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    Valko wins NCAA title, earns OW award

    No. 1-ranked Shane Valko (Windber, Pa.) earned a 6-3 decision in the 133-title bout over No 2-ranked Cody Garcia (Nebraska-Omaha) to become Pitt-Johnstown's 10th individual National Champion at Saturday's 2010 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Championships at the University of Nebraska-Omaha's Sapp Fieldhouse. In addition, Patrick Walsh (184 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) and Chris Dempsey (HWT.) (Sewickley, Pa.) also earned All-America honors with sixth and eighth-place finishes, respectively. Team scores will be posted on Sunday.

    After reaching the semifinals with two wins on Friday, Valko, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 133 lbs. the entire season, defeated No. 7-ranked Laramie Shaffer (Augustana), 4-0, Saturday morning, to set up the meeting with undefeated and No 2-ranked Garcia in the finals. Valko, a three-time All-American with fourth (2008), second (2009) and first-place (2010) finishes, earned the 6-3 decision to improve to 25-1 and become Pitt-Johnstown's 10th national champion and the first since Albert Miles (174 lbs.) won the title in 2008. Valko trailed 2-0 but got an escape and "pancaked" Garcia before going on to the victory. With the loss, Garcia, a four-time All-American, fell to 48-1 on the year. Valko opened the tournament with a fall over Northern State's Jacob Butrous, before reaching the semifinals with a 9-8 sudden victory over No.6-ranked Todd Wilcox of Grand Canyon.

    Walsh, ranked No. 5 at 184 lbs., also reached Saturday's semifinals, but suffered three consecutive losses to place sixth. In the semifinals, Newberry's No. 7-ranked Bryant Blanton dealt Walsh an 8-3 loss forcing him into the consolation semifinals. Nebraska-Kearney's Derek Ross pinned Walsh at 1:51, before top-ranked Charlie Pipher avenged a second-round loss to Walsh by pinning him at 3:31 in the fifth-place match. Walsh defeated University of Mary's Brady Anderson, 8-4 in the first round, before upsetting Pifer (Western State), 8-6, in the second round to advance to the semifinals.

    In Saturday's consolation quarterfinals, Dempsey pinned Steve Franklin (San Francisco State) at 5:25, but was pinned by No. 3 Dustin Finn (Central Oklahoma) in the consolation semifinals and by No. 7 Naill McGrath in the seventh-place bout. Dempsey won his first match, 3-2 over Findlay's Matthew Clum, but suffered a 2-1 tie-breaker loss to No. 5 Jake Kahnke (St. Cloud State). However, Dempsey rebounded by pinning Southwest Missouri State's Brian Rodas at 5:25 in the Second Round of the Consolations to stay alive.

    Ryan Link (125 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.), Ryan McIntyre (149 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.) and No. 7-ranked Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Bradford, Pa.) were all eliminated on Friday.

    Link secured a 5-3 sudden victory over No. 5 Cody Zimmerman (Wisconsin-Parkside), but fell 9-2 to No. 2-ranked Seth Wright (New Mexico Highlands) in round two and was pinned by No. 7 Russell Weakley (UNC-Pembroke) at 6:40 in the consolation round.

    McIntyre, who had to face the No. 1-ranked wrestler to start the tournament, went 0-2. Top-ranked Craig Becker (Wisconsin-Parkside) pinned McIntyre at 6:20, before No. 7 Thomas Hepburn (Nebraska-Kearney) pinned McIntyreat 4:34.

    Keane, who needed three wins to reach 100 for his career, ended the tournament at 1-2. Keane suffered a 4-2 loss to No. 8 Taylor May (Nebraska-Kearney) in the opening round, but answered with a 4-1 decision over Ashland's Thomas Graszl in the first round of consolations. Unfortunately, Gavin Nelson (Augustana) scored a 10-5 victory in the next round to eliminate Keane.

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