Four Place at Las Vegas Invite

By Scott Castleman
WVU Sports Office
December 3, 2005

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Las Vegas, Nev. – The West Virginia University wrestling team finished strong at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 3, as four of five wrestlers placed on the afternoon and three of four won their consolation brackets.

Senior Matt Lebe (157), sophomore Kurt Brenner (174) and freshman Brandon Rader (141) all earned third place finishes on the day, while freshman David Jauregui (149) took sixth place.

As a team the Mountaineers took eighth place overall with 74.5 points.

No. 4 seeded Lebe was the first Mountaineer to fall from the championship bracket on Saturday as he dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 1 seeded Matt Tirapelle. Tirapelle used his long frame to his advantage as he controlled the match from the start with a 5-0 lead at the end of the first period. Lebe was able to close the gap to 5-1 in the second but that would be as close as he would get. Tirapelle added an escape in the third to end scoring in the match.

He quickly rebounded as win No. 100 came next against Penn’s Gene Zanetti in the consolation semifinals. With former coach Zeke Jones looking on from the other side of the mat as the new head coach of the Quakers, Lebe dominated the bout throughout en route to a solid 7-2 decision. He becomes only the ninth WVU wrestler with 100 wins in his career.

“It’s something that I’m proud of and happy about but when you work hard and train like we do as a team it is something that just adds up and you really don’t think about until it happens,” said Lebe. “I’m sure it is an accomplishment that I will really be able to think about more and cherish somewhere down the road.”

Wisconsin’s Craig Henning was the only thing standing between Lebe and his second consecutive third place finish at the Las Vegas Invitational. A takedown and reversal in the first period put the Jeannette Pa., native up 4-1 as Henning could only get an escape. Lebe added another reversal in the second and held on for the rest of the match to earn a 6-3 victory and win No. 101.

Lebe is now 14-1 this season.

Brenner dropped his 174-pound semifinal match in a 9-4 decision to Mike Patrovich of Hofstra. Brenner fell behind 2-1 in the first period and then trailed 4-2 heading into the third after takedown, He was able to earn two points of escapes in the third, but Patrovich pulled away with a pair of takedowns and an escape of his own.

Brenner rebounded in a big way against Blake Maurer of Ohio State in the consolation semifinals. After the score ended tied at two through the first period Brenner went on to outscore Maurer 8-4 in the final two periods to secure a 10-6 win.

In the consolation finals Brenner faced Eric Ring from Edinboro. In what could turn out to be a preview of the 174-pound EWL championship bout in March Brenner was able to win handily by a 7-2 decision. The two grapplers ended the first period tie and after that the Freedom, Pa., native collected a pair of takedowns and then earned three back points to pull away.

Earlier in the day Rader defeated Missouri’s Chris McCormick in dominating fashion in the 141-pound consolation bracket. After taking a 14-3 lead in the first period the Parkersburg, native tallied four more points in the second to record an 18-3 tech fall with 50 seconds remaining in the period.

Also on the mats second for the Mountaineers was senior Seth Lisa in the 133-pound consolations. Unfortunately his day ended early as Michigan’s Mark Moos recorded the pin with 13 seconds remaining in the second period.

WVU’s final consolation bracket wrestler was Jauregui in the 149-pound division. The match was a battle throughout as his opponent, Columbia’s Ricky Turk, kept a slim advantage for most of the match. At the end of the second period Jauregui knotted the bout when he tallied a takedown as time expired. But Turk took the lead again in the third and, as time ticked down, seemed to be on his way to a 10-9 victory. With only five seconds remaining on the clock Jauregui made his move and scored a takedown to pull out an exciting 11-10 victory.

Both Rader and Jauregui survived their consolation quarterfinal brackets as well. Rader was the first to advance in a 7-0 decision against Old Dominion’s Shanon Slack. After two scoreless periods he got rolling with an escape and then added a takedown and a five-count before time expired.

In his semifinal match Rader came out of the gates fast and took a 4-1 advantage after the first period and cruised the rest of the way to an 8-2 decision. That set up a bout in the consolation finals with the Citadel’s Sean Markey.

Against Markey Rader gained a 4-2 advantage through two periods off of a takedown and a reversal. In the third period Rader took over the mat by recording three takedowns on his way to a 10-5 win and a third place finish.

Jauregui advanced with a 6-5 decision over Boise State’s Tyler Sherfey. After jumping out to 4-1 lead in the first period off of a pair of takedowns. Sherfey was awarded a point in the second period to make the score 4-2 heading into the third. Jauregui started the period with an escape but Sherfey answered by way of a takedown with just 39 seconds remaining. The Santa Ana, Calif., scored an escape just a few seconds later and salted the rest of the time away for a ticket to the consolation semifinals.

Jauregui had the most gut wrenching performance of the day in his fifth place consolation match. During his consolation semifinal match, which he lost 7-3, against Michigan’s No. 1 seeded Eric Tannenbaum, Jauregui suffered a deep cut on his forehead. He attempted to bandage it and wrestle his final match against Arizona State’s Pat Payne, but after having to stop the match several times due to bleeding he had to take a medical forfeit.

The Mountaineers return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 20, when they host their first dual meet of this season against Missouri in the WVU Coliseum. Wrestling begins at 7 p.m.

Final Team Standings

1. 145.0 Michigan
2. 116.0 Cornell
3. 102.5 Missouri
4. 101.0 Edinboro
5. 92.0 Arizona St
6. 88.5 Illinois
7. 76.0 Cal Poly
8. 74.5 West Virginia
9. 69.5 Purdue
10. 69.0 Penn
11. 61.5 Hofstra
12. 59.0 Univ Tenn Chat
13. 54.5 Boise St
14. 53.5 Univ Neb Kearney
15. 50.5 UNC Greensboro
16. 48.5 Univ at Buffalo
17. 48.0 Harvard
18. 46.0 Cal Davis
19. 43.5 Wisconsin
20. 42.5 Ohio State
21. 42.0 Oregon St
22. 36.0 Stanford
23. 35.5 The Citadel
24. 32.0 Pittsburgh
25. 30.5 N C State
26. 28.0 Western State
27. 27.0 Augustana
28. 26.5 Cal St Bakersfield
29. 24.5 North Idaho
30. 24.0 Univ of Virginia
31. 22.5 Cal St Fullerton
32. 21.5 Adams St
33. 20.0 Dickinson St
33. 20.0 George Mason
35. 18.0 Wyoming
36. 14.5 Duke
37. 14.0 Ohio
38. 13.5 Fresno St
38. 13.5 Old Dominion
38. 13.5 South Dakota St
41. 13.0 Columbia
42. 12.5 Dana College
42. 12.5 Eastern Michigan
44. 12.0 Embry Riddle
45. 11.5 USAF Academy
46. 11.0 Utah Valley
47. 7.5 Brown
47. 7.5 Missouri Valley
49. 5.5 Montana St
49. 5.5 S F State
51. 2.5 Western Wyoming
52. 2.0 Lassen College


West Virginia Individual Results

0174 125 Lbs Caleb Metcalf, Ohio DEC Kyle Turnball, West Virginia 4-2
0334 125 Lbs Kyle Turnball, West Virginia DEC Zach Morgan, Montana St 7-2
0497 125 Lbs Austin DeVoe, Missouri DEFAULT Kyle Turnball, West Virginia de

0190 133 Lbs Seth Lisa, West Virginia DEC Matthew Delorenzo, Columbia 8-1
0508 133 Lbs Mike Mormile, Cornell DEC Seth Lisa, West Virginia 5-3
0662 133 Lbs Seth Lisa, West Virginia DEC Virgil Lockett, S F State 6-4;sv
0742 133 Lbs Seth Lisa, West Virginia DEC Will Powars, George Mason 3-2
0814 133 Lbs Mark Moos, Michigan FALL Seth Lisa, West Virginia F 3:57

0037 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia FALL Nathaniel Troupe, Missouri Valley F 2:38
0201 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia DEC Tom Picarsic, Harvard 10-6
0521 141 Lbs Ron Tarquinio, Pittsburgh DEC Brandon Rader, West Virginia 3-1
0663 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia DEC Cassio Pero, Illinois 8-7
0747 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia MAJOR John Manarte, Hofstra 13-2
0815 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia TF Chris McCormick, Missouri 18-3
0857 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia DEC Shanon Slack, Old Dominion 6-0
0891 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia DEC Kevin Artis, UNC Greensboro 8-2
0917 141 Lbs Brandon Rader, West Virginia DEC Sean Markey, The Citadel 12-5

0225 149 Lbs David Jauregui, West Virginia DEC Wayne French, Univ Tenn Chat 3-2
0541 149 Lbs David Jauregui, West Virginia DEFAULT Josh Zupancic, Stanford de
0754 149 Lbs Tyler Turner, Wisconsin DEC David Jauregui, West Virginia 8-4
0820 149 Lbs David Jauregui, West Virginia DEC Ricky Turk, Columbia 11-10
0861 149 Lbs David Jauregui, West Virginia DEC Tyler Sherfey, Boise St 6-4
0893 149 Lbs Eric Tannenbaum, Michigan DEC David Jauregui, West Virginia 8-3
0920 149 Lbs Pat Payne, Arizona St DEFAULT David Jauregui, West Virginia de

0072 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia MAJOR Johnny Nunez, Boise St 14-4
0236 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia DEC Darion Terry, Missouri Valley 3-0
0554 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia DEC Ben Henderson, Dana College 8-3
0760 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia DEC Craig Henning, Wisconsin 4-3;tb
0863 157 Lbs Alex Tirapelle, Illinois DEC Matt Lebe, West Virginia 6-1
0895 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia DEC Gene Zannetti, Penn 7-2
0925 157 Lbs Matt Lebe, West Virginia DEC Craig Henning, Wisconsin 6-3

0094 165 Lbs Chris Vondruska, Hofstra DEC Eric Mullen, West Virginia 3-2
0418 165 Lbs Eric Mullen, West Virginia DEC Shawn Kitchner, Brown 7-6
0580 165 Lbs Nathaniel Augustson, Ohio State MAJOR Eric Mullen, West Virginia 12-3

0275 174 Lbs Kurt Brenner, West Virginia MAJOR Turner Rooney, Duke 16-6
0588 174 Lbs Kurt Brenner, West Virginia DEC Christian Arellano, Cal St Bakersfield 7-3
0777 174 Lbs Kurt Brenner, West Virginia DEC Rick Brwonlee, N C State 10-4
0872 174 Lbs Mike Patrovich, Hofstra DEC Kurt Brenner, West Virginia 10-4
0900 174 Lbs Kurt Brenner, West Virginia DEC Blake Maurer, Ohio State 10-6
0933 174 Lbs Kurt Brenner, West Virginia DEC Eric Ring, Edinboro 8-2

0288 184 Lbs Chance Litton, West Virginia DEC Joffre Lander, Embry Riddle 5-3
0602 184 Lbs Willie Parks, Dana College MAJOR Chance Litton, West Virginia 18-8
0704 184 Lbs Nate Buys, Augustana DEC Chance Litton, West Virginia 7-1

0138 197 Lbs Jared Villers, West Virginia DEC Brent Jones, Univ of Virginia 10-4
0303 197 Lbs Jared Villers, West Virginia TF Miguel Rodriguez, Fresno St 19-1
0617 197 Lbs Tyrone Byrd, Illinois DEC Jared Villers, West Virginia 2-1
0711 197 Lbs Jared Villers, West Virginia DEC Mark Thompson, The Citadel 5-3
0795 197 Lbs Dallas Herbst, Wisconsin MAJOR Jared Villers, West Virginia 12-3

0151 275 Lbs Matt Holsopple, West Virginia DEC Chris Johnson, Missouri Valley 3-2
0316 275 Lbs Matt Holsopple, West Virginia DEC Armando Montoya, Dana College 7-2
0632 275 Lbs Tervel Dlagner, Univ Neb Kearney MAJOR Matt Holsopple, West Virginia 18-5
0722 275 Lbs Levon Mock, Brown DEC Matt Holsopple, West Virginia 8-3
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