Two make semifinals – Anderson joins 100-win club
MACON, GA. – After day two of the 2011 National Collegiate Wrestling Association Nationals, the Apprentice School currently sits in 5th place out of 77 teams competing at The University Center on the campus of Macon University.
Three wrestlers remain alive in the tournament and are guaranteed to finish in the top eight which will earn them All-American honors. Junior Marcus Chevres (133 lbs.) and freshman Willie Crawford (184) are alive in the semifinals, while junior Ricky Anderson (157) is alive in the consolation rounds. With those three NCWA All-Americans, the Builders now have a total of 70 All-Americans in its 12-year history in the NCWA.
Chevres advanced to the semifinals at 133 pounds defeating Matt Morrill of Grand Valley State 7-3. He started the tournament with a 24-6 tech fall along with an 8-0 major decision, and will now face second-seeded Steve DeAugustino of Central Florida in the semifinal round that starts at 9 am on Saturday. This makes the fourth meeting between the two wrestlers this season.
Crawford also advanced to the semifinals at 184 pounds after a 13-4 major decision win over Brian Stapleton of UMass-Amherst. Crawford, a Fluvanna, Va. native, has won his bouts thus far in the tournament with bonus points winning by tech fall (20-3) and major decision (13-5) to advance to the quarters. He'll face Dalton Henderson of Air Force Prep in the semifinals Saturday morning.
Anderson started his march through the consolation rounds with three wins on Friday and two of those being by fall. His opening win over Alec Marsico of Navy Prep by fall in 3:49 gave him his 100th career win joining Chevres as newest members of the Apprentice School Centurion Club. Anderson followed that with another win by fall and an 8-7 decision in his fourth round consolation match to advance to the All-American rounds. With three more wins he can earn third place at 157 pounds. His three wins on Friday also made him the first-ever Builder wrestler to have 50 wins in a season as he now stands at 50-7. He'll face Austin Brower of William & Mary in the consolation quarterfinals.
The semifinals and consolaton quarterfinals begin at 9 am on Saturday, while the finals are scheduled for 4 pm at Macon University.