The middle mat featured each weight class's championship bout, with the side mats hosting the third and fifth-place contests for that weight, and as the eye scanned from one end of the floor to the other, at times it took in Columbia Blue on almost every mat. Lions placed in every weight class they entered, sometimes with multiple placewinners, as Columbia took top honors in the highly-rated tournament, outscoring the host school, 149-136, with Rider and American University tying for third with 105 points.
It was Columbia wrestling's first tournament team title since winning the Coast Guard Academy Invitational in December, 1997.
"I'm glad the guys got to experience this," Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling Brendan Buckley said. "It was a strong way to kick off the season."
Senior Justin Barent (Worland, Wyo.) and sophomore Derek Francavilla (Scotch Plains, N.J.) took highest honors, finishing first in their weight classes. First-year Matt Dunn (Transfer, Pa.) was second, while four Lions — junior Brandon Kinney (Haslett, Mich.) at 125, senior Matt DeLorenzo (Wantagh, N.Y.) at 133, senior Ricky Turk (Crestline, Calif.) at 165, and senior Kirk Davis (Pismo Beach, Calif.) at 197 — finished third.
Senior Devin Mesanko (Toms River, N.J.) was fourth and another trio captured fifth places, including juniors Jed Wade (Wasilla, Alaska) and Nick Sommerfeld (Transfer, Pa.), and sophomore Derek Sickles (Rutherford, N.J.).
Team scores weren't announced during the tournament, but when Columbia's coaches learned that the Lions were among four contenders for the title, entering the final medal round, Buckley called the entire team together.
"Wrestling is an individual sport," he said later, "but I appealed to them as a team. I told the guys who were wrestling in that round that they couldn't settle for a lower score when extra effort would earn a higher one, and more team points. They had to be aggressive at all times, because we had a chance to win a major tournament title. Even the guys who weren't wrestling, I told them to cheer and root their teammates on."
Brandon Kinney, the successor to standout Jeff Sato, began the championship round promisingly, defeating fifth-seeded Jason Borshoff of American, 3-1 in overtime. Kinney was seeded second.
Matt DeLorenzo then posted another third with an 8-7 squeaker over Bryan Gibson of Duke. DeLorenzo had contributed to a mood of gloom that settled over the Lions after the day's opening round, when he lost to Terreyl Williams of Appalachian State, 4-3, after receiving the top seed.
Derek Francavilla was making his first collegiate appearance in more than a year, after taking a leave of absence from school in 2005-06, but showed no effects from the layoff. The unseeded Francavilla beat the third seed, Mark Savino of Brown, 6-2 in the first round, then pinned 6th-seeded Brandon Franklin of Virginia Military Institute in 5:06.
Francavilla posted a 12-4 major decision over Lenny Calhoun of Mercyhurst College, who had upset the second seed, to reach the championship match. There he scored early and maintained control virtually the entire bout in blanking 5th-seeded Kyle Borshoff of American, 4-0.
Similarly unseeded at 149, Matt Dunn, a high school All-American who twice was Pennsylvania state champion, permitted just two points in beating men from Boston U. and VMI. Wrestling with great toughness, Dunn then edged top-seeded Mike Kessler of Rider, an NCAA qualifier, 3-2, setting up a championship bout with 2nd-seeded Scott Ervin of Appalachian State, another national-level wrestler. Dunn, unfortunately, gave up early and late points in losing, 16-4.
Two New Jerseyans, Mesanko and Sickles, fought back through the consolation round to earn fourth and fifth places. The third-seeded Mesanko led Mercyhurst's Andy Lamancusa, 8-7 with eight seconds to go, only to see Lamancusa hit a 5-point move in those final eight seconds for a 12-8 triumph and third place. Sickles was knocked out of the championship bracket by Penn All-American Matt Dragon, but came back, earning fifth on an 8-4 defeat of American's Jimmy Pepper.
Two more Lions took the mats at 165. Ricky Turk, jumping two weight classes from his usual 149, was ousted in the quarterfinals by the eventual champion, but came back with a major decision and a pin in advancing to the third-place bout, where he defeated top-seeded Zach Shanaman of Penn, 5-4, earning the win with nearly two minutes of riding time. Dustin Tillman was sixth at the same weight.
There was no Columbia Blue on the mats at 174 — senior All-American Matt Palmer will not compete until the second semester — but Justin Barent gave Columbia its second tournament title at 184.
The senior had not practiced in two weeks due to injuries, and at times did not look sharp. The top-seeded Barent won his first two bouts, including a 16-6 major decision. In the semifinals, he rallied from a 4-2 deficit to tie his bout with 5th-seeded Thomas Shovlin of Penn, sending it into overtime, then won it with a takedown in OT. He edged another Penn wrestler, 3rd-seeded Colin Hitschler, 4-3 in the final.
Rider's T.J. Morrison won the 197-pound class over a Penn matman, but all the action for Columbia fans was on the side mats.
Kirk Davis, returning from a season-and-a-half of inactivity, reached the third-place bout by edging teammate Nick Sommerfeld. The 4th-seeded Davis capped his tournament by snapping Brown's Larry Otsuka into a headlock, and pinning him in one minute. It earned Davis the tourney's fastest pin award.
Sommerfeld matched Davis when he gained fifth place by pinning Penn's Matt Dwyer in 4:22. "That's what I was talking about," Buckley noted. "We really needed those points."
Two years ago, Jed Wade had experienced an unsatisfying rookie season at 197 pounds. He moved up to heavyweight last season, but missed the entire year with an injury.
Finally taking the mats in the upper weight class, Wade was happy to show his stuff. He recorded a win and a pin in the consolation bracket to reach the fifth-place bout, where he surprised the taller and larger Peter Reid of Rider, 6-2.
Brendan Buckley was pleased.
"When you lose some bouts early, when your top seed [DeLorenzo] loses, your whole team can panic," the coach said. "But no one lost his composure, no one panicked. Even though this was our first competition and most of the other schools had wrestled earlier this season, we showed skill and emotion. We may have been a little rusty, but we shook it off. We actually wrestled better as the tournament went on."
And the Columbia Blue wave continued to roll.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now