Charlie Pienaar and his younger brother, David Pienaar, suffered losses in the second round of consolation competition at the NCAA Division I Championships.
David Pienaar was pinned (2:14) by Northern Iowa’s Christopher Ettelson in the second round of the 141-pound consolation bracket to finish the season with a 23-15 record.
Charlie Pienaar lost a 5-1 decision to Kent State’s Alex Camargo in 184-pound competition to conclude the season with a 24-14 record.
The Pienaar brothers were the only two Rock wrestlers to record a win in this year’s national competition. Three SRU student-athletes — Matt Burkholder, Jason Cardillo and Chris Clarke were eliminated from the tournament in the minimum two matches.
Burkholder, Cardillo, Clarke and Charlie Pienaar each earned berths to the national competition by winning East Regional titles on March 4. David Pienaar received the regional’s lone wild-card berth to nationals after finishing second in his weight-class competition.
Charlie Pienaar, with his 4-3 tiebreaker win Thursday night over Harvard’s Louis Caputo, became the first Rock wrestler to record an on-mat win in the national championship since 1999. Current Rock head coach Derek DelPorto earned All-America honors with an eighth-place finish in the 1999 heavyweight competition.
The 2006 national championship event is the final wrestling event SRU will compete in, at least in the foreseeable future.
The wrestling program is one of eight intercollegiate varsity sports programs SRU will discontinue at the conclusion of the 2005-06 academic year due to economic constraints.
Complete results of Rock wrestlers’ matches in the national tournament are as follows:
125 pounds
First round: Luke Magnani (Iowa) maj. dec. Chris Clarke, 8-0
Consolation first round: Cory Borges (Fresno State) dec. Chris Clarke, 8-3
141 pounds
First round: Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa) dec. David Pienaar, 6-0
Consolation first round: David Pienaar won by medical forfeit over Cassio Pero (Illinois)
Consolation second round: Christopher Ettelson (Northern Iowa) pinned David Pienaar, 2:14
165 pounds
First round: #7 Troy Letters (Lehigh) maj. dec. Jason Cardillo, 10-2
Consolation first round: #10 Patrick Pitsch (Arizona State) dec. Jason Cardillo, 8-7
184 pounds
First round: #1 Joshua Glenn (American) pinned Charlie Pienaar, 4:45
Consolation first round: Charlie Pienaar dec. Louis Caputo (Harvard), 4-3 TB
Consolation second round: Alex Camargo (Kent State) dec. Charlie Pienaar, 5-1
285 pounds
First round: #3 Greg Wagner (Michigan) pinned Matt Burkholder, 3:43
Consolation first round: Jon May (Nebraska) pinned Matt Burkholder, 5:22
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