March 19, 2010
OMAHA, Neb. - Senior Chris Brown pulled off a dramatic win with a last second takedown to become Old Dominion's all-time win's leader in a match that highlighted Day 2 at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb. Friday.
Brown, who has picked up three wins at this year's NCAA Tournament and is guaranteed All-American status, now has 138 career wins. He passes former teammate and current student assistant coach Ryan Williams, who broke Jeff Rusak's record last year.
The Chesapeake native, who upset No. 4 Jonathan Reader of Iowa State and was 2-0 on Day 1 of the tournament, dropped his quarterfinal match against Oklahoma's Tyler Caldwell in the morning session.
There were no takedowns in the match and Caldwell got the 2-1 victory because he was able to hold the advantage in the third period for almost the full two minutes. Caldwell escaped in 15 seconds after starting the second stanza down, but Brown didn't escape in the third until there was only seven seconds remaining in the bout.
With All-American status hanging in the balance, Brown matched up with Maryland's Josh Asper in the wrestlebacks. The loser of the match would be eliminated, while the winner could still finish as high as third-place.
Asper got a crucial first round takedown which allowed him to lead 2-1 going into the second period. Brown started down and escaped to even the match going into the final period. With the riding time not a factor, Brown allowed Asper to stand up and take a 3-2 lead.
With the full two minutes to get a takedown, the ODU senior took multiple shots, but Asper denied Brown time after time. With time running out Brown once again showed his flair for the dramatics as he got a winning takedown in the final seconds. The referees discussed the takedown after the match, but Brown was awarded the win and advanced to take on No. 9 Andrew Rendos of Bucknell.
Rendos had a takedown and a nearfall in the first to take a 5-0 lead. Brown got an escape in the second and had two takedowns in the third, but his flurry came too late and Rendos won the decision, 9-5.
Brown will wrestle his final match Saturday morning against No. 7 Ryan Morningstar of Iowa. The winner of the match will earn seventh, while the loser will still be an All-American with an eighth-place finish.
Junior James Nicholson, seeded No. 7, started his day two of in fine fashion, recording a pin in 4:19 against Appalachian State's Tony Gravely. Nicholson's bid to become an All-American for the second time fell short though, as he lost to Ohio State's Nikko Triggas, 7-6.
Triggas raced out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, but Nicholson dominated the second round. The junior started down, got a reversal and another takedown in the round. Triggas escaped out of the reversal which allowed him to lead 5-4 going into the deciding period.
Leading in riding time, Triggas started on top. Nicholson got a reversal to go up 6-5, but Triggas escaped and had 2:14 of riding time to earn the 7-6 win.
Senior Jesse Strawn, who was seeded 10th and went 1-1 on the first day, saw his tournament end after a 9-2 loss to Tyler Sorenson of South Dakota State.
Strawn ends his Monarch career fourth all-time in wins with 128.
Live coverage of the finals on Saturday, March 20, will air at 11 a.m. on ESPNU, and at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.
For more information on the wrestling championships, log on to NCAA.com/wrestling.
-ODU-