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Iowa Central leads NJCAA after quarter finals

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by John Johnson

Iowa Central made a strong statement to win its third straight team title with nine of its 10 wrestlers winning their first two matches. "We started out the tournament with the best two rounds I've seen,'' said Iowa Central head coach Luke Moffitt. "We were winning and winning big."

With two round done and heading into the quarter finals Iowa Central was out from (40.50) with a thirteen point lead over second ranked Meramec (27.50), The Cardinals of North Idaho and Labette were ties for third (25.00), and the newly reinstated North Iowa Area Community College lead by head coach Richard Fregola was in fifth with 24.50 points.

The quarter-finals would not be as kind to the Tritons, as they went three for nine advancing three IC wrestlers through to the semis. Heading into the semi-final round, Iowa Central has seven competitors still alive, all earning All-American status. "We came back in the quarterfinals and looked like a different team,'' Moffitt said. "The matches were close, but we were losing the tight ones.'' The Triton's may have a chance to repeat, but they will fall short of the record setting nine medalists from their 2007 team. Besides ICCC, both Labette and Meramec have seven alive as well, five and four, respectively, in the semifinals, and both teams are within striking distance of the Tritons.

The biggest blow for the Tritons came at Iowa Central's Matt Burns 149, the meet's only returning champion, stumbled in his attempt to repeat with a third-round, 3-1 loss to Dale DeBacco of Niagara County, N.Y. Last year's runner-up Tim Burdine of Spartansburg Methodist also lost. Kurt Simon of Ellsworth Community College, Iowa, who beat Burdine, matches up with top ranked Albert White of Northern Iowa Area Community College today. The field in the 149-pound weight class is loaded with five returning All-Americas.

The Tritons enter the semi-finals with 81.5 points, four points ahead of the surging third ranked Labette team (77.5). Meramec (73.5) ranked second is in third place, followed by North Iowa (62.5) and Nassau (62.5). Among non-scholarship (D-III) schools after the quarter finals, Nassau, N.Y., leads with 62.5. William Rainey Harper, Ill., (49.5) and host RCTC (25.5) is in third. Defending champion Gloucester, N.J., is fourth with 24.

Action begins at 10:30 a.m. at Rochester Community and Technical College today with the semifinal round. The finals to start at approximately 7 p.m. Look for the results and story of the semi-final round on http://www.TheMat.com. You can also go to the host web site at http://www.rochsports.org/wrestling/2008home.htm for updated brackets and scores

Below, are the score after the quarter final round:
Place Team Score
1. Iowa Central 81.50
2. Labette 77.50
3. Meramec 73.50
4. North Iowa Area Community College 62.50
(tie) Nassau (*) 62.50
6. Ellsworth 52.00
7. Colby 49.50
(tie) William Rainey Harper (*) 49.50
9. Northwest Wyoming 43.00
10. Muskegon 39.50
11. Neosho 37.00
(tie) Clackamas 37.00
13. Lincoln 36.00
14. Niagara 33.00
15. North Idaho 32.00
16. Mercyhurst NE 28.50
17. Rend Lake 26.50
18. Rochester (*) 25.50
19. Western Wyoming 25.00
20. Spartanburg 24.50
(*) D-III Non-scholarship teams

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