Cornell vaulted from ninth place to a tie for second in the Saturday morning session, thanks in part to the efforts of defending NCAA champion Jordan Leen, who reached the finals at 157 with an 8-5 defeat of Boise State's Adam Hall. Another top-seeded Cornell wrestler, Mack Lewnes at 165, cruised to the championship match with an 8-1 victory over Andy Rendos of Bucknell in the semis.
Lewnes, a sophomore who's the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 165, sealed the deal with a 10-3 victory over fellow sophomore Colt Sponseller of Ohio State in the title match. Lewnes said he was disappointed that he didn't score any bonus points for his team until the championship, but he wasn't surprised given the level of competition.
"I stayed strong and kept my composure, but I need to work on my whole game," Lewnes said. "I feel like I can wrestle a whole lot better than I did this weekend."
Leen wasn't as fortunate at 157, where he ran into second-seeded Burroughs in the championship. Burroughs caught a break late in the third period when the clock malfunctioned with him leading 10-8 but faltering a bit. The malfunction allowed him to catch his breath as officials sorted it out, and when wrestling resumed with 23 seconds left Leen couldn't score as the Nebraska junior ran out the clock to win the title.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now