WVU’s Jones in final after 50th win in row<\/p>\n
By R.B. Fallstrom, The Associated Press<\/p>\n
ST. LOUIS — Oklahoma State had a clean sweep of five semifinal matches last night, wrapping up its third consecutive NCAA wrestling championship with one day of competition remaining.<\/p>\n
“This is huge for us, “coach John Smith said. “We knew this was going to be a challenging year and this is a tribute to hard work of everyone on the team and our entire staff.”<\/p>\n
The Cowboys have won three consecutive titles for the first time since 1954-56, a season-long goal, and have 33 national titles overall. Now they’ll try to win five individual titles for the first time in school history.<\/p>\n
“Now that we’ve wrapped up the title, we need a new goal, “Smith said.<\/p>\n
Another lopsided victory by top-seeded and defending champion Chris Pendleton at 174 pounds led the way. Pendleton, who’ll face second-seeded Ben Askren of Missouri in a title rematch tonight, won his two matches yesterday by a combined score of 32-2.<\/p>\n
Unbeaten and top-ranked heavyweight Steve Mocco also advanced with an easy victory, along with top-seeded 149-pounder Zack Esposito, and No. 3 seeds Jake Rosholt (197) and Johny Hendricks (165). The Cowboys have 127 1\/2 points and a 56-point lead in the team standings against runner-up Cornell, which will have its first top 10 finish since 1958.<\/p>\n
Michigan (67) was third, followed by Minnesota (66), Iowa (64) and Oklahoma (61) in the race for second.<\/p>\n
Cornell, led by top-seeded 133-pounder Travis Lee, sent two wrestlers to the finals and is the only other school with more than one representative.<\/p>\n
Lehigh’s Troy Letters, a Shaler High School graduate, was a victim of one of many semifinal upsets. He was seeded No. 1 at 165 pounds but dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 4-seed Mark Perry of Iowa. It was Letters’ first loss in 26 matches.<\/p>\n
In the quarterfinals, Letters defeated Iowa State’s Travis Paulson, 4-0.<\/p>\n
At 125 pounds, the lightest classification, fifth-seeded Joe Dubuque of Indiana beat No. 1 Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma, 3-1.<\/p>\n
“Just because he was a No. 1 seed wasn’t a big deal, “Dubuque said. “It was just like any other match.”<\/p>\n
Fifth-seeded Sean Stender of Northern Iowa defeated Lehigh’s Jon Trenge, who was seeded No. 1 at 197 pounds, 5-2.<\/p>\n
“I tried to be patient and I was able to build a lead, “Stender said. “Once I got a lead, I just did what I like to do: play defense.”<\/p>\n
Somehow, Oklahoma State emerged unscathed. The closest call came at 197 when Rosholt beat No. 11 seed B.J. Padden of Nebraska 10-9 on riding time.<\/p>\n
Esposito, who’s 34-1, beat Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan 7-2 at 149 pounds. Hendricks knocked off second-seeded Ryan Churella of Michigan 6-2 at 165 and Mocco, dominant at heavyweight throughout the tournament, beat Pat DeGain of Indiana 4-0.<\/p>\n
Joe Johnston of Iowa, No. 8 at 157 pounds, was the worst seed to make it to the finals with a 9-8 victory over No. 5 Jake Percival of Ohio. Tyler Baier of Cornell, seeded seventh at 184, beat third-seeded Travis Pascoe of Nebraska at 184.<\/p>\n
Three other unbeaten wrestlers advanced to the finals: Greensburg Salem High School graduate Greg Jones of West Virginia (24-0 and 50-match winning streak) at 184 pounds, Nate Gallick of Iowa State (29-0) at 141 and Mocco (36-0 with a 70-match win streak).<\/p>\n
Jones, a senior, had an easy time in the quarterfinals, defeating Missouri’s Matt Pell, 13-4.<\/p>\n
Army made a rare appearance in the finals when Phillip Simpson, seeded second at 149, beat Dustin Manotti of Cornell 8-0. Army has never had an individual champion, and the last time a service academy won a title was in 1973.<\/p>\n
“People think you can’t do well athletically at one of the academies, “Simpson said. “This is a tribute to everyone at West Point.”<\/p>\n
Cornell’s Lee, who won the championship at 125 pounds in 2003, pinned Tom Clum of Wisconsin and is 37-1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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