College roundup: Sheetz knocks off top dog in Division III

by Don Seeley, Pottstown Mercury Sports Editor

Posted on January 13, 2009

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — Talk about an up-and-down day on the wrestling mats.

Delaware Valley sophomore Chris Sheetz (Upper Perkiomen), No. 5 at 125 in last week's Division III national rankings, thoroughly dominated No. 1 Seth Flodeen of Augsburg in a 9-3 decision during Saturday's semifinals of the Cliff Keen National Duals at Northern Iowa University. But even that wasn't enough for the Aggies, who fell 25-17. A few hours later, Sheetz was back at it and dropped a 12-7 decision to No. 3 Clayton Rush of Coe College. But the Aggies rallied for a 22-15 win in the third-place final.

Sheetz, as well as teammates Brandon Clemmer (Upper Perkiomen), Eric McCann (Pennridge), and Rocky Mantella (Council Rock), were all 2-0 in Friday's opening two rounds as #3 Delaware Valley blanked Ohio Northern (46-0) and jolted No. 9 St. John's University (41-9). But Saturday was another story, as Sheetz and the 133-pound Clemmer (ranked No. 10) split their two bouts, the 141-pound McCann (ranked No. 9) dropped both of his, and the 174-pound Mantella (ranked No. 7) won two more for the Aggies (9-1-1).

Augsburg (Minn.), which jumped six spots up to No. 2 in the rankings a week ago, will likely take over the top spot this week after edging No. 1 Wartburg, 21-20, in the final. The Aggies and Coe (Iowa) finished third and fourth, which is where they're currently

ranked, and No. 24 Heidelberg (Ohio) defeated No. 14 Olivet (Mich.) for seventh place.

In the Division I bracket of the Cliff Keen Duals, No. 1 Iowa defeated No. 3 Cornell, 23-13, for the title. No. 2 Iowa State, upset by Cornell in the semifinals, finished third. No. 14 Penn State, which stunned previously unbeaten No. 5 Missouri in the opening round, dropped three of its next four and finished eighth.

VIRGINIA DUALS

Seven District 1 graduates from five different schools competed in last weekend's Virginia Duals in Hampton, Va.

Liberty's Tim Harner (Norristown) fared the best of all, winning all three of his bouts at 141 for the Flames, who defeated Northern Colorado (25-16) and lost to both Central Michigan (27-15) and Penn (35-9). The Quakers went 2-3 over the weekend and finished eight, as 141-pounders Rick Rappo (Council Rock South) went 1-2 and Zack Kemmerer (Upper Perkiomen) split two bouts. One of Rappo's setbacks was to Harner, who pinned him at the 5:01 mark of their bout. ... Virginia's Pete Ferrara (Central Bucks West) went 0-2 149 for the Cavaliers; Rider's Fred Rodgers (Boyertown) was 0-3 at 141 for the Broncs; and Bucknell's Jay Hahn (Great Valley) was 0-3 at 197 for the Bison.

WHITEHILL DUALS

Most of the remaining top-ranked Division III schools that didn't travel to the Cliff Keen Duals were lined up for the Budd Whitehill National Duals at Lycoming, where No. 5 Whitewater (Wisc.) defeated No. 8 Ithaca (N.Y.), 23-15, in the final. No. 16 Wilkes, getting a 2-2 effort from Tom Andresen (Upper Darby), finished fourth following a 36-6 loss to No. 18 The College of New Jersey, coached by former Delaware County native Dave Icenhower. No. 29 York, getting a pair of wins and a loss from Joe Erb (Pennsbury), did not place in the 20-team field.

HITCHCOCK MEMORIAL

Millersville's Jarrett Hostetter (Oxford) and Kutztown's David Zeek (Council Rock North) both finished third during Saturday's Shorty Hitchcock Memorial at Millersville. Hostetter and Zeek both were 5-1 at 157 and 165, respectively, to capture their respective bronze medals.

Also participating at the tournament were Penn's Mark Rappo (Council Rock South), 2-2 at 125; Penn's Marty Borowsky (Harriton) and Maryland's Dex Lederer (Neshaminy), who were 2-2 and 3-2, respectively, at 141; Millersville's John Lester (Central Bucks South), Kutztown's Chris Chambers (Council Rock South) and Bloomsburg's Dustin Tancredi (Council Rock South), who went 1-2, 3-2 and 1-2, respectively, at 157; Penn State's Justin Ortega (Oxford), 1-2 at 165; Millersville's Shane Smith (Upper Perkiomen), Delaware C.C.'s Corey Blake (Coatesville) and Kutztown's Sonny Flood (William Tennent), all of whom were 3-2 at 174; Millersville graduate Jeremy Wampler (Owen J. Roberts) and Drexel's Jack Callender (Council Rock North), who were 2-2 and 3-2, respectively, at 197; and Drexel's Shane Meighan (Springfield-Delco), 1-2 at 285. ... Callender eliminated Wampler in the second round of consolations with a 14-6 decision.

STANFORD DUALS

Columbia's Andrew Grabfelder (Collegeville, Germantown Academy) made up for a pair of losses last week in the Lions' setbacks to Wyoming (21-18) and Cal State-Fullerton (24-10) by going 2-1 overall during Saturday's Stanford Duals. The 133-pound Grabfelder helped Columbia defeat host Stanford (22-18) and added another win, but Columbia came up short against both UC-Davis (24-15) and Cal State-Bakersfield (26-15).

Drexel, with 174-pound Brian Stouffer (Perkiomen Valley) splitting two bouts, went 0-1-1 at the Stanford Duals. The Dragons lost to both UC-Davis (21-19) and Cal State-Bakersfield (33-9) and tied the host Cardinal (21-21).

SUNSHINE OPEN

Ithaca's Seth Ecker (Pottstown) and Jeremy Stierly (Owen J. Roberts) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, during the recent Sunshine Open in Florida. The 133-pound Ecker fell in the semifinals to then No. 1 ranked Travis Lang of Augsburg (Minn.), and in the consolation final to teammate Chad Winowich, who occupied the 133-pound slot in last weekend's Whitehill Duals. The 141-pound Stierly lost a pair of one-point decisions.

DUAL ROUNDUP

Boston University's Mike Platco (Spring-Ford) split two bouts at 184 as the Terriers were swept in a weekend double-dual with Army (28-15), USMMA (20-18) and host Rutgers (44-3). ... Bloomsburg's Matt Moley (Spring-Ford) won a pair of identical 4-0 decisions at 157 last week to help the Huskies to wins at Rider (26-10) and at Binghamton (33-3). ... NYU's Matt Magill (Great Valley) had a 3-0 decision and pin in his team's sweep of Elizabethtown (21-13) and Muhlenberg (42-6) in Manhattan. Muhlenberg's Bill Sholly (Souderton) was 0-2 at 197. ... Oklahoma got a 6-1 decision at 184 from Pat Flynn (Quakertown) to post a 23-14 win Sunday at the Tennessee-Chattanooga. ... North Carolina's Mike Rappo (Council Rock South) dropped a 6-5 decision at 133 and Maryland's Pat Gilmore (Council Rock South) fell 9-4 at 285, but it was the Tar Heels who pulled out a 19-15 win in both teams' ACC opener Sunday. ... Franklin & Marshall's Colin Ely (Unionville) won both of his matches, but the Diplomats lost three duals to visiting American International (33-15), South Dakota State (32-13) and Sacred Heart (28-15). ... Gettysburg's Jim Stevenson (Cheltenham) went 2-1 at 197, but the Bullets were swept by Washington & Lee (22-21), William & Jefferson (45-9) and host Waynesburg (40-6).

NOTES

ESPNU is scheduled to broadcast the national duals twice this week — 4 p.m. Thursday and 2 a.m. Saturday — and again 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 1. ... Lock Haven forfeited all four bouts at 125 pounds when injured Nick Hyatt (Boyertown) was unable to wrestle for the Bald Eagles in the Bulldog Duals at Gardner-Webb.

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