ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Juniors Chris Mecate and Lenny Richardson both earned All-American honors for the first time in their careers after day two of the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The last time ODU had two All-Americans in one championship was in 1991 when Peter Horst and Nick Garone successfully earned the feat. After the evening session, the Old Dominion team sits in 23rd place with 19.0 points on the board.
"We are extremely proud of these two guys," said Head Coach Steve Martin. "Mecate made it to the semifinals of the national tournament and he is only a junior so he has one year left. He will be in the wrestle back round for third through sixth place tomorrow morning. We also had Richardson get on the podium, as he won in the All-American round. He lost an overtime heartbreaker tonight and will be wrestling for seventh place tomorrow morning."
"It is great to have two All-Americans; it has been awhile since this program has seen that," added Martin. "The last time that happened was in 1991. The program is going in the right direction and we are extremely proud of Chris and Lenny. They have stamped their mark in the program's history books"
"Three of our guys lost today and fell short of placing, but the positive is that we have five of the seven qualifiers returning next year. They all got a taste of the action and will be ready to make it back next year."
Mecate faced Dean Heil from Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals on Friday morning and took the 4-3 decision to stay alive. He registered an early takedown to take an early 2-0 lead over Heil in the first period, but after one minute of riding Heil managed to escape (2-1). Mecate chose the down position to start the second period and registered an escape of his own to hold a 3-1 lead going into the final period. This time Heil chose down, giving Mecate 1:49 of riding time before Heil escaped (3-2). Mecate was hit with a late stalling call to give Heil a point, but with Mecate’s 1:49 of riding time he advanced to the semifinals for the first time in his career and became ODU’s first All-American of the weekend.
In the semifinal bout, Mecate fell to Mitchell Port from Edinboro by a 14-2 major decision, but is still alive in the consolation semifinals Saturday morning. He will face off with Devin Carter (Virginia Tech). Mecate can place as high as third or as low as sixth.
Richardson fell in his opening bout to the No. 1 seed Drake Houdashelt from Missouri by a 10-0 major decision, but his All-American hopes were still alive as he faced Cody Rugirello from Hofstra in the fourth round of the consolation bracket. Richardson bounced back from the morning setback to take a 2-0 decision over Rugirello and become the second Monarch to earn All-American status on the day. Richardson recorded the win with just a takedown in the first period, but he held Rugirello scoreless for three periods to advance.
With the win, Richardson advanced to the consolation quarterfinals where he took on Bryant Clagon from Rider. Richardson fell in a tightly contested matchby a 4-3 decision in tie-breaker one. Richardson is still in the hunt for seventh place in the 149-pound bracket and will take on Daniel Neff from Lock Haven tomorrow morning in the seventh-place bout.
Jack Dechow won his opening bout over John Rizqallah in style, earning a takedown in sudden victory 2 to survive and advance. He faced Hayden Zillmer for North Dakota State in the consolation third round and fell in a narrow 3-2 match to the two-time NCAA qualifier. He finished the season with a 31-3 overall record. He qualified for his second-straight NCAA tournament after repeating as the 184-pound MAC champion.
Brandon Jeske and Jake Henderson both fell in their opening bouts on Friday morning. Jeske took on the No. 2 seed Nahshon Garrett, eventually falling by a 10-6 decision ending his sophomore season. The two-time NCAA qualifier finished the season with a 14-13 overall record and took down three NCAA participants in the process. Henderson grappled with No. 16 seed Evan Knutson from North Dakota State, but fell by a 4-0 decision to the three-time NCAA qualifier. He ended the year with a 24-13 overall record, his second best during his time with the Monarchs.
You can watch Mecate and Richardson live on ESPNU tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. central time or keep track of live stats through trackwrestling.com. Fans can also follow ODU Wrestling on twitter (@ODUWrestling) to receive live updates!
Results:
125 – Brandon Jeske (14-13)
Cons. Round 2 - Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) over Brandon Jeske (ODU) (Dec 10-6)
141 – Chris Mecate (24-8) – All-American
Quarterfinal - Chris Mecate (ODU) over Dean Heil (Oklahoma St.) (Dec 4-3)
Semifinal - Mitchell Port (Edinboro) over Chris Mecate (ODU) (MD 14-2)
149 – Lenny Richardson (27-8) - All-American
Quarterfinal - Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) over Alexander Richardson (ODU) (MD 10-0)
Cons. Round 4 - Alexander Richardson (ODU) over Cody Ruggirello (Hofstra) (Dec 2-0)
Cons. Quarterfinal - Bryant Clagon (Rider) over Alexander Richardson (ODU) (TB-1 4-3)
184 – Jack Dechow (31-3)
Cons. Round 2 - Jack Dechow (ODU) over John Rizqallah (Michigan St.) (SV-2 4-2)
Cons. Round 3 - Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota St.) over Jack Dechow (ODU) (Dec 3-2)
285 – Jake Henderson (24-13)
Cons. Round 2 - Evan Knutson (North Dakota St.) over Jacob Henderson (ODU) (Dec 4-0)