March 20, 2008
ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Two Monarchs earned opening round victories in the first session of the 78th Annual Division I NCAA Tournament today. RS freshman James Nicholson (125) and junior Ryan Williams (141) both earned their first career NCAA Tournament wins in the opening round today. All six Monarch grapplers will have a second bout this evening, with wrestling set to begin at 6:30 pm.
Nicholson dropped Edinboro's Eric Morrill with ease in the opening round at 125 lbs, winning 8-2. He'll face #7 seed Mike Sees from Bloomsburg tonight.
Williams won in the second sudden victory overtime period over his opponent, Drew Lashaway of Kent State. The junior 141-pounder from Pennsylvania is the only of the six Monarch qualifiers in a return trip to the NCAA Tournament and he earned his first ever win, 4-2. Tonight he'll face #1 seed Chad Mendes in a rematch of an early season matchup.
The four other Monarch qualifiers all were bumped to the consolation bracket with three of the four losing in tight matches not decided until the final period.
Session I Results:
125: #10 James Nicholson (ODU) def. Eric Morrill (Edinboro), 8-2
133: #11 Joe Baker (Navy) def. Kyle Hutter (ODU), 5-12
141: Ryan Williams (ODU) def. Drew Lashaway (Kent St), 4-2 SV2
165: #4 Mack Lewnes (Cornell) def. Chris Brown (ODU), 3-5
184: Ryan Goodman (NCSU) def. Jesse Strawn (ODU), 10-12
285: Dustin Rogers (WVU) def. Andy Totusek (ODU), 2-4