CRIMSON MAT NEWS, 3/22/06

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Our trip to Oklahoma City was successful, and very close to exceptional.

Bode Ogunwole (pronounced Bo-DAY O-GOOL-o-lay. I know many of you have been trying to figure that out for 3 years now), brought home some hardware as he finished in 6th place at the heavyweight division. Bode dropped his preliminary match in the final seconds but bounced back nicely in the consolation rounds to became the 17th All-American in Harvard wrestling history and the 10th All-American in the past 8 years.

Robbie Preston (133 lbs.) unfortunately rolled his ankle one on of the last workouts leading up to the Championships. Although he went in wounded, he battled hard from the 11th seed while winning his first bout and meeting up with Matt Valenti from Penn in the preliminary rounds. Robbie proved 2 weeks prior that he was very capable of defeating Valenti while going overtime with him in the EIWA Finals. He was unable to get the win, and Valenti went on to win the NCAA Title. This shows where Robbie is at this point in his career!!

Max Meltzer (141 lbs.) continued his tear and as he won his first bout, 8-1 over Charles Griffin from Hofstra (who defeated the 11th seed 8-1 in the first round). Max then met up with the 6th seed, Ryan Lang from Northwestern and totally outwrestled him, only to fall 8-7. Lang went on to place 4th. Max will enter his senior year with a ton of confidence, knowing that he will be able to compete with the best.

Louis Caputo (184 lbs.) met an obstacle in the first round from Cleveland State. This opponent seemed even tougher as he pushed the #1 ranked wrestler into double overtime in the following round. Louis next lost another nail biter in double overtime. Reaching the NCAA Tournament as a freshman will most definitely pay dividends for Louis. He is well on his way to greatness here at Harvard.

Andrew Flanagan (157 lbs.) might have had one of the biggest matches in the tournament when he met up with the #2 seed, C.P. Schlatter from Minnesota. This match just happened to be right in front of a large Minnesota fan based. They seemed to be sitting on their hands during the first period (3 minutes) as Andrew fought off some takedown attempts by the #2 Gopher. At the beginning of the second period, it was the Gopher’s choice (can I keep calling him that??) and against his coaches wishes to take the neutral position, he chose bottom. Insert WRONG CHOICE here. Andrew rode him the entire period earning 2 minutes of riding time. Then took bottom in 3rd period and got an escape to go up 1-0. All this was happening while the other 12,000 fans, mostly Oklahoma State fans, began to notice what was going on. Andrew then countered a shot and got the takedown to go up 3-1. An escape from the Gopher made it 3-2 and riding time made it 4-2. This brought 12,000 fans to their feet, cheering for the man in Crimson! The other 4,000 fans were awfully quiet. Unfortunately, Andrew broke his hand during this match. He had it taped for his quarterfinal bout (to the eventual finalist) but was unable to get anything going. He then dropped his next consolation bout coming just one match away from becoming another All-American for Harvard. Did I mention that Andrew is also freshman?!

So we would have liked to bring home some more hardware, but we know where we stand now and are hungrier than ever to get back to the NCAA’s next year in Detroit, MI.

All-Ivy Team

The Crimson grapplers have three First-Team All Ivy members, selected by the coaches. Harvard’s three first-teamers were paced by big man Bode Ogunwole, who won 28 times in 33 matches this season, including a 4-0 mark in Ivy meetings. Ogunwole’s junior teammate Max Meltzer was the choice at 141. He was 15-2 overall and 5-0 in the Ivy while also recording a second-place finish at EIWA’s. The final Crimson is the third of three freshman named to the first team. Harvard rookie Andrew Flanagan took the top spot after beating three-time All-American Dustin Manotti of Cornell during the regular season. Robbie Preston and Louis Caputo were also named to the Second-Team All Ivy.

First-Team All-Ivy (*unanimous)
125 — *Troy Nickerson, Cornell (Fr., Binghamton, N.Y.)
133 — *Matt Valenti, Penn (Jr., Newton, N.J.)
141 — *Max Meltzer, Harvard (Jr., Bethesda, Md.)
149 — *Matt Dragon, Penn (Fr., Dallas, Pa.)
157 — *Andrew Flanagan, Harvard (Fr., Bound Brook, N.J.)
165 — Shawn Kitchner, Brown (Jr., Stratford, Wis.)
174 — *Matt Herrington, Penn (Jr., Cambridge, Mass.)
184 — *Joe Mazzurco, Cornell (Sr., Mahopac, N.Y.)
197 — *Jerry Rinaldi, Cornell (Jr., Lodi, N.J.)
285 — *Bode Ogunwole, Harvard (Jr., Millersville, Md.)

Wrestler of the Year — Troy Nickerson, Cornell (125)
Rookie of the Year — *Troy Nickerson, Cornell (125)

Second-Team All-Ivy
125 — Jeff Schell, Brown (Soph., Zion Grove, Pa.)
133 — Robbie Preston, Harvard (Jr., Hampton, N.J.) & Mike Mormile, Cornell (Sr., Monroe, N.Y.)
141 — Sal Tirico, Columbia (Fr., Lodi, N.J.)
149 — Keith Dickey, Cornell (Jr., Lone Jack, Mo.)
157 — Dustin Manotti, Cornell (Sr., Mifflinburg, Pa.)
165 — Steve Anceravage, Cornell (Soph., Bloomsburg, Pa.)
174 — Matt Palmer, Columbia (Jr., Germantown, Md.) & Dan Miracola, Cornell (Sr., Wading River, N.Y.)
184 — Louis Caputo, Harvard (Fr., Blue Springs, Mo.)
197 — Paul Velekei, Penn (Sr., Allentown, Pa.)
285 — Levon Mock, Brown (Soph., Bangor, Mich.)

Honorable Mention
125 — Mike Silengo, Penn (Sr., Baptist, Colo.)
141 — Cesar Grajales, Penn (Fr., Brandon, Fla.)
149 — Ricky Turk, Columbia (Jr., Crestine, Calif.)
157 — Gene Zannetti, Penn (Jr., Edison, N.J.)
165 — Lior Zamir, Penn (Soph., Fair Lawn, N.J.)
184 — Dustin Wiles, Penn (Sr., Farmington, Mo.)
197 — Orrin Kelinhenz, Columbia (Fr., Columbus, Ind.)
285 — Zach Hammond, Cornell (Soph., Galloway, N.J.)

BIG RECRUITING NEWS TO FOLLOW!!!! STAY TUNED