Ness Places Third to Lead Gophers at NCAA Wrestling
March 21, 2009
Jayson Ness won twice on Saturday to place third at the NCAA wrestling championships and lead a trio of Minnesota All-Americans in St. Louis.
Zach Sanders also placed sixth at 125 pounds and Tyler Safratowich was eighth at 157 pounds on the final day for the Gophers.
Ness has finished in the top five at nationals in each of his three
seasons at Minnesota, placing runner-up last year and fifth as a
freshman at 125 pounds. He moved up to 133 pounds this season and
finished the year 38-8 overall while seeded sixth at nationals.
Ness opened the day by avenging a loss to third-seeded Jimmy Kennedy of
Illinois from the Big Ten championships. Ness beat Kennedy by the same
score in which he lost two weeks ago with an 8-2 decision. He followed
with a 7-3 win over Boise State’s Andrew Hochstrasser in the
third-place match.
Sanders lost both of his matches on Saturday, dropping his opener to
Anthony Robles of Arizona State 19-10. Robles, seeded 12th and
well-known for his wrestling success with just one leg, built an 11-1
lead through the first period with three near falls in the opening
three minutes.
Sanders lost in the fifth place match to third-seeded Angel Escobedo of
Indiana 8-0. It was the second straight day he lost to the defending
national champion after Escobedo posted an 8-1 victory in the
quarterfinals on Friday. Sanders finished the season with a 39-10
record.
Safratowich lost in his only match on Saturday in overtime with a 4-2
setback against Chase Pemi of Cal Poly. Pemi recorded a takedown in the
extra time to earn the sudden victory and drop Safratowich’s season
record to 32-15.
Note: Final team scores will not be determined until following
tonight’s individual finals. Minnesota is currently in 14th place
entering tonight’s competition.
