March 18, 2008
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Four of Penn State's seven wrestlers competing in the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships this weekend have received seeds as the brackets for the three-day event have been released. Three-time All-American Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) is the No. 2 seed at 197 to lead the way for Penn State.
Davis, now a two-time Big Ten Champion after winning his second title in Minneapolis on March 9, heads into the tournament with a 21-1 record and will face Bakersfield's Riley Orozco (24-11) in Thursday morning's first round. The winner of the Davis/Orozco bout will face the winner of the Logan Brown (Purdue, 24-11)/Andrew Anderson (Northern Iowa, 20-9) match-up. Defending National Champion Josh Glenn of American is the top seed.
Sophomore Dan Vallimont (Lake Hopatcong, N.J.) is the No. 3 seed at 157. Vallimont, in his second trip to the NCAA tournament but his first up at 157, heads into the event as the 2008 Big Ten Runner-Up and is 27-2 on the year. Vallimont will face Chattanooga's William Garvin (23-5) in his first round match-up. The winner of the Vallimont/Garvin bout will face the winner of the Christian Snook (Army, 19-10)/Steven Brown (Central Michigan, 13-8) bout. Defending National Champion Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro is the top seed while Big Ten Champion (and the only man to beat Vallimont this year) Mike Poeta of Illinois is seeded No. 2.
Sophomore Bubba Jenkins (Virginia Beach, Va.) is the No. 6 seed at 149. Like Vallimont, Jenkins is in his second trip to nationals but his first down at 149. Jenkins sports a 22-5 mark heading into his Thursday morning, first-round battle with Navy's Bryce Saddoris (32-8). The winner of the Jenkins/Saddoris battle could face No. 11 seed Ryan Lang of Northwestern in the second round. Lang (17-5) will face the winner of a pig-tail match-up on Thursday morning. Iowa's Brent Metcalf, the 2008 Big Ten Champion, is the No. 1 seed at 149.
True freshman Garrett Scott (Alexandria, Pa.) heads into his first trip to the NCAA Championships as the No. 12 seed at 141. Scott heads into the tournament with an 18-5 overall record and will face Wyoming's Carter Downing (21-5) in the first round. The winner of the Scott/Downing bout will face the winner of the No. 5 seed Manuel Rivera (Minnesota, 30-7)/Torsten Gillespie (Edinboro, 15-14) bout. Cal Poly's undefeated Chad Mendes, who is 26-0, is the top-seed at 141.
Senior Mark McKnight (McDonald, Pa.) is unseeded at 125. The four-time national qualifier is 13-9 on the year and will face No. 12 seed Tyler Shinn of Oklahoma (15-6) in the first round. The winner of the McKnight/Shinn bout will take on the winner of the No. 5 seed Charlie Falck (Iowa, 30-4)/Fernando Martinez (Army, 34-5) match-up. 2008 Big Ten Champion Angel Escobedo of Indiana is the top seed at 125.
Sophomore Dave Rella (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) is unseeded at 165. Rella, in his first trip to nationals, heads into the tournament with a 15-14 record. He will face No. 12 seed Jarrod King of Edinboro (24-5) in the opening round Thursday morning. The winner of the Rella/King bout will meet the winner of the No. 5 seed Stephen Dwyer (Nebraska, 24-5)/Ryan Patrovich (Hofstra, 15-10) match-up. Michigan's Eric Tannenbaum, the 2008 Big Ten Champion, is the top seed at 165.
Junior Phil Bomberger (Port Royal, Pa.) is unseeded at 184. Bomberger, like Rella and Scott, is making his first trip to the NCAA Championships and is 19-8. He will face No. 12 seed Jack Jensen of Oklahoma State in the opening round. The winner of the Bomberger/Jensen battle will meet the winner of the No. 5 seed Joshua Weitzel (Oklahoma, 25-3)/Doug Umbehauer (Rider, 20-6) battle. Iowa State's Jake Varner is the top seed at 184.
Penn State's three unseeded wrestlers all managed to draw the No. 12 seed in their opening round match-ups. Head coach Troy Sunderland's Nittany Lions did not garner a pig-tail match either.
Action begins Thursday morning at 11 a.m. (Central) and will continue on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. (Central) each day. The entire tournament will be streamed live at www.GoPSUsports.com and can be hear over the air, locally, on WBLF radio (970 AM).