2001-02 College News - UM-Morris' Lewis wins Central College Invitational

January 14, 2002

UM-Morris' Lewis wins Central College Invitational

Pella, IA - UM-Morris traveled this past weekend to the fourth annual Central College Invitational in Pella, IA. Three UM-Morris wrestlers placed in the competition including Dante Lewis (Omaha, NE) who won championship honors at 125 pounds. Todd Sanchez (Wichita, KS) place second at 141 pounds, and senior co-captain Jarett Curtis (Sarasota, FL) placed third at 149 pounds.

Dante Lewis put together another strong performance on the mat this past weekend. The sophomore who qualified for the NCAA II National Championships a year ago looks in solid form to make the trip to Nationals again this season. After a first round bye in the 125 pound weight class, Lewis handled NCAA II Midwest Regional foe Grant Strickland of Truman State winning a solid 12-2 major decision. Lewis defeated Strickland last February in a "true-fourth" match to determine who would advance to the National Championships in Greeley, Colorado. In the finals, Lewis won a 12-11 decision versus Jeremy Hendrick of Central College (IA). Lewis appeared to be tough on his feet scoring five takedowns in the champion final.

According to head wrestling coach Doug Reese, Lewis is going to be tough to beat. "Dante is wrestling extremely well right now. He is going to be tough to beat down the stretch. If we can get him in top shape conditioning-wise I know he can achieve All-American status this year."

Freshman Todd Sanchez made the finals in his second straight tournament. Sanchez was explosive in his opening match scoring a total of 22 points before pinning Chris Nowak of Cornell College at the 6:34 mark. In the semi-finals, Sanchez again won by fall, this time at 5:18 versus Dominic Amoroso of Loras College (IA). In the finals Sanchez lost a 15-0 technical fall to a very physical Merrick Meyer of Truman State to place second at 141 pounds.

"Todd is really coming along," noted Coach Reese. "He is a fighter. His skill level is really improving. He just needs to be in better shape and work on his defensive position.

Senior co-captain Jarett Curtis came back from a 13-2 semi-final loss to Gary Tate of Wartburg to place third in the tournament at 149 pounds. Curtis defeated Josh Olm of Cornell 3-0 in the consolation finals after sustaining an injury.

"Jarett wrestled well and showed a lot of heart and character after re-injuring his shoulder. To win 3-0 in a medal match with one arm showed a heck of a lot of mental toughness."

The Cougars have more than their share of injuries this season. "We have had more than our enough injuries this season," noted Coach Reese. We have had three knee injuries that will require surgery and a couple of shoulder injuries. Joel Fugleberg had his front tooth knocked out twice, and Jeremy Glende is out with a severe ankle injury. We are not equipped with the necessary depth to handle this kind of trauma."

Darin Mathis (Miami Springs, FL) won his opening round match at 133 pounds with a 15-0 technical fall over Trenton Zorn of Loras College. Mathis totally dominated the match with two takedowns, three nearfalls and a reversal. Following the win, Mathis withdrew from the tournament with an injury that occurred during the match.

Also competing, but not placing in the tournament was Jeremy Benson (Scottsdale, AZ) at 157 pounds, Greg Stephens (New Hope, MN) at 174 pounds, and heavyweight Jeff Stewart (Chicago, IL).

"We are not at full strength," said Reese. "And I am not sure we will ever be there again this season. We cannot focus on things that are not in our control. What we have to do in improve in areas we can control. What we have to do is concentrate on our focus during the match and reducing errors. We lost three matches this weekend we should have won - went we had the lead - even with opponents on their backs, then lost focus or made mental mistakes. It cost us big time. There is no excuse for that."

The Cougars travel to Northern State University this Wednesday, January 16th in the opening dual of the NSIC season. Wrestling begins at 7:00 pm in the Barnett Center in Aberdeen, SD.