Dec. 29, 2011
EVANSTON, Ill. –Bucknell wrestlers combined for 14 individual victories Thursday on the first day of the 49th Annual Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern, but only junior 165-pounder Corey Lear will advance to the second day of competition as he posted a 3-1 mark and stands one victory shy of guaranteeing a top-eight placing.
A total of 10 Bison were in action on Thursday, but Lear stood out. He recorded two pins and posted a major decision. His only loss was to No. 13 Peter Yates of Virginia Tech. Lear collected three of Bucknell’s nine bonus-point victories.
Bucknell concluded the first day in a tie for 14th place in the 43-team field with Maryland with 28 points. Iowa, with a tournament-high five wrestlers left in the championship brackets, holds the lead in the team standings with 79.5 points.
While Lear is one victory shy of a consolation bracket quarterfinals berth, classmate Joe McMullan was just one win shy of a championship bracket quarterfinals appearance, but he ran into the No. 3-ranked wrestler in the 197-pound weight class, Chris Honeycutt of Edinboro, and then lost his first consolation bout.
Friday’s competition will commence at 1 p.m. Eastern. Lear, who is now 6-1 on the season and 50-25 in his three-year career, can still finish as high as third in his bracket. His first match Friday is against Iowa’s Mike Evans, a freshman who is ranked 14th nationally.
Bucknell Results
125: Austin Miller, Fr.
First Round: L, dec. No. 5 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma), 7-1.
Consolation Round 1: W, fall Grant Greene (Northwestern), 1:02.
Consolation Round 2: W, med. forfeit Vinny Dellafave (Rutgers).
Consolation Round 3: L, fall Nathan Fitzenreider (North Central), 4:46.
133: Shawn Armato, Fr.
Second Round: L, fall No. 7 B.J. Futrell (Illinois), 0:46.
Consolation Round 2: W, maj. dec. John Coukos (Northwestern), 10-2.
Consolation Round 3: L, dec. Scott Chene (Oklahoma), 3-1.
141: Derrik Russell, Jr.
First Round: L, dec. Cory Phillips (Eastern Michigan), 9-2.
Consolation Round 2: L, fall Tyler Diamond (North Dakota State), 6:27.
149: Alex Pellicciotti, So.
First Round: W, fall Stephan De La Cruz (Luther), 0:14.
Second Round: L, dec. Steven Robertson (Penn), 10-8.
Consolation Round 3: L, fall Kevin Friedley (Northwestern), 2:36.
149: John Regan, Sr.
Second Round: L, dec. Kevin Tao (American), 5-2.
Consolation Round 3: W, maj. dec. Stephan De La Cruz (Luther), 14-1.
Consolation Round 4: W, dec. Ben Dorsay (Maryland), 8-5.
Consolation Round 5: L, dec. No. 9 Cole Schmitt (Wisconsin), 5-4.
157: Ray Schlitt, Fr.
First Round: L, maj. dec. Tommy Churchard (Purdue), 15-5.
Consolation Round 2: L, maj. dec. Nick Moore (Iowa), 11-3.
165: Corey Lear, Jr.
First Round: W, fall Lester France (Eastern Michigan), 2:09.
Second Round: L, fall No. 13 Peter Yates (Virginia Tech), 0:46.
Consolation Round 2: W, fall Riley Banach (Northern Iowa), 2:37.
Consolation Round 3: W, maj. dec. Pierce Harger (Northwestern), 10-0.
174: Stephen McPeek, So.
Second Round: L, dec. John-Martin Cannon (Buffalo), 3-2.
Consolation Round 2: W, dec. Drake Stein (Purdue), 12-8.
Consolation Round 3: W, med. forfeit Kurtis Julson (North Dakota State).
Consolation Round 4: L, dec. No. 10 Greg Zanetti (Rutgers), 7-4.
197: Joe McMullan, Jr.
First Round: W, maj. dec. Michael Sojka (Stanford), 12-2.
Second Round: W, dec. Chad Friend (Eastern Michigan), 6-5.
Third Round: L, maj. dec. No. 3 Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro), 20-8.
Consolation Round 3: L, maj. dec. Dan Rinaldi (Rutgers), 11-3.
285: Tyler Lyster, Fr.
First Round: L, maj. dec. Dan Scherer (Stanford), 10-0.
Consolation Round 1: W, fall Dustin Dennison (Utah Valley), 4:32.
Consolation Round 2: L, dec. Blake Herrin (American), 9-2.
