Fittery, Groziak Lead Wrestling to 17th Place Finish at Reno Tournament of Champions
Dec. 18, 2007
RENO, Nev. - Led by sophomore Steve Fittery (Denver/Cocalico) and senior Peter Grodziak (Allentown/Parkland), the Shippensburg University wrestling team totaled 20.5 points en route to a 17th place finish at the 2007 Reno Tournament of Champions Tuesday at the Reno Downtown Convention Center. The Red Raiders were one of 29 teams, primarily from Division I to participate in the annual event.
Fittery advanced to the quarterfinals of the championship bracket at 141 pounds while Grodziak totaled four wins in advancing to the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket at 197 pounds.
Seeded fourth at 141, Fittery opened with his fifth major decision of the year, 14-0 against Greg Einerson of Portland State. Fittery’s five major decisions are currently the second most in the PSAC behind Bloomsburg’s Mike Sees who is ranked at No. 10 at 125 pounds in the latest InterMat/NWCA/NWMA Division I Individual Wrestling Rankings.
Fittery would then post a 15-12 decision over Marcus Cox of Appalachian State before falling to Arizona State’s Chris Drouin and Central Michigan’s Tony D’Alie to finish the tournament with a 2-2 record.
Grodziak won his opening match against Ernesto Anconda of Cal State Bakersfield 4-1 before falling 6-0 to Alex Calvi of Great Falls to fall into the consolation bracket. There, Grodziak reeled off three consecutive wins, including one by fall, his first of the season in 3:48 over Patrick Hogan of Liberty. He then posted his second major decision of the year, 12-0 against John Griswold of Appalachian State.
Grodziak concluded his tournament with a 4-2 record after an 8-4 decision over Arturo Basulto of Cal Poly and a 13-3 loss to John Drake of Cal State Fullerton. Grodziak’s 8-5 record this season is currently the third-best in the PSAC.
In just his third event of the year, red-shirt senior Dan Nauman (Middletown/Middletown) went 3-2 following two wins in the championship bracket at 157 pounds over Dane Fuhrman of Wyoming (6-0) and Kyle Bounds of Oregon (5-2). Nauman was edged out by Central Michigan’s Tyler Grayson 9-6 before he was eliminated by third-seeded Josh Zupancic of Stanford in the consolation bracket.
Red-shirt freshman David Sunderland (Saltillo/Southern Huntingdon) also competed for the Red Raiders at 157 pounds, posting a 2-2 record, including a 13-3 major decision over Thad Zemple of Western Wyoming.
The biggest victory of the tournament for Shippensburg came at 149 pounds where red-shirt junior Kirby Fanus (Mt. Holly Springs/Boiling Springs) opened with a 2-1 decision over fourth-seeded Seth Roy of Southern Oregon. He then edged Mike Bezel of Oklahoma State 4-2 before dropping his final two matches.
Other competitors for Shippensburg included red-shirt junior Jake Wilson (Carlisle/Carlisle), red-shirt sophomore Jon Hade (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs), red-shirt freshman Andrew Jones (Haverford/Haverford) and red-shirt freshman Jon Rhone (Chambersburg/Chambersburg) at heavyweight.
Wilson went 2-2 with a fall in 2:01 over Brendan Prince of The Citadel while Hade was 1-2 with a fall in 4:16 over The Citadel’s Joe DeLisle. Both Wilson and Hade picked up their first falls of the season.
Shippensburg will return to action on Saturday, January 5 at the North-South Duals hosted by Ursinus College. Action from Helfferich Hall gets underway at 10 AM.
- Red Raider Wrestling -
