|
Three Bluejay Wrestlers Earn All-America Honors
NCAA Wrestling Championships Site
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - For just the second time in school history, three Elmhurst College wrestlers have earned All-America honors at the 2008 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.
The Bluejays finished in eighth place in the team standings with 38 points. Elmhurst narrowly edged CCIW foe North Central College, holding off the Cardinals by half a point (37.5). The eighth-place finish equals Elmhurst's best ever national finish which came during the 2004-05 season when three wrestlers achieved All-America recognition.
Sophomore Jake Oster (Homer Glen/Lockport), seeded third at the tournament, earned his second consecutive All-America honor at 125 pounds by placing fifth in the nation.
Oster advanced to the championship quarterfinals before being pinned by Delaware Valley College's Chris Sheetz in 5:28. Oster rebounded from the loss to pin Ursinus' Stephen Kingsland in 6:30 of the consolation third round. In the tournament's third session, Oster defeated seventh-seeded Munkhbaatar Baatar of St. John's 10-7 in the consolation quarterfinals. Oster dropped a 13-5 major decision to top-seeded Christopher Heilman of Cornell College in the consolation semifinals. In the fifth-place match, Oster avenged his loss to Sheetz by pinning the Delaware Valley wrestler in 3:43.
In the tournament's first session, Oster advance to the championship quarterfinals by scoring a pair of wins. Oster scored a 19-3 technical fall over Williams College's Ethan Cohen in the first round. Oster advanced to the quarterfinals by pinning returning All-American Eracleo Vallejo of Manchester College in 2:51.
Senior Jeff Kastel (Clarendon Hills/Hinsdale Central) earned his first All-America honor by placing fifth at 149 pounds. He defeated the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse's Matt Mauseth by a 15-5 major decision in the fifth-place match.
Kastel, seeded fifth at the tournament, advanced to the championship semifinals at 149 pounds with a 6-3 quarterfinal win over fourth-seeded Paul LeBlanc of SUNY-Cortland, a returning All-American. Kastel was pinned by top-seed Jacob Naig of Wartburg in 4:59 of the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Kastel dropped a one-point 7-6 decision to Aaron Cook of Buena Vista.
In the tournament's first session on Friday, Kastel scored a 5-1 win over Heidelberg College's Zach Mizer in the second round.
Kastel closed out his career as the Bluejays' all-time leader in career victories with 120. His 42 wins this season also established a new single-season Elmhurst record.
Freshman Mark Corsello (Park Ridge/Maine South), earned his first All-America honor by placing seventh at 285 pounds. Knox College's Jaran Rutledge was forced to medically forfeit the seventh-place match giving Corsello his seventh-place finish.
Corsello received a bye to the championship quarterfinals where he dropped a one-point 5-4 decision to Wartburg's Brian Borchers. Corsello, seeded sixth at the championships, bounced back from the loss to score a 5-2 overtime tiebreaker victory over Cornell College's Josiah Payne in the consolation round. In the consolation quarterfinals, he fell to Trevor Hiffa of Oneonta State 10-2 sending him to the seventh-place match.
Kyle Katz (Des Plaines/Maine West), seeded third at 157 pounds, was eliminated from the tournament on Friday night after suffering back-to-back losses. Katz advanced to the championship quarterfinals before falling to sixth-seeded Takafumi Hashimoto of New York University 6-4 in a sudden victory overtime match. Katz was pinned in 0:23 his second-round consolation match by Delaware Valley's Ryan Herwig.
In the tournament's first session, Katz advanced to the championship quarterfinals by pinning Dubuque's Josh Terrell in 3:59.
You can follow the NCAA Championships online at the following link: http://www.coe.edu/ncaawrestling.
|
