Columbia
Mat Town Invitational
O'Hara Takes Second at 157; Six Columbia Wrestlers Place at Mat Town Invitational
12/29/2011 8:04:00 PM | Wrestling
2011 Mat Town Invitational Results | VIDEO: Coach Fronhofer On The Phone
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. -- Columbia junior Jake O'Hara took second place in the 157-pound division as a total of six Lions wrestlers also placed at the Mat Town Invitational on Thursday. Columbia finished fifth as a team with 87 team points.
Junior Stephen West finished third at 174 and senior Kevin Lester took third at heavyweight. Senior Eren Civan, making his season debut, placed fourth at 165. Sophomore Matt Bystol was fifth at 141 and junior Robert Dyar was sixth at 125.
"We kind of had a slow start. In the quarterfinals we lost some matches that we didn't wrestle as well as I think we could have," Andrew F. Barth Head Coach of Wrestling Carl Fronhofer said. "As usual, the guys battled back pretty hard in the wrestle-backs and we ended up getting a bunch of guys through and placing six guys. The day definitely ended better than it started."
No. 8 Michigan took first place with 141 team points. Pittsburgh (126 points) and Kent State (110.5 points) rounded out the top three teams.
At 125, Dyar opened competition with an 8-1 victory over Bloomsburg's Elliot Zackoski. After second-seeded Robert Rehm of Lock Haven defeated him in a 15-0 major decision in the next bout, Dyar bounced back in the consolation bracket, pinning Sacred Heart's Joe Harris in 5:24 and edging Michigan's Grant Pizzo, 6-3. Bloomsburg's Sean Boylan bested Dyar by a 15-2 major decision before Pitt's Chace Small pinned him in 2:46 in the fifth-place bout.
In the 133-pound division, Lions co-captain Kyle Gilchrist, who was seeded second, lost to Kent State's Steve Mitcheff, 8-6, in the opening round. Gilchrist ceded his next bout against Old Dominion's Brendan Choate with a medical forfeit.
At 141, Bystol upset fifth-seeded Derek Shingara of Bloomsburg, 5-4, in the opening round. Fourth-seeded Frank Cimato of Drexel defeated Bystol, 8-4, in the next round. In the consolation bracket, Bystol pinned Sacred Heart's Robert O'Neill in 4:46. After a 7-2 win over VMI's Zeb Stewart, Bystol was stopped by Pitt's Travis Shaffer in a 15-0 major decision. Bystol bounced back with a 1:40 pin of Franklin & Marshall's Richard Durso in the fifth-place bout.
Columbia's 149-pound entries, Josh Houldsworth and Jake Kazimir, both suffered major-decision defeats in the first round. Houldsworth pinned Franklin & Marshall's Andrew Murano in 1:03 in the consolation bracket. Lock Haven's Owen Wilkinson took a 6-3 win over Houldsworth. Kazimir fell to Pitt's Josh Pascazi in a 14-1 major decision.
Third-seeded O'Hara enjoyed a strong start on Thursday in the 157-pound bracket, defeating Bloomsburg's Michael Testan, 12-4, and sixth-seeded Jacob Salazar of Michigan, 8-3. O'Hara avenged a Nov. 19 loss to Kent State's Mallie Shuster from the Body Bar System Invitational, pinning the No. 20 157-pounder in the nation in 1:34 in the semifinals. In the title bout, No. 7 Frank Hickman of Bloomsburg ended O'Hara's impressive run, 9-1. Columbia's other 157-pound entry, Eric Fajardo, bounced back from an 18-2 major decision loss to top-seeded Hickman in the first round. In the consolation bracket, Fajardo pinned VMI's Edward Gottwald in 4:12 and took a forfeit from Sacred Heart's Joseph Evangelista. Fajardo's day ended with a 6-0 loss to Michigan's Jacob Salazar.
After sitting out the fall semester, Civan made his season debut for Columbia at 165 and. The 2011 NCAA Championships qualifier pinned Sacred Heart's Sam Sheppard in 35 seconds and defeated Old Dominion's Brett Miller, 6-1, to start the day. A 6-2 setback to 17th-ranked Dan Yates of Michigan in the quarterfinals sent Civan to the third-place match where he fell to Pitt's Tyler Wilps, 3-1. Kevin Brown suffered a 9-0 major decision loss to top-seeded Joe Booth of Drexel to start the day and medical forfeited his first match in the consolation bracket.
At 174, sixth-seeded West opened with an impressive 16-0 major decision with 1:59 riding time over Franklin & Marshall's Bradley Bailey. West fell out of the championship bracket with a 2-1 loss to third-seeded Mike Dessino of Bloomsburg but bounced back with a 5-3 win over Pittsburgh's Patrick Tasser. A 3-1 win over Michigan's Collin Zeerip and a 4-4 technical bout victory over Franklin & Marshall's Matt Fullowan put West in the third-place bout. West took third with a 3-0 win over VMI's Matthew Brock. After Adam Fondale took down Sacred Heart's Jonathon Rizzitello, 9-3, he fell to no. 1 seed Justin Zeerip of Michigan in 3:22 in his next bout. but then managed a 2-1 technical bout win over Drexel's Alex Rinaldi.
Fourth-seeded Nick Mills took a 4-1 win over Michigan's Christopher Heald in the opening round of the 184-pound bracket, but fell to fifth-seeded Conor Black of VMI, 3-1 in the next bout. Mills pinned VMI's Dohn Dommert in 4:09 in the consolation bracket. Pitt's Andy Vaughan ended Mills' day, pinning him in 1:57 in the following bout. Shane Hughes suffered a major decision loss to sixth-seeded Sam Shirey of Bloomsburg in his first match. Hugh's was pinned by Pitt's Vaughan in 4:32 in his opening consolation bracket match.
At 197, Kent State's Keith Witt, the no. 5 seed, pinned Columbia's Matt Idleson in 2:37 in the first round. Idelson responded with a 4:48 pin of Lock Haven's Matt Parlier before advancing past Drexel's Jamie Callender due to medical forfeit. Idleson's wrestle-back would end with an 8-5 loss to Franklin & Marshall's Colin Ely.
In the heavyweight division, Lester and Wyatt Baker both fell early but clawed their way back in the consolation bracket. Lester, the fourth seed, fell to fifth-seeded Henry Turner of Lock Haven in 5:54 in his first match, but later took a 7-2 win over Lock Haven's Cody Mason. Seventh-seeded Matt Tourdot of Old Dominion edged Baker, 3-2 in the first round. Baker opened his consolation bracket run by pinning Franklin & Marshall's Alexander Henry in 4:05. Lester and Baker squared off in their next bout with Lester taking a 12-2 major decision over his teammate. Lester closed his day strong with a 1:37 pin Drexel's Kyle Frey and a 59-second pin of Lock Haven's Henry Turner to claim third place.
Columbia will next compete in the Pitt Duals on Jan. 7 in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Lions will face Pittsburgh, Eastern Michigan, Davidson and VMI in dual action. Columbia makes its home debut on Jan. 14 when it hosts Army.
Players Mentioned
