FEATURE: Hot-shot freshmen have impressive opening session at their first NCAA Championships

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
03/17/2005


Every wrestler who makes it to the NCAA Championships has a first match in their career at the Big Show.    For many, it is not something that is showcased in front of the thousands of fans at the arena, often off on a side mat away from the spotlight. But for prominent freshmen wrestlers, the "diaper dandies" of college wrestling, their debut at the NCAA Tournament is often a very big deal.    In most years, many of the hot-shot freshmen are in the lighter weight classes, and the 2005 NCAA Championships are no exception. While there are no No. 1-seeded freshmen this year, there is enough talent among the tournament babies that we may see a first-timer on center mat going for a gold medal on Saturday night.    First things first, however. There is getting that first match out of the way, in what these athletes hope to be a very successful NCAA career. It offers a challenge to the athlete, as well as to the coaching staff. Veteran coaches know they must help the freshmen talents deal with the special pressures of their first NCAA experience.    "You need to keep them level-headed and keep them from getting caught up in the hype," said Minnesota coach J Robinson. "That is very hard for a freshman. You have to keep them loose."    The first freshman star on display in the opening session was Coleman Scott of Oklahoma State, No. 9 at 125 pounds. He is from Waynesburg, Pa., and was one of the best high school wrestlers in the nation last year. Scott is hot off a gold-medal win at the Big XII tournament, where he beat previously unbeaten Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma in the finals. Hazewinkel still got the No. 1 seed in St. Louis, but Scott has the momentum from his recent win.    Scott had a first-round challenge from Christian Staylor of Old Dominion, a sophomore and CAA champion. Scott opened the match with a quick double leg takedown in the opening 25 seconds, then sunk the legs in for a turn from the top for three backpoints. Another half nelson with the leg in put Staylor on his back over for three more backpoints and an 8-0 lead after one for Scott. There was no scoring in the second period, with both wrestlers on their feet. Scott reversed Staylor early in the third period, right to back exposure, and after a scramble, Staylor got away, but Scott held a commanding 14-2 lead. Riding time made it 15-2, a great start for Scott as well as for all the seeded freshmen.    One of the surprise freshmen stars this year is Andrew Hochstrasser of Fresno State, No. 7 seed at 125 pounds from Tooele, Utah. Hochstrasser was third in the Pac-10.    His match followed on the same mat as Scott's, where he faced Mason Lenhard of Penn, a sophomore who was fourth in the EIWA. Lenhard scored the opening takedown, and Hochstrasser escaped, making it an early 2-1 deficit. Hochstrasser scored the takedown before the period ended, for a 3-2 lead after one period.  Hochstraser got his offense going, jumping to a 6-2 margin, then put the match away with a pin in the second period.    All weekend, many eyes will be on Mack Reiter of Minnesota, No. 3 at 133 pounds from Gilbertsville, Iowa. Reiter won the Big Ten title with a pin in the finals, and has been a major spark for the great finish for the Gophers this season.     Reiter ran into somebody also with an Iowa background, Jesse Sundell of Iowa State, a junior who was third in Big XII. The match was hard-fought, but Reiter won a solid 5-0 match. A first period takedown and a second period reversal were the key to Reiter's win.    "He is doing really well," said Minnesota head coach J Robinson. "He is a tough kid. He has gotten better and better all year. He improves on what he does well. The guy who works the hardest will get better. He is very good at what he does."    At 133, Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State earned No. 7 at 133 pounds. Morgan, from Bakersfield, Calif. has strong wrestling bloodlines from his father Larry Morgan, also won the Big XII title. Scott and Morgan gave the Cowboys a huge boost in the lightweights for OSU's quest for a third straight NCAA team title.     Morgan had an unheralded first-round opponent, Josh Priewski of Gardner-Webb, a junior who was East Regional champion. It proved to be a mismatch. Morgan scored a quick takedown, and turned Priewski three times for a 9-0 first period lead. After an escape and a takedown, it was 12-0 early in the second period. Although the scoring slowed down the rest of the way, Morgan finished with a 17-2 technical fall victory.    Josh Churella of Michigan, is No. 3 at 141 pounds, and is coming off a dream freshman season. From Northville, Mich., Churella is from one of the most prominent wrestling families in Michigan sports history, son of Hall of Famer Mark Churella, and one of a series of successful Churella brothers to star for the Wolverines. He won the Big Ten title, and may be one of the best chances for a freshman champion this year.    He drew Charlie Pinto of Maryland, a sophomore who was ACC champion. Churella was not flashy, but controlled the action, winning his first NCAA bout by an 8-1 margin. He scored a takedown in all three periods.    The third of the freshman stars for Oklahoma State is Daniel Frishkorn of Oklahoma, a No. 7 seed from Chesapeake, Va. at 141 pounds. Frishkorn had to fight for a spot on this talented team, and once he was given the chance to start, he was expected to perform.    Frishkorn drew Anthony Constantino of Columbia, a sophomore who was fourth at the EIWA. Frishkorn opened with a takedown and then turned Constantino for  three back points on a cradle for a 5-0 first period lead. He continued scoring takedowns in the following two periods, and finished off an 11-1 win.     "It is hard to talk about freshmen; this is their first tournament," said Oklahoma State head coach John Smith. "Our first three freshmen had a good first round. Anytime you send in true freshmen at 125 pounds and 133 pounds, you really try to avoid that. These freshmen made a commitment to do it here. If they wrestle strong, then they can have a good tournament."    "As a team, you are always going to have freshmen going for you. If they wrestle like freshmen, though, it is hard to win a team title. And they are on a team that is trying to win the team title. You do a lot a lot of different things with freshmen. You try to prepare them for their lack of experience. You try to develop them before they get to this tournament."    Another respected freshman star is Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan, seeded No. 5 at 149 pounds, and a major national recruit from Naperville, Ill. Tannenbaum nailed down a Big Ten title on his first try, and came into the tournament with confidence.    He may have drawn the toughest opening bout of all the diaper dandies. Right off the bat, he faced talented but unseeded Travis Shufelt of Nebraska, a senior who has been a championship contender. Shufelt was injured all season, showed up for the conference meet, and comes off a fourth place finish at the Big XII meet.    As expected, the match was very close and hard-fought. Tannenbaum scrapped for a 4-3 lead at the end of two periods. The key move came in the final period, when Tannenbaum scored a takedown for a 6-3 lead. Shufelt escaped and almost secured a takedown in the final seconds, but the freshman received a riding time point to emerge with a 7-4 win.    "Shufelt is hard to wrestle. Eric wrestled hard, stayed with his attack and did what he needed to do to win," said Michigan coach Joe McFarland. "We had to win on our feet. Shufelt is good on the mat. Eric stayed aggressive the whole time, and that is what I like about his style. He is ready to attack as soon as he steps on the mat.    McFarland felt confident that his super-freshmen Churella and Tannenbaum could handle the first-round jitters.    "These guys are extremely focused," said MacFarland. "I don't think they approach this any differently than any other tournament. We will take them one at a time, and that is what we talked to them about. They have had success on the national level in the past. They are very mature in that respect."    One of the biggest name freshmen coming into the year was C.P. Schl