Wrestling Feasts on its 285-pound All-American

Penn's Matt Feast closed out an unbelievable sophomore campaign over the weekend with All-America honors at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, Mo.

Originally the No. 6 seed in the heavyweight division, Feast defeated West Virginia's Brent Miller, 7-3, to finish seventh. In so doing, he became the first sophomore in Penn wrestling history to garner All-American status by placing in the top eight.

"I weighed in kind of heavy, so I felt a little sluggish at first," Feast said. "Luckily, I won.

"I wrestled really well in the last match, though."

Feast was joined by five other Penn athletes at the championships, three of whom made it to the round of 12.

According to Penn senior captain Jody Giuricich, the media considered this year's Quakers to be in a rebuilding phase -- following the loss of Yoshi Nakamura, Rick Springman Josh and Joe Henson. However, the Red and Blue came close to tying a team-record of five round-of-12 qualifiers.

Giuricich himself scored an upset over Missouri's Jeremy Spates, No. 12 at 149 pounds, in the opening round. However, he was denied a top-eight finish by Boise State's Collin Robertson.

"It definitely was disappointing" not to be an All-American, Giuricich said. "It was one of my goals. But I think I'm pretty pleased with my performance."

After sitting out and entire year to recover from a knee injury, junior Doug McGraw completed his comeback with a top-12 finish. Penn coach Roger Reina called McGraw's 2-1 loss to Lock Haven's Mike Maney a "heartbreaker."

Red and Blue freshman Matt Valenti also suffered a frustrating, close loss. With a victory over Wisconsin's Tony Black, he would have become the first Penn rookie to secure an All-America spot -- instead Black pulled off the victory, 1-0.

Though the one-point losses may sting now, they bode well for the future. When the Quakers opened the season, Feast was their only wrestler in the top-20. That won't be the case in 2004.

"I'm very encouraged," Reina said. "We have a terrific base to build on.

"The guys gained some very valuable experience this year. Losing Jody will hurt, but we have a great core with strong NCAA experience."

Reina added that he expects both Valenti and Feast to be ranked in the top-five next pre-season, and McGraw No. 7 or No. 8. Freshman Matt Herrington and sophomore Paul Velekei, who qualified for nationals at 174 and 197 pounds, are also top-20 locks.

In reviewing the season, Feast led the Quakers in individual victories, compiling a 34-5 record. He is the 17th All-American in Penn wrestling history.

Valenti's 11 pins tied the team record and his 33 wins are the best in Red and Blue freshman history.

"We were really close to having the first freshman All-American," Feast said of Valenti. "I'm proud of my record, but next year there are three other sophomores that will probably tie it."

As for the Quakers' lone All-American, there's only one way to improve -- with a national championship of his own.

"You have to raise the bar a little every year," Feast said. "That's the goal. It's definitely a possibility."

Collectively, the Quakers finished 29th with 19 points. Oklahoma State took home the team championship with 143 points.

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