Luther in 7th Place After Session II - Four Norse Earn All-America Honors
March 7, 2008
At the conclusion of session two of the NCAA III National Wrestling Championships, Luther is in seventh place with 28 points. It was a difficult round for the Norse as they did not advance a single wrestler on the championship side of the brackets, but did have four wrestler advance far enough in the consolation brackets to earn All-America honors.
Zach Bartlett (133) will be a first time All-American following a fall at 3:51 over Phillip Greene (Merchant Marine Academy).
Travis Grawin (141) was eliminated from the championship bracket following an 11-8 loss to #1 seed Michael Bonora (Rhode Island) in the quarterfinals. He became a two-time All-American posting a fall over Dylan Ritterburg (Williams) at 6:57 in his first match of the consolation round.
Yonny Quist (149) lost to #2 seed Willy Holst (Augsburg) 17-2 in the championship bracket, but rebounded with an impressive 6-1 victory over Zach Mizer (Heidelberg), earning All-America honors for the first time.
Alec Bonander (197) wrestled for the first time of the tournament this evening and was defeated by #7 seed Josh Holforty (UW-Eau Claire) in the quarterfinals by a score of 5-2. Bonander posted a fall at 3:16 over Ben Bonaventura (Hunter) in the consolation round, securing All-America honors for a second time in as many years.
Ben Barclay (184) and John Miller (285) both fell one match shy of reaching the All-American podium. Barclay was eliminated from the tournament by Elliot Smith (Springfield) 11-2, after posting a 3-1 sudden victory over Treavor LeBlanc (SUNY-Cortland) in his first match of the consolation round.
Miller lost 12-4 to #2 Kyle Bilquist (Delaware Valley) in the quarterfinals of the championship round and then lost by fall to #1 seed Trevor Hiffa (Oneonta State) in 38 seconds.
The semifinals of the championship bracket and all other placing matches will take place during session III on Saturday, March 8. This action will begin in the U. S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids at 10:00 a.m.
