Wrestling Heads to St. Louis for NCAA Wrestling Championships
BLOOMSBURG—Six Bloomsburg University wrestlers are headed to St. Louis, Missouri to take part in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Wrestling Championships on March 17-19. The six wrestlers are the most for Bloomsburg since they sent eight to the national tournament in 1993.
The Huskies, ranked 22nd in the nation by The Wrestling Mall, are ready to get out and start wrestling. “As a team, we're excited to get out there and represent not only Bloomsburg, but also the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL),” head coach Dan Wirnsberger said. He added, “We had a good week of preparation, we're healthy, and we are ready to compete.”
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Leading the charge for the Huskies will be EWL Champions Jim Bertulis (Aston/Garnett Valley), Bryce Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin), and Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy).
Bertulis won the 165-pound crown at the EWL Championships after topping Edinboro's Nate Yetzer, 8-5, in the finals. Hasseman topped Edinboro's Eric Ring, 6-2 in the 174-pound finals while Sees, Bloomsburg's 125-pounder, was a 5-4 winner over West Virginia's Shawn Cordell.
Chad Hoare (Reynoldsville/Dubois) also qualified by taking second at the EWL Championships at 197 pounds while 133-pounder Tony Curto (Wilson/Easton) and heavyweight Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) earned wildcard births into the tournament.
Coach Wirnsberger is pleased with the draws each wrestler received. “We have some good draws, but at the
NCAA Championships, there are no easy matches. It all comes down to execution and the wrestler who is more prepared and wants it more will win.”
Hasseman was the only Husky to receive a seed, getting the 12th seed at 174 pounds. After receiving a bye in the first round, Hasseman, 36-4 on the season, will wrestle Rider's Sean Jenkins, 20-10, in the second round. Hasseman topped Jenkins 16-10 earlier this season.
Jim Bertulis also received a first round bye and will wrestle 10th seeded Matt Nagel of Minnesota. Bertulis is 33-6 this season while Nagel has posted a 27-12 record at 165 pounds. Bertulis and Nagel have never met.
After receiving a first round bye, Mike Sees will wrestle fifth-seeded Joe Dubuque of Indiana. Sees and Dubuque have both only lost one dual match this season with Sees going 14-1 in duals while Dubuque went 18-1 at 125 pounds. Sees is currently 21-1 this season while Dubuque finished 24-3 after taking third at the Big Ten Championships. The two wrestlers have never met.
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Chad Hoare will have a tall order in the first round, facing 12th seeded Wynn Michalak of Central Michigan in the first round at 197 pounds. Hoare is 30-8 this season while Michalak has posted a 26-6 mark. Michalak is a Mid-American Conference Champion while Hoare is a two-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion. Hoare and Michalak have never faced each other.
At 133 pounds, Tony Curto, 21-10, will face Penn State's Bryan Heller in the first round. Heller is 22-15 this season and finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships. The winner of the Curto-Heller match will face Mid-American Conference Champion Jason Borelli of Central Michigan
At heavyweight, Mike Spaid will wrestle Portland State's Allen Kennett in the second round after receiving a first round bye. Kennett took second in the PAC-10 Championships and is 13-7 this season. Spaid is 15-20 and took fifth at the EWL Championships. Spaid and Kennett have never wrestled each other.
Lack of preparation should not be a factor for these tournament-tested Huskies. The six wrestlers Bloomsburg is sending are a combined 88-31 (.739) in tournament matches this season and have combine to win eight tournaments this season. Three wrestlers (Bertulis, Hoare, and Hasseman) have won at least 30 matches each this season for Bloomsburg while two others (Curto and Sees) have each won over 20 matches this season.
Coach Wirnsberger feels that his group of Huskies can make some noise. Even though this is the first trip to the national tournament for all six wrestlers, he feels confident in their ability to win matches. “Our first goal from the beginning of the year was to win matches and qualify half of our line-up to the championships. Since we accomplished that, our next goal is to gain some exposure at the national tournament and produce some All-Americans. I feel confident that this group of guys is more than capable of doing that.”
Bloomsburg has not had an All-American since 1994 when both Chad Bailey and Pete Rinella earned the honor.
Action gets underway in St. Louis at 10:45 a.m. (central time) on Thursday.
