Shippensburg in 17th Place at NCAA Championships, Fittery in Semifinals
Mar. 14, 2008
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Led by sophomore Steve Fittery (Denver/Cocalico) at 141 pounds, the Shippensburg University wrestling team currently finds itself in 17th place out of 37 teams following the first day of competition at the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships being hosted at the U.S. Cellular Center by Upper Iowa University.
Fittery, who is one of three Red Raiders competing this weekend, won both of his matches on Friday to advance to the semifinals for the second-straight year.
In his opening match, Fittery defeated freshman Jay Sherer of Augustana by fall in 1:55 before pinning red-shirt freshman and seventh-ranked Josh Hensley of Adams State in 3:44 to advance to the semifinals. Fittery's victory over Hensley was his 15th consecutive victory and fifth fall of the season.
Fittery will now face Shane Valko of Pittsburgh-Johnstown for the third time this season and for the second time in his last four matches. Fittery is 2-0 against Valko this season and 3-0 in his career, most recently handing him a 15-5 major decision in the semifinals of the East Region Championships.
In the other side of the bracket at 141, red-shirt senior and No. 3-ranked Jeff Rutledge of Nebraska-Kearney will face off against defending national champion, senior Kyle Evans of Central Oklahoma, who is has been ranked No. 1 all season.
Evans defeated Rutledge 5-0 earlier this season at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals on January 13.
Should Fittery and Evans both advance to the finals, it will be a rematch of last year's national championship match when Evans handed Fittery a 7-1 loss to finish the season 37-0 and win his first-ever national title.
Fittery has been ranked No. 2 all season behind Evans and is currently 24-4 this season. Evans is 30-2 with his only two losses coming to Nathan Morgan of Oklahoma State 6-1 and Zack Bailey of Oklahoma, 8-7.
Also competing for Shippensburg on Friday were red-shirt senior Dan Nauman (Middletown/Middletown) and red-shirt sophomore Jake Wilson (Carlisle/Carlisle), both of whom lost both of their matches at 157 and 165 pounds, respectively.
Nauman opened with a 5-3 suddent victory loss to freshman Muhammad Abdur-Rahman of Ashland (Ohio) before losing to second-ranked red-shirt senior Joe Ellenberger of Nebraska-Kearney, 10-3.
Nauman concludes his career as a Red Raider with a 61-54 record that includes 17 falls, two technical falls and six major decisions. He finished this season with a career-high 24 victories in making his second appearance at the national championships. Nauman took third at the East Region Championships and fifth at the PSAC championships.
Meanwhile, Wilson finishes with a 14-14 record while qualifying for his second national championships. He opened against third-ranked senior Andy Pickar of Minnesota State-Mankato who registered a fall in 6:00 before losing to seventh-ranked red-shirt junior Keenan McCurdy of Nebraska-Kearney, 9-2.
Fittery will look to become Shippensburg's second national champion in the last four years when competition continues on Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m. Corey Jacoby '06 became the Red Raiders' first-ever nation champion in 2005 after winning the title at 197 pounds
- Red Raider Wrestling -
