Rutgers Wrestling Wraps Up Day One at NCAAs
Mar 17 | Wrestling
| Bracket | Standings | Match by Match |
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (March 17, 2011) -The No. 9 Rutgers wrestling team finished off the first day of the NCAA Championships with a solid showing. For the day, RU was been led by Mario Mason (Moorestown, N.J.) and Scott Winston (Jackson, N.J.) who advanced to the quarterfinals at 149 and 165 pounds respectively.
Mason got by Brian Stephens of Virginia Tech in his first match at 149-pounds, earning an 8-5 decision. In his second match of the day, Mason met up with Kurt Kinser of Indiana in a match that proved to be an epic. After each wrestler earned an escape in regulation the match went into overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory frame, both wrestlers earned escapes in the tiebreaker to send the match to a second sudden victory frame. After another scoreless sudden victory period, Mason started down in the second tiebreaker and quickly earned an escape to take a 2-1 lead which he would hold onto after riding out Kinser in the second half of the tiebreaker. Mason will wrestle again in the quarterfinals where he will face No. 2 Frank Molinaro of Penn State, an opponent he split a pair of matches with during the regular season.
Winston earned a hard fought 4-2 decision over Dan Yates of Michigan to open his day at 165-pounds. In his second bout of the day, Winston met up with Cornell's Justin Kerber in a rematch of the semifinals at EIWAs. After a scoreless first, Winston started down in the second and earned an escape after Kerber had racked up 1:06 in riding time. Thanks to the advantage in riding time, Kerber chose a neutral start in the third and the two wrestlers exchanged shots with neither wrestler being able to score a deciding takedown sending the match into overtime. After a scoreless sudden victory frame, Kerber started down in the tiebreaker and was riden out by Winston, which opened the door for Winston to take the match. Winston quickly took advantage earning an escape 10 seconds in and was able to keep Kerber at bay to clinch his first trip to the quarterfinals where he will meet up with No. 1 Jordan Burroughs of Nebraska.
In addition to the successes of Mason and Winston, five Scarlet Knights are still alive and fighting for All-American spots in the consolation brackets.
Joe Langel (Howell, N.J.)started the day strong for by picking up a 6-2 decision over Michael Martinez of Wyoming before dropping a bout to No. 3 Brandon Precin of Northwestern. Langel starts tomorrow in the consolation brackets where he will face Allen Bartelli of Boise State.
Daryl Cocozzo (River Edge, N.J.)rolled past Corey Mock of North Carolina in his first match of the day at 157-pounds, with a 10-2 major decision. In his second match of the day, Cocozzo met up with EIWA rival Bryce Saddoris of Navy. After a scoreless first, Saddoris chose down to start the second and scored a quick reversal to take a 2-0 lead. After Saddoris earned some riding time, Cocozzo was able to escape to cut the lead to 2-1 going into the final frame. In the third, Cocozzo started down, and earned an escape but not before Saddoris had gained over a minute of riding time which proved to be the difference in a 3-2 decision. Cocozzo will return to action tomorrow when he faces Alex Medved of Gardner Webb in the wrestlebacks.
Dan Rinaldi (Lodi, N.J.)used a trio of takedowns, an escape and a point of riding time to earn an 8-0 major decision over Cody Magrum of Ohio State in his first match to set up another match with Robert Hamlin of Lehigh. After a scoreless first, Rinaldi earned an escape early in the second to take a 1-0 lead into the third. Hamlin responded with an escape of his own to even the match early in the third. Hamlin then scored a takedown near the edge of the mat to take a 3-1 lead with just over a minute left. Rinaldi was able to escape but was unable to get anymore points and fell 3-2. Rinaldi will meet Austin Trotman of Appalachian State in the consolation bracket.
Alex Caruso (Green Brook, N.J.) dropped his opening match to No. 6 Ben Bennett of Central Michigan and then earned a win by injury default from Austin Meys of Lehigh. Caruso will face Luke Manuel of Purdue tomorrow in the wrestlebacks.
After being upset in his first bout by Levi Cooper of Arizona State, DJ Russo (Netcong, N.J.) recovered to earn a 6-1 decision over David Wade of Eastern Michigan. Russo will face Blake Raising of Iowa in consolation bracket action tomorrow morning.
Trevor Melde (Hewitt, N.J.)dropped his opening match to No. 10 Todd Schavrien of Missouri sending him to the consolation brackets where he met up with Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State. In his match with Kindig, Melde was never able to mount an offensive attack and eventually fell 8-2, ending his 2011 NCAA Championships.
The second day of the NCAA Championships will get underway tomorrow at 10:30 a.m.
RU Wrestlers at NCAA Championship Day One
Joe Langel (125-pounds)
First Round: Joe Langel (RU) dec. Michael Martinez (WYO), 6-2
Second Round: Brandon Precin (NW) m. dec. Joe Langel (RU), 8-0
Trevor Melde (141-pounds)
First Round: No. 10 Todd Schavrien (Mizzou) dec. Trevor Melde (RU), 7-3
Wrestlebacks: Josh Kindig (OKST) dec. Trevor Melde (RU), 8-2
No. 7 Mario Mason (149-pounds)
First Round: Mario Mason (RU) dec. Brian Stephens (VT), 8-5
Second Round: Mario Mason (RU) dec. No. 10 Kurt Kinser (IU), 3-2 (TB2)
No. 10 Daryl Cocozzo (157-pounds)
First Round: Daryl Cocozzo (RU) m. dec. Corey Mock (UNC), 10-2
Second Round: No. 7 Bryce Saddoris (Navy) dec. Daryl Cocozzo (RU), 3-2
No. 8 Scott Winston (165-pounds)
First Round: Scott Winston (RU) dec. Dan Yates (UM), 4-2
Second Round: Scott Winston (RU) dec. No. 9 Justin Kerber (Cornell), 2-1 (TB1)
Alex Caruso (174-pounds)
First Round: No. 6 Ben Bennett (CMU) m. dec. Alex Caruso (RU), 8-0
Wrestlebacks: Alex Caruso (RU) win by forfeit over Austin Meys (Lehigh)
Dan Rinaldi (184-pounds)
First Round: Dan Rinaldi (RU) m. dec. Cody Magrum (OSU), 8-0
Second Round: Robert Hamlin (Lehigh) dec. Dan Rinaldi (RU), 3-2
No. 4 DJ Russo (285-pounds)
First Round: Levi Cooper (ASU) dec. DJ Russo (RU), 5-2
Wresltebacks: DJ Russo (RU) dec. David Wade (EMU), 4-1
