Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals report - 5:00 p.m. session
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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
01/20/2001
Consolation round two This round was full of excitement and tension, as two non-seeded teams from Pennsylvania pulled off upsets of seeded teams. Host Penn State stormed back in the heavyweights, fueled by a loud crowd, to edge No. 8 seed Arizona State. Lehigh continued its strong wrestling with a victory over No. 7 seed Nebraska. The other two seeded teams in the session stayed alive, with No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 6 Michigan advancing. Penn State 19, No. 8 Arizona State 16 The Nittany Lions continued to roar back, and will clearly earn a national ranking after this impressive comeback. Going into the 184-pound bout, Penn State trailed 16-7. Jeff Knupp edged R.D. Pursell at 184 pounds, 3-2. At 197 pounds, Dave Heckard pinned Andy Swanson to tie the match at 16-16. The heavyweight match went down to the finals seconds. The bout was tied at 3-3 with 10 seconds left with ASU's Kellen Fluckinger in the top position. Bob Jones, a starting defensive end on the football team who joined the team on January 3, scored a last-second escape and reversal for a dramatic 6-3 win to the delight of the crowd. Jones, a two-time high school champion in Ohio, has not competed in three-plus years. Lehigh 24, No. 7 Nebraska 18 Lehigh, which came into the Duals after two challenging weeks, seems to be returning to top form again. After Jason Powell and Todd Beckerman opened with wins for Nebraska, Lehigh got a boost at 141 pounds with a forfeit to Matt Goldstein. David Esposito of Lehigh pinned Travis Baker in 2:01 at 149 pounds to give Lehigh a 12-9 lead. Bryan Snyder won at 157 pounds and tied the bout at 12-12. Three straight wins by Lehigh iced the match, led by Rob Rohn's pin at 184 pounds. Other Lehigh wins came from Chris Vitale (165) and Brad Dillon (174). Nebraska closed with wins at 197 and heavyweight, but could not close the gap. No. 5 Oklahoma 23, Edinboro 13 Oklahoma led the entire match, starting with wins by Bo Maynes (125) and Witt Durden (133). After a Chad Caros win at 141, Oklahoma swept three straight to close out the match. Jared Frayer's 7-5 win over Ryan Shapert at 149 pounds was a key win. Edinboro won three of the four last matches, including NCAA runner-up Josh Koscheck at 174 pounds. No. 6 Michigan 37, Nebraska-Omaha 6 Michigan had no problems in this match, winning eight of the 10 bouts against this Div. II opponent. Nebraska-Omaha won the first match, with Matt LaRock (125), but the Wolverines got it all going after that. Pat Owen (157), Charles Martelli (165) and Joe DeGain (197) scored falls, and Mike Kulczycki (149) had a technical fall.