Nauman, Jones Earn Fourth-Place Finishes at Shorty Hitchcock Memorial Classic
Jan. 5, 2008
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Red-shirt senior Dan Nauman (Middletown/Middletown) and red-shirt freshman Andrew Jones (Haverford/Haverford) posted fourth-place finishes to highlight the Shippensburg wrestling team’s performance at the 2008 Shorty Hitchcock Memorial Classic on Saturday inside Pucillo Gymnasium at Millersville University.
Over 200 wrestlers competed in the fifth annual wrestling tournament for a combined 351 matches on five mats. The annual tournament is held each winter in honor of Floyd "Shorty" Hitchcock, who coached at Millersville University for 18 years before dying of cancer in February 2002.
Nauman won three consecutive matches to open the competition, recording falls over Seton Hill’s Greg Vanucci in 3:05 and Delaware’s Greg Cross in 5:33.
After dropping a major decision to American’s Christopher Stout, Nauman earned a 9-4 decision in the consolation bracket before losing in the third-place match to Millersville’s Jarrett Hostetter.
At 125 pounds, Jones raced through the consolation bracket by earning four consecutive match decisions after dropping a 6-4 overtime decision in his opening match.
Jones shutout Seton Hill’s Kenny Trumbetta 3-0 and followed that up with an 8-2 decision over VMI’s Jonathan Pope. After defeating Maryland’s Lou Ruland 7-5 to cap off his streak, Jones fell to Bucknell’s Greg Hart to earn fourth place.
At 174 pounds, red-shirt freshman Chris Barrick (Carlisle/Big Spring) started off his day with a 15-0 technical fall over Pittsburgh-Johnstown’s Philip Slaugh and a victory by fall in 1:03 over Delaware Valley’s Jason Moretti.
Adversity, however, came in the form of Liberty’s Brad Clark, who defeated Barrick in a hard-fought 6-5 decision. Barrick ended his day with a medical forfeit in the consolation bracket.
Other highlights included a major decision for senior Pete Grodziak (Allentown/Parkland) and two victories each for red-shirt sophomore Jon Hade (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs) and red-shirt freshman Zach Hogentogler (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin).
Additionally, sophomore Bill Purvis (Green Lane/Souderton) recorded a fall in 3:48 over Rob DiLetto and totaled two match victories, while red-shirt junior Rob Cross (Milton/Milton) also recorded two victories in four matches, highlighted by a 9-2 decision over Nick Pitas of American.
At 157 pounds, red-shirt freshman David Sunderland (Saltillo/Southern Huntingdon) competed along with Nauman at 157 and won his first two matches, but dropped two consecutive decisions to end his day.
At heavyweight, red-shirt freshman Jon Rhone (Chambersburg/Chambersburg) earned a 4-2 decision over Mario Lucien of the Falcon Mat Club to earn one victory in three total matches at the Classic.
Shippensburg will return to action on Tuesday, January 15 when they host Seton Hill at Heiges Field House. The match is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- Red Raider Wrestling -
