West Virginia Selected to 2008 National Duals Field
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University wrestling team has been
selected for the second consecutive season to compete at the 2008
NWCA/Cliff Keen National Dual Meet Championships.
The National Duals selection committee annually attempts to select the
top 16 Division I wrestling teams of the upcoming season to compete in
the tournament. This year's tournament will be held at the Northern
Iowa's UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Jan. 12-13, 2008.
"I think it's a tremendous honor to be selected as one of the top 16
teams in the country heading into next season," says head coach Craig
Turnbull. Competing at this tournament is very important to our team on
many different levels.
Along with WVU the 2008 field includes: Central Michigan, Cornell,
Hofstra, Indiana, Iowa State, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and
Penn State.
2008 marks the second consecutive season the Mountaineers have been
selected to the field and the 11th time since 1991. West Virginia's
highest finish at the National Duals occurred in 1998 when it finished
sixth.
WVU went 0-2 in last season's tournament but returns all 10 starters
including seven NCAA qualifiers.
West Virginia's Brandon Rader Repeats as All-American
Parkersburg Native Still Alive for Third-Place
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Sophomore West Virginia University
wrestler Brandon Rader became just the sixth Mountaineer wrestler in
school history to earn multiple All-America honors when he did so during
the third session of the NCAA Championships at The Palace of Auburn
Hills on Friday, March 16.
The 141-pounder from Parkersburg, W.Va., will continue his
tournament run tomorrow morning when he competes in the consolation
semifinals during Session V. Wrestling begins at 10 a.m. and can be
watched live on ESPN U.
Rader won four bouts on Friday to earn the right to wrestle on
Saturday.
"Brandon started out slow in this year's tournament but really
kept building as the tournament went on," said head coach Craig
Turnbull. "To earn back-to-back All-America honors is a great
accomplishment for him"
With All-America honors up for grabs in his match versus
Minnesota's Manuel Rivera, Rader advanced in impressive fashion with a
9-5 decision. He allowed no offensive points to be scored by Rivera who
entered the week seeded fourth in the 141-pound weight class. Rader
supplied three takedowns, a reversal and tacked on a riding time point
with a 2:35-minute advantage in the category.
"It feels really good," said Rader. "It was a hard fought battle
through the consolations but I happy with the way it has turned out.
Hopefully, I'm not done yet."
Rader joins an elite group of West Virginia wrestlers to earn
All-America honors multiple times. He is accompanied in that category by
Mark Banks (1990-01), Mike Mason (1997-98), Whitey Clebove (1998-99),
Vertus Jones (1998-99-2000) and Greg Jones (2002-04-05).
Turnbull's program now boasts 17 All-Americans since 1997 and
nine since 2000. At least one Mountaineer has earned a spot on the NCAA
podium the last six years and 10 of the last 11.
In his final bout of the night Rader scored an 8-6 decision over
Ohio State's Jeff Jaggers. He exploded to an 8-2 lead in the first
period on three takedowns and a reversal and then held on for the next
two periods for the win.
Rader rebounded from a loss in the second round last night by
dominating Cal Poly's David Roberts in a 19-3 technical fall. Rader
jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the first period on three takedowns and a
two-point near fall. Two reversals and a pair of three-point near falls
over the next two periods ended the bout at the 5:32 mark.
The 141-pounder followed that performance with a 15-6 major
decision against Lehigh's Matt Ciasulli. Rader took a 6-2 lead into the
second period and never looked back on his way to his 13th win in his
last 14 matches.
Junior heavyweight Dustin Rogers came one win shy of becoming an
All-American as he was pinned by No. 12-seeded Wade Sauer of Cal State
Fullerton in 6:10.
Rogers was the last to fall in the championship round as he dropped a
heartbreaking 3-1 decision to No. 3-seeded Bubba Gritter of Central
Michigan in the quarterfinals in sudden victory. After both grapplers
could only muster an escape in regulation Gritter pulled off a takedown
early in the overtime period to sneak away with the win.
The Corning, Calif. Finished his tournament-run with a record of 2-2,
both wins coming over seeded wrestlers. Rogers is 19-9 on the season.
"I thought that Dustin had an outstanding tournament," said Turnbull.
"To beat the sixth and 11th seed yesterday was fantastic. It was just
unfortunate we couldn't get him one more win to become an All-American."
West Virginia's David Jauregui (149), Kurt Brenner (174) and
Jared Villers were each eliminated from the tournament after losing
their second bout of the week in Session III. Both Brenner and Villers
ended their tourney run with 2-2 records, while Jauregui went 1-2.
14,745 wrestling fans poured into The Palace of Auburn Hills for
Friday's afternoon session for a grand total of 56,806 through two days
of competition.
Session V in Auburn Hills gets underway at 10 a.m. tomorrow
morning. Live coverage of Saturday's morning session can be watched on
ESPNU ESPN360.com. The championship bouts can be watched live in high
definition on ESPN at 8 p.m. Live updates and results can also be
tracked on InterMatWrestle.com or on NCAAsports.com.
Thursday's Results
Session III
Consolation Bracket
141: No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) TECH David Roberts (CPI), 19-3 (5:32)
141: No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) MAJOR Matt Ciasulli (LU), 15-6
149: Matt Moley (BU) DEC David Jauregui (WVU), 3-2
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) MAJOR Matt Maciag (UW), 14-6
174: Josh Weitzel (OU) DEC Kurt Brenner (WVU), 3-2
197: Jared Villers (WVU) DEC Eric Laposky (BU), 7-3
197: Hudson Taylor (UM) FALL Jared Villers (WVU), 3:29
Championship Bracket
HWT: No. 3 Bubba Gritter (CMU) DEC Dustin Rogers (WVU), 3-1 sv
Session IV
Consolation Bracket
141: No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) DEC No. 4 Manuel Rivera (UM), 9-5
141: No. 7 Brandon Rader (WVU) DEC Jeff Jaggers (OSU), 8-6 (Consolation
Quarterfinals)
HWT: No. 12 Wade Sauer (CSF) FALL Dustin Rogers (WVU), 6:10