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Sunday, March 20, 2011

3rd and Final Day of 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships

NCAA Wrestling Championships


What does Penn State and the San Francisco Giants have in common? They are both sports, yes! They both a storied sports team, yes! They both reach the apex in their respective level and sport in the past years, yes! Penn State won the team title, their first title since 1953. Why did I compare a collegiate sports team to a professional sports team, you might ponder? Well, other than the fact that they achieved greatness, they both had not been at the pinnacle since the 1950s. The Giants had not won a World Series since moving out west in 1957 but won the 2010 World Series. That is how they are linked. Congratulations to Penn State for the team title. As for the individual matches, here's how I saw it:

-@125 Anthony Robles defeats defending National Champion Iowa's Matt McDonough convincingly to capture his 1st National Champion and end his storied career on top. Talk about a feel good story.

-@133 Jordan Oliver also dominated his Boise St. counterpart to become a sophomore National Champion.

-@141 Kellen Russel endured what looked like a painful injury against Boris Novachkov from my alum Cal Poly, to take him down in the last 25 seconds to secure his 1st National Title.

-@149 Kyle Dake simply just dominated Penn State's Frank Molinaro. No other way to put it. Kyle racked up an astonishing 6+ riding time, yes, 6+ riding time. He now is a 2x National Champion and he is only a sophomore.

-@157 Bubba Jenkins pins Freshman Sensation David Taylor in the 1st round to claim his 1st National title. Talk about sticking it to your old team.

-@165 Jordan Borroughs is simply a man amongst boys. Like Kyle Dake was able to accomplish, Jordan did but on his feet. He is simply a takedown machine. He ended his career being Nebraska's only 2x NCAA National Champion. Enjoy to watch.

-@174 Jon Reader dominated Stanford's Amuchastegui to win title.

-@184 Quentin Wright, a #9 seed, defeated Robert Hamlin, #2 seed to give Penn State a lone champion. Not only did he outperform his seed but he wrestled like a man who just wanted it more than anyone else.

-@197 Kilgore was getting beat by Oklahome State's Foster but as every wrestler knows it is not how you start but how you finish. In other terms, the wrestler with the least amount of mistakes win the bout and Foster just happened to make a HUGE mistake and Kilgore capitalized on it and pinned him. Kent State's 1st National Champion.

-@Heavyweight Lehigh Rey defeated Ryan Flores from American 3-1. With a Steve Mocco as your coach, I am sure Rey was well prepared for the National Tournament.

Top 3 Teams: Penn State, Cornell, Iowa

As a avid fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships. There were a lot of amazing matches with great student-athletes competing for nothing else than the love and desire for the sport. Can't wait till next year. Hopefully, I will be writing to you guys from St. Louis, MO...

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