CLEVELAND – All-American
Chance Marsteller (New Park, Pa./Kennard-Dale) of the Lock Haven University wrestling team capped a sensational season with a fourth-place finish at 165 pounds today at the 2018 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Cleveland.
Marsteller went 5-2 in his NCAA tournament debut and became LHU's 41
st All-American.
Ronnie Perry (Christiana, Pa./Solanco) who will compete in tonight's 149-pound finals is also an All-American. It marks the first time since 1988 that the Bald Eagles will have two guys finish among the top-four at the national tournament. It's also the first time LHU has had multiple All-Americans at the same tournament since 2002.
For Marsteller, his All-American run put an exclamation point on a special season. He finished the year at 44-4 overall. His 44 wins set a single-season school record.
Marsteller opened today's action in the consolation semifinals vs. David McFadden of Virginia Tech.
Despite a scramble late in the first period, Marsteller and McFadden remained scoreless after the opening period. An early second-period escape gave McFadden - who started down - the 1-0 lead after two periods. Starting the third period down, Marsteller hit a quick three-point move with an escape and takedown, and took a 3-1 lead. McFadden earned an escape late in the bout, but a second Marsteller takedown paved the way for the workmanlike 5-3 victory.
The win over McFadden pushed Marsteller, the No. 9 seed, into the third-place bout.
In the third-place bout, Marsteller fell to No. 10 seed Evan Wick of Wisconsin. Marsteller started the second period in the bottom position leading 4-1 after two first-period takedowns, but Wick caught him in a cradle early in the second and earned the fall (3:19).
Perry will be in action tonight in the 149-pound finals. He's Lock Haven's first national finalist since 1997. The championship finals at the 2018 NCAA Division I Championships start at 8 p.m. tonight and will be televised live on ESPN2 and ESPN3.
Marsteller match-by-match
165: #9 Chance Marsteller
ALL-AMERICAN, fourth overall
5-2 in NCAA debut
44-4 season record
First Round vs. Bryce Martin (Indiana) W, 9-1 major dec.
Second Round vs. Jonathan Viruet (Brown) W, 5-3 dec.
Quarterfinals vs. #1 Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) L, 10-1 major dec.
Round of 12 – Consolation, Round 4 vs. #6 Richie Lewis (Rutgers) W, 4-2 dec.
Consolation Quarterfinals - Consolation Round 5 vs. Chandler Rogers (Oklahoma State) W, 9-7 dec.
Consolation Semifinals vs. #2 David McFadden (Virginia Tech) W, 5-3 dec.
Third-place vs. No. 10 Evan Wick (Wisconsin) L, pinned (3:19)
# = seed for NCAA tournament
