ST. LOUIS -- Jeff Sato left his native California two years ago, traveling 3000 miles to attend Columbia. But he can't quite escape California -- in the NCAA Championships, that is.
Sato, the Lions' standout 125-pound junior from Pismo Beach, Calif., will meet Efren Ceballos of Cal State Bakersfield when the first round of the NCAA Championships begins Thursday -- for the second straight year. Sato and Ceballos also met in the first round last year, with Ceballos gaining a narrow 5-2 victory. They had met earlier that season, also, as Ceballos won that one, 11-4.
Ceballos, ranked sixth nationally this year, is not the only familiar foe Columbia wrestlers will or could meet at the NCAA's. Junior Devin Mesanko (Toms River, N.J.), wrestling in the 157-pound class, will wrestle Colton Salazar of Purdue in the opening round; when the two met in the Lone Star Duals in Texas two months ago, Salazar eked out a 5-3 victory.
If Sato can defeat Ceballos, he will meet the winner of a bout between John Velez of Northwestern, ranked 12th nationally, and Matt Pitts of Tennessee-Chattanooga, ranked 15th in the nation. Mesanko would also face a tough foe if he were to defeat Salazar -- the winner of the bout between top-ranked Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, seeded number one, and Tony Hook of Oregon State.
Sophomore Matt Palmer (Germantown, Md.), Columbia's only nationally-ranked wrestler (19th), will open at 165 pounds against the victor in an early "pigtail" round match between 16th-ranked Johnny Galloway of Northern Illinois and Justin Nestor of Pitt. If the Lion star wins the match, he'll meet either of two men he's faced earlier this year, top-seeded Troy Letters of Lehigh or John DeCeault of Purdue.
The other two Lions from Columbia's record-setting five NCAA qualifiers also begin competition Thursday. Sophomore Matt DeLorenzo (Wantagh, N.Y.) takes on 4th-seeded Mark Jayne of Illinois in the first round at 133; the winner meets the winner of a bout between Tim Harner of Rider and Drew Headlee of Pitt. Harner won an overtime decision against Columbia in December, but it was against DeLorenzo's teammate, first-year Derek Francavilla (Scotch Plains, N.J.). Nor is Mark Jayne unfamiliar with Columbia wrestlers; he met the Lions' Steve Sutton at 133 in the 2004 NCAA's.
Sophomore Anthony Constantino (Kirtland, Ohio) will open up at 141 pounds against the seventh seed, 8th-ranked Daniel Frishkorn of Oklahoma State. The winner will meet either 10th-seeded Ricky LaForge of Hofstra or unseeded Matt Fittery of Lock Haven.
Constantino lost to LaForge, ranked 10th nationally, by just 3-1 in a dual meet a few weeks ago. However, he defeated Fittery, 6-2, in an early-season tournament.
The NCAA Championships will be a familiar setting for Columbia's coaches, all of whom earned All-American honors in college. Fifth-year head coach Brendan Buckley and assistant coach Yero Washington both were All-Americans at Fresno State; graduate assistant coach Scott Schatzman was an All-American at Northwestern; and volunteer assistant Karl Roesler earned those honors for Illinois. All four coaches accompanied the Lions to St. Louis.
