FEBRUARY 18, 2006

KING'S MORGAN WINS MAC MAT TITLE, NAMED OUTSTANDING WRESTLER

Final Brackets

ELIZABETHTOWN -- King's College sophomore Dave Morgan earned a trip to the NCAA Division III National Tournament by capturing the 133-pound weight class at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships Saturday at Elizabethtown College.

Morgan (left) led a King's lineup that produced six place-winners in the event, including two finalists.  Junior Drew Dehaut was second at 157-pounds for the second straight year for the Monarchs

Morgan, whose older brother Jim won three MAC titles from 2001-2004, captured his first MAC title with a pair of impressive victories. After a first-round bye. Morgan bested Justin Shorts of Delaware Valley 10-4. In the finals, Morgan then defeated 2005 Division III all-American Sean Cullen of Lycoming by a score of 6-3. Morgan was rewarded for his efforts by receiving the John Reese Outstanding Wrestler Award.

At 157-pounds, King's second-seeded Dehaut (right) reached the finals with a first round bye, then picked up a pin in 1:54 of Jason Smith of Lycoming.  

Dehaut then fell in the title match by a fall in 5:24 to Ryan Herwig of Delaware Valley.

The strongest weight class in the event proved to be 197-pounds where King's second-seeded junior Jason Reilly placed third. Reilly pinned Elizabethtown's James Campolongo in just 0:19. In the semi-finals, Reilly dropped a 7-2 overtime decision to third-seeded Brandon Kelly of Wilkes, the 2005 MAC runnerup.  Kelly would advance to the finals where he dropped a 3-2 decision to 2005 NCAA runnerup Jamal Johnson of Delaware Valley.

Reilly moved on to the consolation bracket where posted a 6-2 decoision over Matt Lengel of Messiah, followed with a pin in 1:12 of Lycoming's Bryan Kopesky in the third-place match.

At 285, King's Jim Bishop placed third at the event. Bishop opened with a pin in 1:23 of Matt McHugh of Messiah, before losing by a fall in 3:16 to second-seeded Kevin Orr of Delaware Valley. In the consolations, Bishop earned a 7-4 decision over Keith Altiery of Wilkes, then won by injury defauly over Messiah's McHugh in the consolation finals.


King's junior Zach Dietrick placed fourth in the event at 174-pounds. Dietrick defeated Tom Leggi of Wilkes 7-1, then fell to top-seeded eventual champion Derek Crane of Lycoming by a narrow 5-4 verdict.  In the consolations, Dietrick pinned Robert Schwarting of Scranton in 2:06, before falling 8-0 to Ryan Pope of Delaware Valley in the consolations finals.

At 184, Monarch rookie Zack Wilkerson was also fourth in the tournament. Wilkerson opened with a 9-2 decision over Mike Orfano before being pinned by top-seeded Rex Harris of Wilkes in 3:20. Wilkerson then earned a 7-3 decision over R.J. Mount of Elizabethtown before dropping a 6-3 decision to Matt Miller of Lycoming in the consolation finals.

At 125, King's Jeff Mazurek dropped a 15-0 technical fall to Josh Proctor of Delaware Valley. Mazurek then fell to Peter Achilles 4-2 in the first round of consolations.

In the 141-pound class, King's Ryan Richard dropped a 7-3 deicison to Messiah's Barry Thrush, then was pinned by Kyle of Hopkins of Lycoming in 2:25. Richard, however, would place fifth with a 15-5 major decision over Justin Martin of Elizabethtown.

At 149, King's freshman Ryan Trees was pinned in 4:-3 by Drew Barder of Lycoming, before losing by fall to Jereme Heise of Elizabethtown in 5:37.

Final Brackets


Final Team Scoring
1.              Delaware Valley                 129.50
2.              Lycoming College              123.00
3.              Wilkes University                111.00
4.              King's College                  83.00  
5.              Messiah College                 81.50  
6.              University Of Scranton        50.50  
7.              Elizabethtown College        44.50  
   

 

 

King's College
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Questions or comments to:  Bob Ziadie, King's College Sports Information Director
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