March 8, 2008
Results By Weight Class:
125: Nicholson whipped through the championship bracket to the finals like he'd been there before. In his first ever CAA Tournament match he was ahead 15-0 on Sacred Heart's Ed Galvin pinning him early in the second period. In the semi's, he again looked unstoppable, with a 16-4 major decision over 4-seed Brian Wright (George Mason). He had three takedowns in the first period against Wright and sailed into the finals against defending conference champion Dave Tomasette (Hofstra). The two had matched up twice already in 2007-08, both ending in extremely tight victories for the Monarch rookie. In the title bout at the CAA Championship, the #1 and #2 seeds met for a third time and the result was all but déjà vu. Nicholson won his first career CAA Title by a final count of 2-1 against the 11th ranked wrestler in the nation. After a scoreless first, Nicholson took down in the second and earned a reversal for the only two offensive points of the match. In the third, Tomasette escaped quickly, but was unable to score on the Monarch grappler as time expired.
133: Kyle Hutter, the 17th ranked grappler in the country, finished third a year ago at the 125 weight and guaranteed himself a better finish at his new weight in 2008. He started off the weekend by pounding on Abby Rush (Boston University) by the count of a 20-9 major decision. He followed up the major with a easy victory against 3-seed Joe Coughlin (George Mason) that finished at 8-3. Hutter then was forced to face #1 seed and the 6th ranked grappler in the country at 133 lbs, Lou Ruggirello (Hofstra). Aside from his teammate at 141 lbs, Ruggirello is the highest ranked grappler in the nation represented in the CAA and he proved why with back-to-back pins of his first two opponents in a combined 1:27. Hutter, though, would not go down so easy to the defending champ. In what was predicted to be a high scoring affair, the match would actually come down to a sudden victory overtime 3-1 battle. Hutter would cut Ruggirello in the third, giving the Hofstra wrestler the 1-0 advantage. The Monarch 133-pounder kept pushing for offense, and when the Pride grappler continued without much response, he was nailed with his second stall, tying the match at one point apiece. Into overtime, Hutter would continue his aggressive match against Ruggirello, and finally the Hofstra wrestler took advantage, winning on a counter takedown in the first sudden victory period. With the second place effort, Hutter will represent ODU at 133 lbs in the NCAA Tournament on March 21-23.
141: 2006 NCAA Qualifier Ryan Williams looked determined for his second shot at the national tournament as he cruised through the bracket to the title bout at 141 lbs. Williams started the tourney with an 8-3 decision over Cory Dunn (Sacred Heart) on day one. To start the second day of competition he earned his third pin of the year and 15th bonus point victory when he pinned Fred Rodgers (Rider) with ease. He was well ahead after grabbing five takedowns on Rodgers before finally earning the fall in the third period. Williams then stood across the mat from the top ranked wrestler in the conference, the 2nd ranked 141-pounder in the nation and NCAA All-American Charles Griffin. With the memory of a 4-13 major decision against Griffin earlier this season in the back of his mind, Williams stepped onto the mat with a purpose. Both wrestlers had their chances early in the match, but the first period went scoreless. After Williams elected to start down, he escaped quickly for a 1-0 lead. Later in the second period, the Monarch grappler earned a takedown to go up 3-0, but Griffin would follow with a quick escape to cut the lead to two. Griffin elected to start down in the third period and escaped easily for a score of 3-2. The two battled down to the wire, with each taking shots but time expired on the Hofstra grappler and Williams notched the biggest upset of his career for his first career CAA Title.
149: #4 seed Kaylen Baxter wrestled well at 149, but fell short at the CAA Tournament after having to face two CAA ranked grapplers. He had a tough draw, facing #5 seed Mitch Smith from the host team Hofstra on day one. The two battled in an aggressive match that Smith was nailed for stalling three times, but managed to escape with a 7-4 win over the Monarch grappler. The draw didn't get any easier for Baxter as he then had to face Binghamton's Kyle Fried, the #2 seed who was bounced into the consolation bracket after an opening round upset. The pair were even through regulation, both grabbing just one escape point apiece. In the first sudden victory period, though, Fried grabbed a takedown against Baxter and won it 3-1, forcing Baxter out of the tournament early. Baxter's sophomore season concludes with a team-high 38 wins.
157: Dan Rivera battled on the first day with George Mason's Frankie McLaughlin in another 4-5 seed matchup for ODU, but lost in the second sudden victory, 5-7. In the consolation bracket, Rivera earned his first ever CAA Tournament win with 6-5 decision over Campbell's Jake Fose. The redshirt freshman from Florida would lose 3-0 in his next match though, to three-seed Nate Patterson from Binghamton. Rivera's season ends with a 13-24 season record.
165: Chris Brown made it 2-for-2 for Old Dominion #1 seeds winning weight class titles when he easily swept through the CAA Tournament. On the first day, Brown knocked Tyler Tisdell (George Mason) into the consolation bracket with a 7-3 decision. He started the second day with a 4-0 shutout in the semi's, bouncing #5 seed Billy Haydt (Drexel). Then, in the title bout, Brown was across from #3 seed Ryan Patrovich from Hofstra. It was the fourth ODU-Hofstra matchup for the title with ODU taking a 3-1 advantage thanks to a relatively easy win for Brown. He missed bonus points for the team, but sealed his first conference title and trip to the NCAA's with a 12-7 decision over the Pride grappler.
174: RS Senior Nick Pullano concluded his career as one of the winningest wrestlers in the history of the program at Old Dominion. Unfortunately, he couldn't manage a return trip to the NCAA Tournament in his final season. On the first day, Pullano looked primed to make a run, with a 12-4 major decision of the #4 seed C.J. Inglin (Boston U). He was matched up against the #1 seed in the semis, Alton Lucas, to start day two. The Hofstra wrestler won by major decision, 16-4, to bounce the Monarch senior to the consolations. Nick managed a 7-3 win over Drexels #6 seed, Scott Hunter to find his way into the third place match. However, Nick's run at a possible consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament was ruined when the #3 seed from Binghamton, Josh Patterson, pinned Pullano in the first period.
184: Jesse Strawn, sophomore 184-pounder for the Monarchs seeded #2 in the Tournament, sailed into the title bout against Rider's 12th ranked #1 seed Doug Umbehauer. He earned the only technical fall of the weekend for ODU on the first day, with 22-6 win over Binghamton's Anthony Esposito. Then on day two, he bounced Hofstra's #3 seed, Justin Danz, with a pin in 3:44. Umbehauer also sailed into the title bout with a pin and a major decision, and would halt the Monarch grapplers run at a title as well. The Rider grappler controlled the match most of the way and won 8-3. With the second place effort, Strawn will head to NCAA's for the first time in his career.
197: The Monarchs David Mendoza, an NCAA Qualifier a year ago, earned an easy win against #5 John Hall (Boston U) in a 10-1 major decision. He then would have to face the #1 seed, Hofstra's Joe Rovelli in the semis. Rovelli won over the Monarch junior, 6-1, bouncing Mendoza into the consolation bracket. Mendoza would grab a pin over Campbell's Parker Burns in the wrestlebacks to end up in the third place bout against George Mason's rookie sensation Cayle Byers. Byers earned two clutch takedowns against ODU's wrestler to win the match 5-3.
285: Andy Totusek, true freshman for ODU seeded #3, won his first ever CAA Tournament bout over the #6 seeded Mike Patterson from Binghamton on day one, 4-2. Then on the second day, in the semi's against #2 seed Eddie Bordas (Rider), the two battled to a tie at the end of regulation. Bordas would win the match in the first tiebreaker, 4-3, in a match that could have gone either way. Totusek would not be kept out of the NCAA Tournament so easily, though, as he fought his way into a true second match. Toto bounced Jim Connors, the #5 seed from Boston University, with a 4-2 decision and then silenced Drexel's Bryant Deinhart with less than 10 seconds remaining in the third place match with a 3-1 decision. He would face top-seeded Harry Zander (George Mason) in the true second match immediately following his win over Deinhart. Zander pinned Toto in the first period in their only regular season matchup.