Bulldogs Finish Strong, Take 3rd at 2009 NCAA East Regional
March 08, 2009 | Wrestling
The Gardner-Webb men's wrestling team placed
third in the 2009 NCAA East Regional, beating out Delaware State by
a mere .5 points on Saturday at the Lutz-Yelton Convocational
Center. Bulldog standout, Dustin Porter, was crowned champion of
the heavyweight division at the East Regional and will represent
Gardner-Webb in the 2009 NCAA National Championships on March 19-21
in St. Louis, Missouri.
Gardner-Webb senior Cortney Roberts represented the Bulldogs as the fourth seed in the 125 lb bracket. After receiving a first-round bye, he faced off with first-seeded William Chamberlain from Duquesne. In the bout, Chamberlain was able to get an early lead and held on for a 5-1 final decision. However, Roberts rebounded in the semifinal consolation bracket to take a 12-1 major decision win and advance to the consolation final round. There, he fell 16-5 to C.J. Givens of Campbell to place fourth in the 125 lb weight class.
Red-shirt junior Rob Tate was seeded second in the 141 lb division. He led off the regional in convincing style, pinning his opponent from Millersville in 0:45 seconds of the first round. However, he did not fare so well in the semifinals as third-seeded Jayk Cobbs of Duquesne pinned Tate at the 6:05 mark of the third period. Tate rebounded in the semifinal consolation bracket with a 24-8 tech. fall to advance to the consolation finals match. There, he recorded another pin at the 1:35 mark to take third place in the 141 lb division.
GWU's Austin Reece competed in the 149 lb weight class. Reece lost his first match, 6-3, to fall into the consolation bracket. After receiving a first-round bye in the consolation bracket, he defeated Campbell's Matt King, 8-2, to advance to the consolation finals. In the consolation finals he fell behind early and was unable to mount a comeback and was eventually defeated 12-5 to take fourth in the division.
At 157, Thomas Knapp took the mat for the ‘Dogs. He too fell in his first-round bout, 4-3, to move into the consolation bracket. He also received a first-round bye in the consolation bracket and defeated his next opponent, 2-0, in the consolation semifinals. Knapp fought hard in the finals match, but his opponent from Campbell was too much, causing Knapp to fall, 6-1, to take fourth place at 157.
The Bulldogs' David Pelsang took the mat at 165 lbs. Pelsang, like the two before him, opened the Regional with a loss. But unlike the other two before him, he won his consolation finals match to take third in the 165 lb division. On his road to third, he defeated Sean Quinn of Wagner, 5-2, and won a major decision match against the second-seeded Matt Gregg of Duquesne. By doing so, he was able to wrestle for "true second" in the 157 lb division. In this match, Pelsang defeated Liberty's Brad Clark, 6-2, for a "true second" finish.
Gardner-Webb's Dave Sweeney fought at 174 in the East Regional. Unfortunately, Sweeney dropped two consecutive close matches (3-2 and 2-0) and was unable to place in the 174 lb division.
Red-shirt sophomore Alex Piasecki represented GWU as the second seed in the 184 lb. division. Piasecki held strong to his seed, as he defeated Millersville's Jason Foor 9-1 in the first round. He followed with another decision win, 5-0, in the semifinal round to advance to the finals. In the finals, he lost a close, 2-0, decision to Liberty's Chris Daggett to place second in the division.
His older brother, Matthias Piasecki, didn't fare as well in his opening match as he fell to his first-seeded opponent, 9-5. Despite an opening loss, Piasecki was able to notch another third place finish for the Bulldogs by winning two consecutive matches in the consolation bracket. He defeated Delaware State's Shawny Nowrey 5-2 in the consolation semifinals and followed it with a 3-2 win over Liberty's Brandon Johnson in the finals.
Last, but certainly not least, was red-shirt junior Dustin Porter, who represented Gardner-Webb as the top-seeded wrestler in the heavyweight division. Porter, who is currently ranked #15 in the nation at heavyweight, held strong to this title by notching two consecutive wins in the championship bracket to take the crown in his division at the East Regional. He won his first bout over Liberty's Andrew Wilson, 3-1, in sudden victory and finished the regional with a 3-2 decision over Campbell's Khiry Reid. By winning the East Regional, Porter is secured an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championships, which will be held later this month (March 19-21) in St. Louis, Missouri.
2009 East Regional Final Results
Team
Place Points Team
1 101.5 Liberty
2 65 Millersville
3 54 Gardner-Webb
4 53.5 Delaware State
5 45 Campbell
6 43 Duquesne
7 3.5 Wagner
Division Champions
Weight Name School
125 William Chamberlain Duquesne
133 Christian Smith Liberty
141 Tim Harner Liberty
149 Matt Cathell Delaware St.
157 Shaun Smith Liberty
165 Jeremy Brooks Millersville
174 Shane Smith Millersville
184 Chris Daggett Liberty
197 Raymond Bennett Millersville
285 Dustin Porter Gardner-Webb
Outstanding Wrestler – Matt Cathell (Delaware State, 149 lbs)
Coach of the Year – Todd Roberts (Millersville)
For complete coverage of the 2009 East
Regional, click on the .pdf file attached
| Complete Bracket Results |
