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Nittany Lions land four seeds for nationals
Centre Daily Times
OMAHA, Neb. — Headed by Big Ten champion Cyler Sanderson, four of Penn State’s six qualifiers have been seeded for the upcoming NCAA Wrestling Championships to be held March 18-20 at the Qwest Center.
Sanderson (28-4) is the No. 4 seed at 157 pounds. The 2008 All-American while at Iowa State will face Northern Illinois’ Bryan Deutsch in the opening round, with the winner battling the winner between Northern Iowa’s Tyson Reiner and Virginia’s Dan Gonsor.
Frank Molinaro (29-5) is seeded fifth at 149. Molinaro, an All-American last season, will battle Binghamton’s Donald Vincent in the first round. The winner will face either Pittsburgh’s Eric Albright or Minnesota’s Mario Mason, the No. 12 seed.
Dan Vallimont (26-7) is the sixth seed at 165. The 2008 All-American will battle Virginia Tech’s Matt Epperly in the opening round. Vallimont defeated Epperly 4-3 earlier this season. The winner will face either Blooms-burg’s Rick Schmelyun, the No. 11 seed, or Hofstra’s Paul Gillespie.
David Erwin (29-8) earned the No. 11 seed at 184. He’ll face Oklahoma’s Erich Schmidtke, whom he defeated 9-3 at the Virginia Duals, in the first round. The winner of that match will face either Stanford’s Zack Giesen or sixth-seeded Max Askren of Missouri.
Brad (26-8) Pataky, unseeded at 125 pounds, will face No. 9 Jarrod Patterson of Oklahoma. Pataky defeated Patterson 8-5 in the Virginia Duals. The winner faces either Maryland’s James Knox or Central Michigan’s Matt Steintrager, the No. 8 seed.
Heavyweight Cameron Wade (20-9) faces third-seeded Zach Rey of Lehigh. Wade lost 5-2 to Rey in November. The winner battles either Cal State Fullerton’s Kurt Klimek or Eastern Michigan’s David Wade.
Adam Lynch (13-13) did not receive one of the at-large bids at 141.
The NCAA Tournament will be Penn State’s first under Cael Sanderson, who was unbeaten and won four consecutive NCAA crowns.
Tags: Adam Lynch, Cael Sanderson, Cameron Wade, Cyler Sanderson, Dan Vallimont, David Erwin, Frank Molinaro
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