Four of six wrestlers advance
Chris McCarty
What was spectacular about the 2-1 record is not the two victories it was the one defeat.
After beating his first two opponents by a combined score of 17-3 Webster earned the right to face No. 1 seed and undefeated Ryan Lewis of Minnesota.
Lewis ripped through his first opponent 23-9 on his way to his match vs. Webster.
The match started with Lewis missing a shot and Webster countering with a take down for the early 2-0 lead. Moments later Lewis scored a reversal to tie the score at two.
“He shot and I caught him, then he turned me over. I did my best and that’s all I can do,” Webster said.
For the next two and a half periods Webster gave the Big Ten Champion everything he could handle as the two entered the final moments of the match separated by one point with Lewis leading 3-2.
“Jordan made some tactical errors and let him reverse on him, but I thought he wrestled a really hard match,” said Head Coach Tom Borrelli.
“Then a again Jordan always gives you 100 percent.”
In the waning moments Lewis scored on another takedown and riding time to finish the match with a 6-2 win that was much closer then the score showed.
“Now I’m just going to wrestle as hard as I can and try to win some matches,” Webster said.
Webster continues wrestling today with his first consolation match vs. Dan Hyman from Lehigh.
On his way to the second round match with Lewis, Webster had to fight his way through the pigtail of the 133-pound weight bracket.
In his first match Webster dominated Alejandro Alvarez of Cornell 11-0 giving the Chippewas a major decision in their first match of the tournament.
Webster then wrestled Sacred Heart’s Jason Cucolo 6-3.
Webster rode three takedowns, one in each period, to his second win of the tournament.
In the opening round of the tournament the only CMU wrestler to score a victory aside from Webster was senior Tony Gansen. Gansen was also slated to wrestle through the pigtail of his weight class. The 174-pounder defeated his first opponent Dustin Kawa of North Carolina State 11-8 in a seesaw match that saw Gansen come back from a first period defect of 6-3.
After several takedowns and reversal Gansen fought his way back to the victory.
In his next match Gansen squared off vs. Nick Passolano from Iowa State.
After cutting the ISU lead to 2-1 Gansen found himself in a pinning predicament hanging upside down off the back of his opponent. Passolano capitalized on the situation and fell backwards, pinning Gansen’s shoulders on the mat.
Gansen fell in his second pigtail match of the evening. Despite leading for most of the match Gansen lost on the tails of several late takedowns by Oregon’s Shane Webster. Webster beat Gansen, 18-15.
The other four CMU wrestlers did not fair as well in their opening round matches.
Sophomore Jason Mester, making his second appearance at the NCAA tournament, drew the No. 12 seeded Coyte Cooper of Indiana. Cooper jumped out to an early 3-0 lead which Mester cut to 3-1. Mester was unable to get a third period takedown though and lost 3-1.
Mester came back to wrestle well in his first consolation match turning in a 7-3 win over Scott Moore from Pen State. The win marks Mester’s first career NCAA tournament victory.
Mester will face Gab Vigil from Boise State today.
In the 149 pound match it was another sophomore making his second trip to the tournament as Ty Morgan faced the No. 9 seed in Keaton Anderson from Ohio State.
Morgan led the match early 3-1 before Anderson, who had been ranked as high as No.3 during the regular season, came back to lead the match 4-3 in final seconds.
With less than 30 seconds remaining Morgan managed one more space to send the match into overtime.
In OT Morgan eventually fell to Anderson after a takedown followed by a near fall, which sealed the 9-4 victory for Anderson.
Morgan continued the Chippewas domination of the consolation bracket with an impressive major decision over Oregon’s Casey Hunt 14-4.
Morgan will have a rematch with Michigan State’s Karl Nadolsky today.
Nadolsky took both of the regular season meetings vs. Morgan 3-1 and 5-9.
The No. 17 ranked freshman David Bolyard drew the tournament’s No. 11 seed in 157-pounder Derek Jenkins of host school Rider in his first match of the night.
Bolyard trailed for the majority of the match before a last second space coupled with an earlier escape and takedown tied the score a four when time ran out. Jenkins had riding time to his advantage though and won the match 5-4 with the time bonus.
Bolyard struggled early in his consolation bout falling behind 4-1. Bolyard fought back to tie the match at six but released his opponent to go for one more take down and the win. Bolyard wasn’t able to get the take down and lost 7-6 to Doug Cieleski from Oklahoma.
“Freshmen don’t always wrestle with as much confidence as they should and that was David’s problem today. They just don’t seem to have the confidence they’ve wrestled a few matches here.”
Senior heavyweight Jack Leffler faired no better then his younger teammates in his bid for a first round upset of a ranked opponent. Leffler lost to Arizona State’s Kellan Fluckgier 5-0.
After a scoreless first period Fluckgier scored a near fall in the second period followed by a third period escape and riding to gain the win.
In what could have been the last match of his collegiate career Leffler beat Pittsburgh’s Jacob Linniger 3-2. Leffler scored a reversal with 45 seconds remaining in the second to seal the victory and keep wrestling.
“Seniors want to go out winning. No none wants to lose their last match,” Borrelli said.
As a team the Chippewas are tied with Appalachian State for 29th overall with seven team points. Four of Central’s six wrestlers are still alive in the consolation brackets.
The tournament continues through Saturday. With two sessions taking place today and Saturday.
