Matt Palmer Makes All-American at NCAA Championships for a Second Time
3/17/2007 3:00:00 AM | Wrestling
On Friday, before 14,000 fans in the Palace at Auburn Hills, Palmer went his 2005 performance one better. He became the only wrestler in the 103 years the University has had the sport to make All-American twice.
The senior from Germantown, Md., rebounded from a crushing loss to top-seeded Ben Askren in the quarterfinals Saturday, ending his dream of winning the NCAA championship, to defeat an accomplished wrestler from powerful Oklahoma in a close match that guaranteed him All-American honors.
"Making All-American for the second time is a major accomplishment for Matt, or for any wrestler," said head coach Brendan Buckley, an All-American himself as a Fresno State senior. "That he made it in a really tough weight class like 174 was this year, makes it even better."
Palmer was seeded ninth in the tournament. Since only the top eight finishers in each weight class are All-American, the seeding committee in effect was saying Palmer wasn't good enough and wouldn't make it. But the Lion disproved his seed.
His opening-day win over Rider's Doug Umbehauer, followed by an 8-3 defeat of Big Ten standout Nick Hayes of Northwestern, cemented his standing. It wasn't tarnished by his quarterfinal loss to Missouri's Askren; Palmer wrestled hard against Askren, undefeated and winner of 84 straight bouts, but was unable to avoid being taken down.
Askren led 6-2 after one period, then hit three more takedowns for a 12-4 lead before turning Palmer over and pinning him in 4:42.
Relegated to the consolation bracket, Matt had to bounce back quickly to continue in the tournament, for he would face a formidable opponent in Oklahoma junior Joshua Weitzel.
Weitzel had won 25 of 32 matches as he took the mat for his battle with Palmer, then 16-3. Although unseeded, he had upset 7th-seeded Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan before losing to a familiar Ivy League foe, 10th-seeded Matt Herrington of Penn.
In the "wrestlebacks", Weitzel defeated Phillip Moricone of Edinboro University, 6-0, and Kurt Brenner of West Virginia, 3-2, to set up his bout with the Columbia wrestler.
"You could tell Weitzel and his coach [former Cornell coach Jack Spates] had scouted Matt well," said Buckley, the Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling. "Initially, he wouldn't let Palmer do anything."
Weitzel took a 2-0 lead on a takedown, only to see Palmer reverse him for a 2-2 first-period tie. Palmer went down 3-2 in the second period when Weitzel scored on an escape.
It was still 3-2 in the third when Palmer was awarded a point for Weitzel's technical violation (locking hands). Just a few seconds later, as Palmer maneuvered on the bottom, Weitzel decided to let him go, allowing Palmer to take a 4-3 lead.
The Oklahoman was gambling he'd be able to score again, but Palmer refused to allow it. He was able to hold him off while still being aggressive himself, and gained the 4-3 victory which assured All-American honors.
As the clock ticked off the end of the bout, Palmer raised his arms in elation. He then made a beeline for his cheering, applauding family, sitting in the first row of the stands, and vaulted the railing, climbing right up there to accept their congratulations.
Palmer's final match of the day pitted him against the 8th-seeded Matt Stolpinski, a junior from Navy who had deprived Palmer of the EIWA title with a 7-5 overtime win. Tied 3-3 after one period, Palmer began the second period on top (in control). But Stolpinski quickly reversed Palmer and then put him on his back, the five-point "home run" wrestlers dread.
It gave Stolpinski an 8-3 lead. Although Palmer continued to wrestle hard, he lost, 11-8.
"Matt really hurt himself when he gave up those back points," Buckley said. "Other than that, the match was really close. The Navy guy's a good competitor."
If Palmer, who suffered an injury during the bout, can continue Saturday, he'll face Brandon Sinnott of Central Michigan, the 7th seed who came into the tournament with 30 victories, for seventh place.
Columbia's other wrestler to make it to Friday's matches, Brandon Kinney, saw his season end in the morning when he lost to Tyler Shinn of Oklahoma State, 6-1.
The score was just 3-1 as Kinney waited for the right opening. Late in the match, he saw it, and dived for the tying takedown. Kinney was quick, but Shinn was quicker, deflecting Kinney's shot and taking him down himself for a 5-1 lead with only 20 seconds to go.
"Brandon wrestled well the entire tournament," Buckley said.
The tournament concludes Saturday.
Players Mentioned
