NCAA Championships: Session IV

March 17, 2006

Results

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Purdue continued to inch its way higher into the team standings at the 2006 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, moving into 16th place after the completion of Session IV.

For the Boilermakers, senior Chris Fleeger advanced to the championship match at 133 pounds and senior Ben Wissel will wrestle for seventh place. Wissel's match will take place on Saturday morning, and the championship matches are in the final session on Saturday evening.

Purdue has scored 33.0 points, tying them for 16th with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Oklahoma State has clinched the team title, the 34th in the OSU program's history, with 106.0 points. The Pokes have a 33.5-point advantage over second place Minnesota.

Session V begins at 11:00 AM Eastern.

It's Finals time again for Chris Fleeger as the senior knocked off top-seed Shawn Bunch of Edinboro in convincing fashion, 9-2.

Fleeger, fighting back from an injury suffered by an illegal move in the quarterfinals, picked the ankle of Bunch immediately off the opening whistle, scoring the takedown 13 seconds into the match. An escape by Bunch cut the lead to 2-1, but Fleeger struck again in the final 20 seconds of the period, again picking the ankle and scoring two.

Bunch opted to start the second period on bottom, and got away from Fleeger 16 seconds into the frame. No one scored for the remainder of the period, and the match went to the final two minutes with Fleeger up 4-2.

The Boilermaker 133-pounder chose bottom and worked for the escape, getting the point after 42 seconds. Despite a three-point lead with time running down, Fleeger did not give up on the attack, scoring a third takedown at the 6:10 mark of the match and riding Bunch for the remainder of the match. Fleeger received a penalty point for three false starts by Bunch, plus a riding time point, and secured his spot in the NCAA championship match.

"I scouted him a little and I know he needs space to operate," Fleeger said. "My strategy going in was to smother him, to not allow the space he likes in order to use his quickness. Every time he took a step back to gain space, I took two forward."

Fleeger will face Matt Valenti of Penn for the 133-pound national title on Saturday evening in a match that will be televised on ESPN. Fleeger defeated Valenti in their only previous collegiate meeting, a 15-5 major decision in a dual during the 2002-03 season.

"I wrestled [Valenti] in a dual at Penn my sophomore year," Fleeger said. "He's come a long way since then and I know it's going to be a great match."

This will be Fleeger's second finals appearance at an NCAA Championships. The Boilermaker lost a 6-4 match to two-time national champion Travis Lee of Cornell in the 125-pound title bout.

Ben Wissel locked up his second trip to the All-America podium with a 7-2 win over Alex Clemsen of Edinboro in the consolation bracket's fourth round.

Wissel broke the scoreless tie midway through the first period with a takedown, and rode Clemsen for over 1:30 to end the first period up 2-0. Clemsen started the second period on bottom, scored the escape, and then the two wrestlers pummeled for the remainder of the period, finishing the first five minutes with a 2-1 score.

In the third period, Wissel took over with an escape and a takedown by the six-minute mark to go up by four, 5-1. An escape by Clemsen was offset by a penalty point awarded to Wissel when the Scot wrestler grasped the Boilermaker's singlet. A riding time point capped the scoring and the Wissel win.

In the consolation quarterfinals, Wissel lost a 7-4 decision to C.B. Dollaway of Arizona State. It was the second time in two career meetings that Dollaway defeated Wissel, having defeated the Boilermaker at the 2004 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

Dollaway struck first with a takedown in the first minute of the match, but Wissel evened the score with a reversal approximately 35 seconds later. Dollaway scored the escape to end the first period leading 3-2.

The second period began with Dollaway picking up an escape, going up 4-2 before Wissel struck with a double leg for the takedown and a tie match. With less than 10 seconds left the Sun Devil took a one point lead with an escape.

Wissel opted for a neutral start to the third period, looking for the go-ahead takedown. However, it was Dollaway who scored the offensive points in the period, taking the Boilermaker with 39 seconds remaining and riding Wissel for the remainder of the period.

Wissel will wrestle for seventh place on Saturday morning against Joe Mazzurco of Cornell. Wissel defeated the Big Red wrestler in the semifinals of this season's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational 3-1 in sudden victory.

Nathan Moore missed a shot in the final 30 seconds and ended up missed his shot at All-America honors, losing to 10th-seed Ryan Bader of Arizona State 6-4.

With the score tied 4-4 in the third period, Moore shot in a Bader's leg but was defended well, with Bader able to keep Moore face down on the mat before spinning around the Boilermaker for the winning takedown with 30 seconds remaining.

Moore had a 4-1 lead after the first period, scoring twice on counter shots. Bader twice tried to pick Moore's ankle, but the Boilermaker sidestepped the attempts and spun around behind Bader for the takedowns.

Bader scored the only points of the second period with an escape and a takedown, both in the first 40 seconds of the period.

Moore's finished his junior season with a record of 34-15.

Chris Fleeger (5 seed), 133 Pounds
Round 1: Zachary Cunliffe, Rider ... won by medical forfeit (3:22)
Round 2: Chris Helgeson, Northern Iowa ... won by major decision, 16-3
Quarters: #4 Mack Reiter, Minnesota ... won by injury default (2:58)
Semifinals: #1 Shawn Bunch, Edinboro ... won by decision, 9-2
FINALS: #6 Matt Valenti, Pennsylvania

Dan Bedoy, 165 Pounds
Round 1: Christopher Vondruska, Hofstra ... lost by decision, 9-3
Cons. Rd. 1: Justin Nestor, Pittsburgh ... lost by fall (2:27)

Ben Wissel (3 seed), 184 Pounds
Round 1: Joseph Maroney, Rider ... won by technical fall, 20-5 (7:00)
Round 2: Greg Gifford, Fresno State ... won by major decision, 14-6
Quarters: #6 Pete Friedl, Illinois ... lost by decision, 3-1 in sudden victory
Cons. Rd. 4: Alex Clemson, Edinboro ... won by decision, 7-2
Cons. Quarters: #10 C.B. Dollaway, Arizona State ... lost by decision, 7-4
7th Place: #4 Joe Mazzurco, Cornell

Nathan Moore, 197 Pounds
Round 1: #5 Joel Flaggert, Oklahoma ... lost by decision, 9-2
Cons. Rd. 1: Joe Fendone, Edinboro ... won by decision, 10-4
Cons. Rd. 2: Jared Villers, West Virginia ... won by decision, 3-1
Cons. Rd. 3: Jeff Foust, Missouri ... won by decision, 1-0
Cons. Rd. 4: #8 Ryan Bader, Arizona State ... lost by decision, 6-4