Moline's Musings

Kennedy Upset in First Round

Posted by: Brian Moline

Thursday, March 19, 2009 2:23 PM

The Bucknell Bison have done it again.  Three years after the Bison knocked Kansas out of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, the Bison's David Marble pulled another big upset today in the first round of the NCAA Wrestling Championships, defeating Illinois' third-seeded Jimmy Kennedy 7-5 in overtime.  Kennedy appeared to be in control of the match after two periods, leading it 5-2.  But in the third period, Marble got an escape and a takedown to tie the match up at 5 apiece.  He then got a takedown in the one minute overtime period to seal the win.  Kennedy now has a long road ahead through wrestlebacks if he wants to repeat as an All-American.

So far, Kennedy is the only Illini to drop his first round match, as B.J. Futrell (125), Ryan Prater (141) and Mike Poeta (157) have all picked up victories.  Futrell won a tight 1-0 decision via riding time against Duquesne's William Chamberlain.  Prater picked up a 6-4 decision over Tim Harner of Liberty.  Poeta was impressive in a 14-5 major decision win against West Virginia's Ryan Goodman. 

Roger Smith-Bergsrud, John Dergo, Jordan Blanton, Patrick Bond and John Wise have yet to wrestle their first round matches.  You can follow the results through themat.com's website.  You can also see summaries of all completed matches. 

UPDATE:  The latter half of the first round isn't going quite as well for the Illini, as Smith-Bergsrud, Blanton and Bond have all dropped decisions in their first-round matches.  Dergo picked up a 3-1 win over Lehigh's Alex Caruso.  John Wise should be on the mat shortly for his first round contest with Ricardo Acala of UC-Davis.

UPDATE II:  Wise wins 9-5 over Acala.  Wise trailed in the match 5-3 after one period before taking control with takedowns in the second and third periods.  The riding time point made it a four-point win.  The Illini win five of their nine matches in the first round this afternoon.  They'll come back for consolation and championship round matches later this evening.

bmoline@wdws.com

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