Edinboro had five wrestlers medal, led by Port's first place showing at 141 lbs. Port was also named the Art Kraft Champion of Champions, voted on by the #Midlands52 title winners.
The redshirt senior, who came into the event as the top seed and ranked second nationally, posted a 4-1 decision over Virginia Tech's Devin Carter in the final, improving to 19-0 on the season with the win. Carter was seeded second and was the NCAA runner-up at 141 lbs. last season.
Edinboro added a second place finish by Dave Habat at 149 lbs., a pair of fourth place finishes by Kory Mines at 125 lbs. and A.J. Schopp at 133 lbs., while Vic Avery took home fifth place at 184 lbs.
Habat, the second seed at 149 lbs., was edged by top-seeded Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern 2-1 in the first tiebreaker. Tsirtsis is the reigning national champion at 149 lbs., capturing the title as a redshirt freshman in 2013-14. Habat reached the finals by way of a 3-2 decision over Iowa's Brandon Sorenson in the semifinals.
After rallying for three consecutive consolation victories, Kory Mines fell to fourth-seeded Sevan Micic of Northwestern by a 4-1 decision in the third place match at 125 lbs. Mines, who faced Micac yesterday in the quarterfinals, improved on yesterday's result of a 13-1 major decision. Mines topped third-seeded and 14th-ranked Josh Rodriguez of North Dakota State 3-1 in the consolation semifinals.
Schopp, the top-seeded and top-ranked wrestler at 133 lbs., defeated Kevin Norstrem of Virginia Tech in the consolation semifinals by way of a 4-3 decision. He finished fourth after a medical forfeit in the third place match. Schopp was edged by Zane Richards of Illinois 1-0 in the semifinals earlier today, after winning by fall in three straight matches to open the event, including one victory over eventual third place finisher Ryan Taylor of Wisconsin. Schopp is now 15-1 on the season.
Avery earned five wins en route to a fifth place finish at the event, capped by a 3-2 decision over Illinois' Nikko Reyes, boosting his record to 16-5 for the 2014-15 campaign. Avery dropped a 3-2 decision in the second tiebreaker to third-seeded Sam Brooks of Iowa in the consolation semifinals.
All five of Avery's losses this season have come to wrestlers ranked in the top eight in the nation, including a narrow 5-3 loss in sudden victory to second-ranked Lorenzo Thomas of Penn in the quarterfinals yesterday. The redshirt junior responded by winning three out of his next four matches to earn fifth place at the event.
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