MARCH 2, 2007

KING'S MORGAN ADVANCES TO SEMI-FINALS, REILLY DROPS OPENER AT D-III NATIONALS

DUBUQUE, IA -- King's College wrestling standout David Morgan (Scranton/West Scranton) advanced to the semi-final round, while Monarch teammate Jason Reilly (Mountaintop/Crestwood) dropped his first match on the opening day of the NCAA Division III National Tournament Friday at Loras College, Dubuque, IA.

Morgan (left), who is the top-seeded wrestler in the 133-pound weight class, received a first-round bye to start the event. In the quarterfinal round, Morgan posted a 5-3 decision over eighth-seeded Jordan Kolisnki of the University of Wisconsin-Lacrosse to advance to Saturday morning's semi-finals. There, Morgan (33-2) will face fourth-seeded Jacob Helvey (28-6) of Wartburg College. Helvey reached the semi-finals with an 8-4 decision over Stephen Valastro of Southern Maine and a 5-1 victory over Justin Siefried of Ithaca.

The two wrestled once earlier this season with Morgan posting a pin in 3:40 at the Desert Duals December 19 in Las Vegas, NV.

Should Morgan defeat Helvey and reach the finals, he would face the winner of the other semi-final match pairing second seeded 2006 national runner-up Jafari Vanier (19-1) against third-seeded Jestin Hulegaard (21-7) of Buena Vista.

Reilly, meanwhile, faced a more difficult task as the unseeded Monarch senior drew top-seeded Tyler Miller (23-0) of Wartburg College and suffered an 18-0 technical fall defeat in his opening match. Miller placed fourth in the 2006 Division III National Championships.

Reilly bounced back and remained alive by pinning Diego Crespo of Johnson & Wales in 3:44 in the consolation bracket. He will face Wally Connor of Augsburg in the second round of consolations on Saturday

Wrestling will resume Saturday at 10:30 a.m. CT, 9:30 a.m. ET.

 

 

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