University of Illinois
NCAA Championships Session 1
Five Illini Advance in NCAA Championship Round
March 20, 2008 | Wrestling
March 20, 2008
2008 NCAA Championships Session 1 
ST. LOUIS - Second-seeded Jimmy Kennedy (133) rolled to a 12-2 major decision and five Illini remain in the championship bracket after the first session of the NCAA Championships in front of 15,513 fans at the Scottrade Center Thursday. No. 6 seed Gabe Flores (125), No. 15 John Dergo (174) and ninth-seeded Patrick Bond (197) also won their first-round bouts, while second-seeded Mike Poeta will take his first step toward a national championship in tonight's session, where he will face Oklahoma State's 17th-ranked Newly McSpadden. The evening session will begin at 6:30 p.m.
The sixth-seeded and No. 6 Flores was the first Illini to wrestle on the day as he faced Nicholas Bedelyon of Kent State. About one minute into the match, Flores was able to control Bedelyon's head and work into a double-leg for a 2-0 lead. Flores then scored a two-point near-fall later in the period for a 4-0 lead after the first. Bedelyon started down in the second and escaped quickly, but Flores scored a takedown with 15 seconds left for a 6-1 lead after two periods. The pair started neutral in the third and Bedelyon notched a takedown with 48 seconds left to cut Flores' lead to 6-3. Bedelyon recorded a stalling point late in the bout, but Flores held on for a 6-4 win to advance to the second round, where he will face Hofstra's 11th-seeded and No. 11 David Tomasette, who defeated Javier Maldonado of Chattanooga, 15-1.
No. 2-seed and second-ranked Jimmy Kennedy was next to take the mat against Bucknell's David Marble. Kennedy scored a takedown 33 seconds into the bout and rode Marble for over a minute before he escaped. Kennedy got another takedown five seconds later, though, and racked up 30 seconds more of riding time before Marble's escape. Kennedy notched one more takedown in the first period for a 6-2 lead with 2:07 of riding time after three minutes. Kennedy started down in the second and escaped after 18 seconds, then ripped off a takedown 54 seconds into the period. He rode out Marble for a 9-2 lead with 2:59 of riding time after two periods. After starting neutral in the third, Kennedy scored a takedown 28 seconds into the period and rode out Marble for a 12-2 major decision win after racking up 4:34 of riding time. Kennedy will face Missouri's Tyler McCormick in Thursday evening's second round.
No. 20 Roger Smith-Bergsrud took on ninth-seeded Trevor Stewart (Central Michigan) at 165 and fended off a couple shots by the Chippewa in the first period as the two ended the first three minutes on their feet. Stewart started down in the second and escaped in 15 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. But Smith-Bergsrud nailed a double-leg with just over a minute left in the second to grab a 2-1 advantage. Stewart worked out of it, though, with 45 seconds left to tie the bout at 2 after two periods. The pair started neutral in the third with Smith-Bergsrud fending off an early shot by Stewart and looking for his own offense. Smith-Bergsrud grabbed a leg with 45 seconds left, but Stewart kept him from raising it and was able to get ahold of the Illini's right ankle before scoring the takedown for a 4-2 lead. Smith-Bergsrud nearly maneuvered into a reversal before time expired, but Stewart escaped with the win, sending the Illini 165-pounder to this evening's consolation bracket against Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly.
No. 15 John Dergo faced unseeded Philip Moricone (Edinboro) at 174, where neither wrestler was able to gain control after a 45-second scramble in the first period and the first ended scoreless. Moricone started down in the second and Dergo was able to ride him for 1:02 before Moricone escaped for a 1-0 lead. Moricone shot with five seconds left in the period, but Dergo fended it off and spun behind him for the takedown and a 2-1 margin after two periods. Dergo started down in the third and relinquished his riding-time point when Moricone rode him for nearly one minute before taking the optional restart that gave Dergo a 3-1 lead. Dergo got Moricone into the Iranian position then eventually worked him into a takedown before the buzzer for the 5-1 win. He will advance to face No. 4-seed and fourth-ranked Jay Borschel (Iowa) in the evening session's second round.
No. 9-seed and ninth-ranked Patrick Bond squared off with Thomas Shovlin of Penn and the two wrestled to a scoreless tie after one period. Bond started down in the second and escaped in nine seconds for the 1-0 lead. Bond nearly scored the takedown a few seconds later but was ruled out of bounds as a restart was called. The two wrestled on their feet the rest of the period before Shovlin started down in the third. The Quaker escaped in 15 seconds to tie the match then Bond nearly threw him down and scored, but Shovlin scrambled out. Then the two were ruled out of bounds before Bond could score a takedown a few seconds later. Bond got a leg with less than 10 seconds left, but Shovlin managed to keep one of Bond's ankles to force overtime. In the sudden-victory period, Bond got an ankle near the edge of the mat and managed to keep Shovlin in bounds before controlling the other ankle for the takedown and a 3-1 win. Bond will face eighth-seeded and No. 8 Craig Brester of Nebraska in the evening session's second round.
John Wise took to the mat against Missouri's 12th-seeded Mark Ellis and the two wrestled through a scoreless first period. Wise started down in the second and escaped quickly for a 1-0 lead. After an extended scramble, Ellis scored the takedown with 50 seconds left in the period, but Wise escaped 16 seconds later and then got a takedown of his own with 10 seconds left in the period for a 4-2 lead after two periods. Ellis started down in the third and escaped in 35 seconds then scored a takedown with 42 seconds left in the bout. Wise nearly escaped in the final seconds, but Ellis held on for the 5-4 win. Wise will face Penn's Trey McLean in the consolation first round this evening.
TEAM STANDINGS 1. Iowa 19.0 2. Central Michigan 18.0 3. Iowa State 16.0 4. Minnesota 15.5 Nebraska 15.5 6. Oklahoma State 14.5 7. Ohio State 13.0 Penn State 13.0 9. Missouri 12.5 10. Wisconsin 11.0 18. ILLINOIS 8.0
WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT RESULTS
125: No. 6 seed, #6 Gabe Flores
First Round: dec. Nicholas Bedelyon (Kent State), 6-4
Up Next - Second Round: No. 11 seed, #11 Dave Tomasette (Hofstra)
133: No. 2 seed, #2 Jimmy Kennedy
First Round: maj. dec. David Marble (Bucknell), 12-2
Up Next - Second Round: #19 Tyler McCormick (Missouri)
157: No. 2 seed, #2 Mike Poeta
First Round: Bye
Up Next - Second Round: #17 Newly McSpadden (Oklahoma State)
165: #20 Roger Smith-Bergsrud
First Round: dec. by No. 9 seed Trevor Stewart (Central Michigan), 4-2
Up Next - Consolation First Round: Matt Epperly (Virginia Tech)
174: #15 John Dergo
First Round: dec. #16 Philip Moricone (Edinboro), 5-1
Up Next - Second Round: No. 4 seed, #4 Jay Borschel (Iowa)
197: No. 9 seed, #9 Patrick Bond
First Round: dec. Thomas Shovlin (Penn), 3-1 (SV1)
Up Next - Second Round: No. 8 seed, #8 Craig Brester (Nebraska)
HWT: #13 John Wise
First Round: dec. by No. 12 seed Mark Ellis (Missouri), 5-4
Up Next - Consolation First Round: Trey McLean (Penn)
