Fittery Takes Second at NCAA Championships, Murphy and Groller Place Sixth
Mar. 10, 2007
KEARNEY,
Neb. - Shippensburg freshman Steve Fittery (Denver/Cocalico) fell
just short of a National Championship Saturday evening, finishing in second
place at the 2007 Division II National Championships. Meanwhile, senior Mark
Murphy (Dillsburg/Northern York) and redshirt sophomore Jason
Groller (Easton/Easton) finished in sixth place after completing wrestlebacks.
No. 3-ranked Fittery battled the nation's lone undefeated wrestler
from any weight class remaining in the Championships, No. 1-ranked Kyle Evans
of Central Oklahoma. Evans started off the Championship match with an early
takedown, and after a reversal he led 4-0 after two rounds. After one reversal,
an escape by Fittery and a riding time advantage, Evans finished with a 7-1
decision over Fittery.
After his four decisions thus far at the National Championships, Fittery's
final record for the season is 36-7, and the freshman wrestler earned All-American
status with his performance. His second-place finish comes on the heels of
Jamie Thomas and Corey Jacoby's second-place finishes last year at
the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships.
At 184, No. 5-ranked Murphy was forced to medically forfeit his final two
scheduled matches, so he finished in sixth place for the tournament. Murphy
concludes his career for Shippensburg with a total of 65 wins and 33 pins
in a career that brought him a fifth and sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships
as a Red Raider.
Meanwhile, at heavyweight, Groller lost to Brady Wilson of Minnesota State-Mankato,
9-1 in the fifth place matchup. It was Groller's first appearance at
the NCAA Championships.
Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh (Comcast channel 47 in Shippensburg) will be airing
the Championships on a tape delay basis this Monday at 12:30 p.m. EST.
- Red Raider Wrestling -
