*** ROUND 1 LOCAL UPDATE (overall 4-5): James Nicholson (ODU) wins, Kyle Hutter (ODU) loses, Ryan Williams (ODU) wins, Bubba Jenkins (PSU) wins, Christian Smith (Liberty) loses, Chris Brown (ODU) loses, Jesse Strawn (ODU) loses, Patrick Bond (Illinois) wins, Andy Totusek (ODU) loses.
*** ROUND 1 STATE UPDATE: Ross Gitomer (UVA) lost 1-0 to Central Michigan’s Luke Smith in a pigtail match (the round before the official first round) at 125; Matt Epperly (VT) lost 9-0 to eighth-seeded Moza Fay of Northern Iowa at 165; Christopher Henrich (UVA) lost 7-2 to third-seeded Brandon Browne of Nebraska at 174; Rocco Caponi (UVA) won, by pin, over Edinboro’s Christopher Honeycutt. The 11th seed pinned in 4:04.
Before I say anything else: There are 15,513 fans here at the morning session. That’s 11 a.m. on a Thursday, and the crazies have packed out the arena. And who says wrestling’s a dying sport?
The pulse is pounding here. Now, back to the action …
As the first round rolls on, Old Dominion just missed on a chance to land a major upset. Chris Brown – who earlier this year beat the defending NCAA champ – took fourth-seeded Mack Lewnes of Cornell to the buzzer.
Brown, a sophomore 165-pounder, wrestled to a scoreless tie after the first period, trailed a 2-0 after briefly going to his back, and tied it 2-all heading to the third period.
Lewnes quickly went back up 4-2, but Brown escaped with 51 seconds left to trim the lead. He nearly nailed a takedown with 35 seconds left, but Lewnes fought him off for the 5-3 victory (he got another point for riding time).
Brown drops into the consolation round, where he’ll be a dangerous draw for anyone he meets. First up: Cal State Bakersfield’s Daniel Atondo. I won’t be at all surprised to see Brown make a solid run in the consos.
*** Interesting team-score note: As I type … and this changes every few minutes … ODU’s conference rival, Hofstra, is tied for second in the team standings. I doubt that holds, but pretty impressive. Minnesota is leading the pack thus far.
The final three South Hampton Roads representatives finished up the first round moments ago.
ODU’s Jesse Strawn and Andy Totusek lost at 184 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, while Illinois’ Patrick Bond (former four-time state champ at Great Bridge High) survived a scare and advanced at 197.
Strawn hung tight with N.C. State’s Ryan Goodman, tied 3-3 in the second period, but suffered a series of takedowns and trailed as much as 9-4 in the third. He battled back, but ran out of time (and gas) and lost 12-10.
Totusek, a true freshman and surprise NCAA qualifier, lost a heartbreaker. After a scoreless first, Totusek escaped in the second for a 1-0 lead. His opponent, West Virginia’s Dustin Rogers, did the same in the third period, and the match seemed headed to overtime.
But Totusek, trying to end it, tried a shot in the closing moments. Instead, Rogers snared his leg and used the leverage to trip Totusek and take him down with five seconds left for a 3-1 win.
The Monarchs were close to a 4-2 mark in the first round, and easily could have gone 3-3. Alas, ODU will have to settle for two in the championship round and four Monarchs battling back through the consolations.
Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Bond needed overtime to get past Penn’s Thomas Shovlin. After a scoreless first period, Bond escaped to start the second for a 1-0 lead. His opponent did the same to start the third period and the match went to overtime tied at 1-all.
There, with eight seconds left in the extra period, Bond struck quickly and took down Shovlin for the win. Up next: Eighth-seeded Craig Brewster of Nebraska in this evening’s second round.
That’s it for Round 1. I’m gonna take a break to do what sportswriters do best: eat. Then I’ll be back to keep you posted on Round 2 and consos. Don’t click that dial …
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