FEBRUARY 24, 2008
KING'S MORGAN, REILLY WIN METRO TITLES TO EARN NATIONAL TOURNAMENT
BERTHS
Complete Tournament Brackets
WILKES-BARRE -- King's College junior David Morgan (Scranton/West
Scranton) and freshman Mike Reilly (Mountain Top/Crestwood)
earned trips to the NCAA Division III National Tournament as the Monarch
duo captured individual weight class championships at the Metropolitan
Conference Tournament Sunday at Wilkes University.
The pair will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the national championship
event slated for March 7-8 at U.S. Cellular Center. As a team, the
Monarchs placed fifth in the nine-team field.
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Top-seeded
Morgan (25-1), the defending Division III national champion at
133-pounds, defended his title with a dominating effort in the
tournament. In the finals, Morgan pinned third-seeded Ray Sarinelli of
the College of New Jersey, the ninth ranked wrestler in Division III, in
4:40. Morgan was rewarded for his efforts by being named the Outstanding
Wrestler of the tournament
In his first match of the day Morgan posted a 17-2 technical fall of
eighth-seeded Matt Myers of Hunter. In the semi-finals, he pinned Josh
Pauling of Wilkes in 6:52 to advance to the title match.
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Reilly
(20-2) entered the event as the fourth seed and was equally impressive
in knocking off the top two seeds in the tournament. In his first
match Reilly pinned fifth-seeded Derek Schisler of Centenary in 2:00. In
the semi-finals he posted a major upset over top-seeded Greg Osgoodby of
the College of New Jersey, the sixth-ranked wrestler in Division III,
with a 9-7 decision. In the finals he bested second-seeded Andre
DeCristo of Hunter with a 12-9 decision. For his efforts, Reilly was
named the Metropolitan Conference "Rookie of the Year".
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King's
junior Zack Wilkinson (7-4) was the only other Monarch to finish in the
top-four, placing third at 184-pounds. Seeded sixth, Wilkinson fell in
his first match by a 23-6 technical fall to eventual runner-up Peter
Madden of Hunter. Wilkinson then pinned Devon Sassone-McHugh of Wilkes
in 3:24 and advanced to the consolation finals with a 6-4 decision over
William Meaney of Elizabethtown. Wilkinson then pinned Christopher
Elliot of York in 3:36 to lock up third place.
At 125, King's freshman Ricky
Dorsey (12-13) won his first match by pinning Raymund Claudio of
Scranton in 6:46. In the quarterfinals he fell by technical fall to
top-seeded Kyle Flickinger of York, but remained alive in the
consolations with a pin of Centenary's Dustin Overs in 5:46. In the
consolation semi-finals, however, he was pinned by second-seeded Kyle
Christensen of New York University in 5:48.
In the 141-pound class, fourth-seeded sophomore Tony Miele (16-18) won
his first round match by pinning Richard Russell of Scranton in 6:15. In
the semi-finals he fell to top-seeded Stephen Hult of Hunter by a 4-2
margin. He was then eliminated by Branden Prentice pf Wilkes by a 16-1
technical fall.
At 149, King's unseeded Frankie Davis (14-22) won his first round match
with 15-4 major decision over Michael Ebert of Scranton, but fell in the
quarterfinals to top-seeded Richard Croswell of Elizabethtown by a 16-1
technical fall. He was then eliminated in the consolations by
Vitaly Simkin of Hunter by a 10-6 count.
In the 157-pound class, King's sixth-seeded sophomore Taylor Green
(10-9) defeated third-seeded Jereme Helsey of Elizabethtown 3-2 in a
six-overtime riding time criteria victory. He then fell in the
semi-finals by 10-2 count to second-seeded Rob Niedrich of York He was
then eliminated by Wilkes Adam Penberthy by a 1-3 major decision.
At 165, King's unseeded Ryan Trees (0-15) was pinned in his first match
in 1:07 by Michael Lussier of Elizabethtown. He was then eliminated by
Steve Gray of Scranton by fall in 5:40.
At 197, King's seventh-seeded Zach Martinez (15-13) won his quarterfinal
bout with a 17-15 upset of second-seeded Shawn Vanwingerden of The
College of New Jersey. In the semi-finals he fell 9-5 to third-seeded
Ben Bonaventura of Hunter. He was then eliminated in the
consolation semi-finals with an 11-6 loss to fourth-seeded Dennis
Conklin of York.
In the heavyweight class, King's fourth-seeded Justin Bender (8-6) lost
his first match by a 3-2 verdict to fifth-seeded Timothy Katzaman of
Elizabethtown. He was then eliminated by a fall in 4:41 by Neil
Slocum of Scranton.
Final Team Standings
1. College of New Jersey - 90.5
2. New York University - 82.0
3. Wilkes University - 71.5
4. York College - 67.5
5. King's College - 58.0
6. Hunter College - 46.5
7. Centenary College - 29.0
7. Elizabethtown College - 29.0
9. University of Scranton - 9.5
King's David Morgan accepts his championship award, flanked by
runner-up Ray Sarinelli (left) of TCNJ and third-place finisher Mike
Gummerson of Centenary.
King's Jason Reilly accepts his championship
awards, flanked by runner-up Andre DeCristo of Hunter (left) and
third-place finisher Mike Osgoodby of TCNJ.
