1/11/08

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.-Lycoming College hosted the 14th annual Budd Whitehill National Wrestling Duals at Lamade Gymnasium on Friday. The 20-team tournament, which includes 10 of the nation’s top-30 teams and 24 top-10 wrestlers, featured 26 matches and many exhibition bouts throughout Friday. The action will continue on Saturday morning and culminate with the championship match at 3 p.m.

In Lycoming’s first match of the tournament, the #10-seed Warriors topped #7-seed John Carroll by a score of 21-19. The thrilling match saw Lycoming down 16-15 after the 184-pound bout. However, senior Matt Miller, who is ranked 8th in the country at 197 pounds, pinned Jim Nemunaitis at 5:57 to put the Warriors up by five points. Heavyweight Troy Hansen wrestled deftly and although he lost a 6-3 decision, Hansen preserved the team victory.

Lycoming then defeated St. John’s (Minn.) by a score of 18-15 in the fifth round to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.

Warriors Noel Faison, Andrew Lewis and Tom Barger won the contest’s first three bouts, putting Lycoming up 12-0. Miller, Zach Frederick and freshman Nick Lansberry also picked up decisions to keep Lycoming ahead for the entire match.

The blue and gold take on #6-seed University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 10:30 a.m. on day two of “The Whitehills” to see who goes to the tournament championship. In the other semi-final, #1-seed Cortland State battles unseeded Loras at 10:30. Cortland State won its two matches on Friday by a combined score of 73-15.

For more information on every bout and match, please visit Whitehill Central at
http://www.lycoming.edu/athletics/07Wrestling/08WhitehillDuals.htm

or www.lycoming.edu/sports where all of the tournament’s details are at your fingertips.