PAC-10 champions Scott Jorgensen and Ben Cherrington
lead a Bronco quintet into the NCAA National Wrestling Championships in St.
Louis this Thursday through Sunday. This will be Cherrington's third trip
to the nationals and Jorgensen's second. Also making the trip to St. Louis
are Andrew Hochstrasser at 125 pounds, Casey Phelps at 197 and heavyweight Eric Smith. The latter three each placed third in their respective weight
classes in the PAC-10 championships.
Jorgensen (133 lbs.) enters the tournament seeded
sixth with a record of 28-6. Jorgensen has been beaten by Daniel Frishkorn
of Oklahoma State (10-4), Drew Headlee of Pittsburgh (6-4), Derek Moore of UC
Davis (16-0), T.J. Enright of Ohio State (5-3), Matt Sanchez of Cal
State-Bakersfield (14-10) and Dominick Moyer of Nebraska (9-2).
Cherrington's
overall mark for the year is 31-6, with those losses coming to Zach Esposito of
Oklahoma State (8-6 and 11-4), 4th-ranked Eric Tannebaum of Michigan (7-5 and
8-2), 8th-ranked Ty Eustice of Iowa (3-2) and #9 Jeff Harrison of Northern Iowa
by a decision of 7-4. Cherrington (149 lbs.) is also seeded 6th for the
Broncos.
Despite finishing 3rd in the PAC-10 championships, Hochstrasser was
awarded the #8 seed among 125-pounders. The two wrestlers who beat him out
in San Luis Obispo were #4 Vic Moreno of Cal-Poly and 6th-seeded Efren Ceballos of Cal
State-Bakersfield. Phelps is seeded 23rd at 197 pounds and Eric Smith is
15th at heavyweight.
125 lbs: (34 Qualifiers)
1) Sam Hazewinkel-Oklahoma (Big XII - 2nd)
2) Nick Simmons-Michigan State (Big X - 1st)
3) Kyle Ott-Illinois (Big X - 2nd)
4) Vic Moreno-Cal-Poly (Pac X - 1st)
5) Joe Dubuque-Indiana (Big X - 3rd)
6) Efren Ceballos-Cal-State-Bakersfield (Pac X - 2nd)
7) Bobby Lowe-Minnesota (Big X - 5th)
8) Andrew Hochstrasser-Boise State (Pac X - 3rd)
9) John Velez-Northwestern (Big X - 6th)
10) Coleman Scott-Oklahoma State (Big XII - 1st)
133 lbs: (33 Qualifiers)
1) Shawn Bunch-Edinboro (EWL - 1st)
2) Travis Lee-Cornell (EIWA - 1st)
3) Mack Reiter-Minnesota (Big X - 1st)
4) Mark Jayne-Illinois (Big X - 2nd)
5) Tom Clum-Wisconsin (Big X - 3rd)
6) Scott Jorgensen-Boise State (Pac X - 1st)
7) Nathan Morgan-Oklahoma State (Big XII - 1st)
8) Matt Ciasulli-Lehigh (EIWA - 2nd)
9) Jason Borrelli-Central Michigan (MAC - 1st)
10) Matt Sanchez-Cal-State-Bakersfield (Pac X - 2nd)
149: (32 Qualifiers)
1) Zach Esposito-Oklahoma State (Big XII - 1st)
2) Phillip Simpson-Army (EIWA - 1st)
3) Dustin Manotti-Cornell (EIWA - 2nd)
4) Eric Tannenbaum-Michigan (Big X - 1st)
5) Matt Storniolo-Oklahoma (Big XII - 2nd)
6) Ben Cherrington-Boise State (Pac X - 1st)
7) Craig Henning-Wisconsin (Big X - 2nd)
8) Ty Eustice-Iowa (Big X - 3rd)
9) Jeff Harrison-Northern Iowa (West Regional - 1st)
10) Mark DiSalvo-Central Michigan (MAC - 1st)