Rutgers Wrestling Competes at Penn State Open
Dec 03 | Wrestling
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Rutgers wrestling competed at the 2006 Penn State Open in State College, Pa., on Sunday. Mike Ferrara (Effort, Pa.) led the team, posting four wins at the 174-pound weight class. No team scores were recorded at the tournament.
Chris Norrell (Phillipsburg, N.J.) finished the day 3-3 at the 157-pound weight class, while Reggie Parker (Panama City, Fla.) posted a 1-2 record at 141 pounds. Jack Barrett (Metuchen, N.J) and Mike Whalen (Lake Hiawatha, N.J.) also finished the tournaments with records of 1-2 at 149 and 174 pounds, respectively.
Ferrara opened the day with win over Nassau Community College's Rich Brown, 4-2, and advanced to the round of 16 with a 3-1 decision win over Bloomsburg's Eric Shaw. In his third match, he dropped a 5-0 decision to Scott Giffin, who wrestled unattached in the tournament. Ferrara won a 6-4 overtime decision over Maryland's Brad Nielson in the first round of the consolation bracket and then beat Kutztown's Curtis Beardsell, 5-3. In his next bout, Ferrara was eliminated after a 5-1 decision loss to Chris Henrich of Germantown Academy.
Norrell posted a major decision win in his first match of the day, beating Duke's Ben Wales, 9-1. In his next match, he won another major decision, this time a 14-0 victory over Kutztown's Brett Wandler. Norrell dropped his third-round match to North Carolina's Thomas Scotton, 8-4. In his opening match of the consolation bracket, Norrell recorded a 3-1 decision win over VMI's Tommy Cunningham before he was eliminated in a tight 4-3 decision by Michigan State's Rex Kendle.
Following a 4-2 overtime win over Shippensburg's Bill Purvis, Parker moved to the consolation bracket of the 141-pound weight class after a 5-1 decision loss to Sal Lascari of Clarion. In his third match, he dropped a 5-1 decision to Old Dominion's Kyle Pardun.
Whalen pinned Nassau Community College's Ben Delesia in the first round at the 5:13 mark, before dropping his second-round match to VMI's Dustin McCabe, 2-1. Whalen was eliminated after dropping a 5-0 decision to the Spartans' Giffin.
In his first match, Barrett pinned Nassau Community College's John Petrofsky before falling to Navy's Joel Ahern in the second round. In his third match of the day, Liberty's Aaron Kelley won a close 5-4 decision over Barrett.
The Scarlet Knights will host their first dual-match of the season when they take on the University of Maryland on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 5:00 p.m. at the College Avenue Gymnasium.
