Wrestlers fall short at NCAAs

The Penn wrestling team finished its championship season over the weekend with a solid but unspectacular showing at the NCAA championships in Minneapolis, Minn. The Quakers, who were ranked No. 23 in the nation heading into the NCAAs, placed 33rd in the tournament with a total of eight team points. Iowa dominated the 80-team field and claimed its second-consecutive national championship with 122.5 team points. "I think for the first time as a team, we were able to have some presence at the tournament," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "I think people all over the country are realizing the program is developing and making strong improvements. "At the same time, we had set very high goals going into it, and we didn't achieve individually or team-wise what we wanted to." The Red and the Blue had hoped to place among the top-20 teams nationally and to have at least one wrestler earn All-American honors. The top eight finishers in each weight class at Nationals gain All-American status. Quakers junior co-captain Clinton Matter (177 pounds) and freshman Brett Matter (142) advanced the furthest into the tournament of the seven Penn wrestlers who made the trip. The brothers each compiled tournament records of 2-2 and advanced to the third round of consolation wrestlebacks before being eliminated, thereby placing them each among the top-16 wrestlers in the nation in their respective weight classes. Senior co-captain Brian Eveleth (126) and junior Josh Bailer (167) both went 1-2 and advanced to the second round of consolation wrestlebacks before being eliminated. Ben Hatta (118), Mark Piotrowsky (134) and Joey Allen (275) each went 0-2 and were eliminated in the first round of wrestlebacks. Brett Matter, who finished his EIWA Rookie of the Year season with a 33-4 individual record, was the only Quakers wrestler who was seeded in his weight class. Matter was the 12th seed at 142 pounds. Because the other six Penn participants were unseeded, many fell victim to unlucky draws. Hatta and Bailer both lost close matches to eventual All-Americans in the first-round. Hatta lost, 7-4, to the eventual sixth-place finisher, and Bailer lost, 4-2, to the eventual fifth-place finisher. Piotrowsky lost his first match, 12-3, to eventual 134-pound national champion Cary Kolat of Lock Haven. And Joey Allen was pinned 1 minute, 48 seconds into the first period by eventual second-place finisher Justin Harty of North Carolina. Penn senior captain Brian Eveleth (126) won his first match, but lostto fifth-place finisher Eric Guerrero of Oklahoma State. Eveleth was eliminated from the tournament after losing his next match to Fresno State's Nick Zinkin, 7-4. "It was hard to sit there and watch the rest of the tournament because two guys I had beaten earlier this year became All-Americans," Eveleth said.

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