No. 1 seeds Pestano, Stanich beaten in first session of NCAA Div. III Nationals in Cleveland
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by Jon Gremmels, Special to TheMat.com
CLEVELAND -- Seeing seeded wrestlers go down early is not unusual at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships.
But when two top seeds were knocked off in the first half-hour Friday at the Public Auditorium, that was a bit of a shock.
The early upset wave started in the first pigtail match, when Ferdinand Mase of Ithaca took advantage of 1 minute and 1 second of riding time to beat No. 1-seeded C.J. Pestano of Central 6-5 at 125 pounds.
Mase wasn't even too worried when an official review in the final seconds deemed the riding time was correct.
"That confidence probably came from the first takedown," he said of one that gave him an early lead in the match.
Moments later, Joao Vicente of Johnson & Wales broke open a close match with a four-point near fall in the third period and beat No. 1 Troy Stanich of Stevens at 133 pounds.
"I had confidence throughout the whole match," Vicente said. "I knew I could get to my stuff and take him down."
The most one-sided upset was at 149, where Evan Drill of NYU scored an 18-2 technical fall win against second-seeded Jimmy Davis of Loras.
"I was a little shocked," Drill said.
The final big upset of the day came at 197, where Waynesburg's Ken Burrs also used the riding time point to beat third seeded Kyle Koser of Messiah 9-8.
"They're guys just like myself, and you've just got to be ready at every point unless you're seeded or unseeded," Burrs said.
Wartburg avoided the upset bug -- it's eight seeded wrestlers all won -- and the Knights took a 16.5-12 lead over Ithaca for first place.
Check out all the action on TrackWrestling.
But when two top seeds were knocked off in the first half-hour Friday at the Public Auditorium, that was a bit of a shock.
The early upset wave started in the first pigtail match, when Ferdinand Mase of Ithaca took advantage of 1 minute and 1 second of riding time to beat No. 1-seeded C.J. Pestano of Central 6-5 at 125 pounds.
Mase wasn't even too worried when an official review in the final seconds deemed the riding time was correct.
"That confidence probably came from the first takedown," he said of one that gave him an early lead in the match.
Moments later, Joao Vicente of Johnson & Wales broke open a close match with a four-point near fall in the third period and beat No. 1 Troy Stanich of Stevens at 133 pounds.
"I had confidence throughout the whole match," Vicente said. "I knew I could get to my stuff and take him down."
The most one-sided upset was at 149, where Evan Drill of NYU scored an 18-2 technical fall win against second-seeded Jimmy Davis of Loras.
"I was a little shocked," Drill said.
The final big upset of the day came at 197, where Waynesburg's Ken Burrs also used the riding time point to beat third seeded Kyle Koser of Messiah 9-8.
"They're guys just like myself, and you've just got to be ready at every point unless you're seeded or unseeded," Burrs said.
Wartburg avoided the upset bug -- it's eight seeded wrestlers all won -- and the Knights took a 16.5-12 lead over Ithaca for first place.
Check out all the action on TrackWrestling.
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