March 8, 2008

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - Junior Mike Roberts fell just short in his attempt to repeat as conference champion at 149 pounds, but earned an NCAA wild card, as the Boston University wrestling team finished seventh at the Colonial Athletic Association Championship on Saturday at Hofstra.

Hofstra claimed the conference title for the seventh straight season with 104.5 points. Old Dominion (87.0) and Rider (73.0) rounded out the top three.

Roberts reached the finals after a 9-4 victory in the semifinals over Anthony Priore of Sacred Heart, but came up short in the championship match against Rider's Don Fisch by a score of 6-3. In a "true second" match, Roberts came up short, 5-2, in a tiebreaker with second-seeded Kyle Fried of Binghamton.

However, Roberts will make his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships by virtue of his being selected as one of the conference's four wild card picks. In all, 24 wrestlers will represent the conference at the national tournament.

Senior Joey Whitaker put together a valiant effort at 141, dropping only one match the entire tournament - a narrow 6-5 loss to top-seeded Charles Griffin in the semifinals - but had his career come to an end, as he was not selected as one of the four wild cards.

After being pinned in the quarterfinals, junior Carlo Ferrandino reeled off three straight victories to reach the consolation finals, where he dropped a 5-0 decision to Binghamton's Nate Patterson.

At 133, sophomore Abbie Rush earned a 4-3 win over Mike Kleenan of Binghamton in the consolations before being eliminated with an 8-3 loss to Rider's Tommy Lorenzo. Classmate A.J. Detwiler had a similar fate, earning a 3-1 victory over Tyler Tisdell of George Mason in the 157 wrestlebacks before dropping a 15-4 match to Rider's Jason Lapham.

Another sophomore made progress in the consolations before suffering his second loss of the tournament, as C.J. Inglin took out Matt Hawksworth of Campbell with a 15-1 major decision at 174. In the next round, he lost to Josh Patterson of Binghamton, 6-0.

In his first consolation match at 184, sophomore Alex Brown fell, 7-4, to Rick Eichenlaub of Sacred Heart.

At 197, freshman John Hall posted an 8-0 major decision over Brian Stouffer of Drexel, but came up short in his next match - a tight 5-3 sudden-victory loss against second-seeded Cayle Byers of Old Dominion.

Junior Jim Connors earned a 3-1 win in the first sudden victory over Bill Beiermeister (Sacred Heart) in the 285 wrestlebacks but was eliminated with a narrow 4-2 loss to third-seeded Andy Totusek of Old Dominion.

RESULTS

133
Abbie Rush
Lost to #2 Kyle Hutter (Old Dominion), 20-9 (md)
Defeated Mike Kleenan (Binghamton), 4-3
Lost to #4 Tommy Lorenzo (Rider), 8-3
141
#5 Joey Whitaker
Defeated #4 Anwar Goeres (Binghamton), 7-3
Semifinal: Lost to #1 Charles Griffin (Hofstra), 6-5
Defeated Corey Dunn (Sacred Heart), 5-2
Defeated #4 Anwar Goeres (Binghamton), 11-6
149
#3 Mike Roberts
Defeated #6 Brandon Bucher (George Mason), 12-8
Defeated Anthony Priore (Sacred Heart), 9-4
Championship: Lost to #1 Don Fisch (Rider), 6-3
Lost to #2 Kyle Fried (Binghamton), 5-2 (tb)
157
Carlo Ferrandino
Pinned by #2 Ryan Hluschak (Drexel), 4:55
Defeated Tom Sullivan (Sacred Heart), 6-2
Defeated #6 Rob Morrison (Rider), 9-6
Defeated #4 Frankie McLaughlin (George Mason), 11-7
Lost to #3 Nate Patterson (Binghamton), 5-0
165
#4 A.J. Detwiler
Lost to #5 Billy Haydt (Drexel), 8-6 (sv)
Defeated Tyler Tisdell (George Mason), 3-1
Lost to #2 Jason Lapham (Rider), 15-4 (md)
174
#4 C.J. Inglin
Lost to #5 Nick Pullano (Old Dominion), 12-4 (md)
Defeated Mike Darling (Rider), 6-2
Defeated Matt Hawksworth (Campbell), 15-1 (md)
Lost to #3 Josh Patterson (Binghamton), 6-0
184
Alex Brown
Pinned by #1 Doug Umbehauer (Rider), 4:07
Lost to Rick Eichenlaub (Sacred Heart), 7-4
197
#5 John Hall
Pinned Parker Burns (Campbell), 3:37
Lost to #4 David Mendoza (Old Dominion), 10-1 (md)
Defeated Brian Stouffer (Drexel), 8-0 (md)
Lost to #2 Cayle Byers (Old Dominion), 5-3 (sv)
285
#5 Jim Connors
Lost to #4 Tom Daddino (Hofstra), 15-5 (md)
Defeated Bill Beiermeister (Sacred Heart), 3-1 (sv)
Lost to #3 Andy Totusek (Old Dominion), 4-2