University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
2009 NCAA Div. II National Tournament - 03/13-14/09
Valko Finishes Second at National Wrestling Tournament;
Whetstone Places Fifth Place to Led Mountain Cats to 14th-Place Finish
03/14/09...Shane Valko (133 lbs.) (Windber, Pa.) defeated San Francisco State's Naveed Bagheri in the semifinals to wrestle for the championship Saturday night at the NCAA Division II National Wrestling Tournament at the Winter Sports Festival in Houston, TX. Valko took on Joe Kemmerer (Kutztown) in the championship match but fell 2-1 to place second. Adam Whetstone (Claysburg, Pa.) advanced to the semifinals at 141 lbs., but suffered back-to-back losses, before becoming an All-American with a fifth-place finish. Six Mountain Cat wrestlers earned spots in this year's national tournament, but four were eliminated in the second round of the consolations.
Nebraska-Omaha won the team title with 146.5 points. Newberry (80.5 pts.) finished second, while Minnesota State-Mankato (71.5 pts.), Nebraska-Kearney (65 pts.) and Adams State (62 pts.) rounded out the top-five. Pitt-Johnstown finished in 14th place with 33 points.
In the semifinals, Valko secured a 3-0 decision over Bagheri to earn a spot in the title bout against last year's National Champion Kemmerer. Valko pinned Kemmerer in overtime to win the East Region crown two weeks ago. Unfortunately, Kemmerer won a 2-1 decision to calim the title. Valko ended the season with a 27-1 overall record.
Valko won a 6-1 decision over Nebraska Kearney's Joseph Morrison in the first round, before advancing to the semifinals with a third period fall over Central Missouri's Grant Baker in the quarterfinals.
After advancing to the semifinals, Whetstone lost a 14-3 major decision to Raymond Dunning (Adams State), and a 10-6 decision to John Putman (Minnesota State-Mankato). Whetstone rebounded to defeat San Francisco State's Ben Lockett 7-3 in Saturday's Fifth-Place Match.
Whetstone reached the semifinals with a 9-3 decision over Cory Bloodgood (Central Missouri), before earning a 6-5 victory over James Annon (Fort Hays State) in the quarterfinals.
Ryan McIntyre (149 lbs.) (Claysburg, Pa.), Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Bradford, Pa.), Patrick Walsh (197 lbs.) (Leesport, Pa.) and Chris Dempsey (HWT.) (Sewickley, Pa.) all posted 1-2 records, but were eliminated in the second round of the consolations. McIntyre defeated St. Cloud State's Jacob Roberts 8-4 in the first round, but suffered losses in his next two matches. Dempsey pinned Lance Peters (Augustana) at 2:50 in the opening round, but dropped his next two matches, including a ride-out loss to Findlay's Travis Clark in the third overtime period of ride-outs. Keane and Walsh both lost their opening matches. Keane rebounded with a fall over Jordan Larson (Colorado School of Mines) at :56, but fell in his next bout. Walsh defeated Lucas Munkelwitz (St. Cloud State) 4-3 in the first round of the consolations, but also suffered a loss in the next round.