Huskies Advance At NCAA Championships

ST. LOUIS, MO-- The road to All-American honors for three Bloomsburg University wrestlers got a lot harder after all three dropped matches on day one of the NCAA Division I wrestling championships in St. Louis.

Aiming for All-American honors are Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) at 125 pounds, Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring Ford) at 157 and Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) at 285. Spaid is attempting to become a two-time All-American after finishing eighth a year ago.

In Sees' first match he beat Collin Cudd of Wisconsin, 21-10. Sees was in control of the match from the beginning with two take downs and three near-falls to lead 12-1 after one period. From there Sees coasted to the victory finishing the bout with a two-point near fall.

In round two, Sees faced off James Nicholson of Old Dominion and lost 7-2. The first period saw both wrestlers looking for an opportunity to score, but after three minutes of action there was no scoring. In the second period, Sees started down and quickly escaped for a 1-0 lead. Nicholson then got a takedown and a two-point near fall for a 4-1 lead after two periods. In the third, Nicholson earned an escape and then a takedown with Sees getting just an escape to lose 7-2.

At 157 pounds, Matt Moley dropped his first match of the tournament to Cyler Sanderson of Iowa State, ranked eighth by Intermat, by an 11-6 score. Moley trailed 6-1 after one period, but picked up a two-point near fall to cut the lead to 6-3. But, Sanderson escaped and then got a takedown to regain control at 9-3 and went on to the win.

In a second round consolation match, Moley earned a 6-4, OT win against David Naksone of Lehigh. Moley led 2-1 after one period after getting a takedown in the first frame. Nakasone tied the score at 2-2 with an escape in second period. In the third period, Moley started down and escaped to go in front 3-2. Nakasone picked up a takedown to take a 4-3 lead, but Moley worked an escape to tie the match at 4-4 and force overtime. In the overtime, Moley got the takedown to win 6-4 and advance to Friday's action.

For Spaid, ranked 10th by Intermat, the tournament opened with a win by fall in 2:06 over Levon Mock of Brown. The win was the 39th of the year setting a new school record for wins in a season.

In his second match of the day, Spaid faced Kyle Massey of Wisconsin, ranked seventh in the country. Spaid opened the scoring with a takedown in the first period, followed by an escape from Massey. In the second period, Spaid escaped to take a 3-1 lead. But Massey picked up a crucial takedown as time expired in the second period to make it 3-3. In the third period, Spaid allowed an escape to Massey for the only point in the period and lost 4-3.