Jan. 8, 2005
Complete Results
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - George Mason University finished third overall with 72 points at the 2005 Virginia Intercollegiate State Wrestling Championships held Saturday at the University of Virginia's Memorial Gymnasium. Patriot sophomore Harry Zander (National Park, N.J./Gateway Regional) won the individual championship at 197 pounds, while sophomore David Emison (Stafford, Va./North Stafford) placed second at 133. Mason placed nine wrestlers overall among the 10 weight classes, the most of any school. Three other Patriot wrestlers finished third and four were fourth.
Virginia won the event with 114.5 points and Old Dominion was second with 97.5. The Cavaliers finished with four individual titleholders and four second-place marks. The Monarchs also had four individual champions and three third-place honorees. UVA's Lenny Bernstein won Coach of the Year and ODU's Christian Staylor was named Outstanding Wrestler of the meet.
This year marks the second consecutive season George Mason has placed third at the state championships. It is also the third straight year the Patriots have had at least one individual champion.
Zander, who finished second last season at the Championships and earned the top seed in the tournament this year, won the 2005 title in decisive fashion with a 15-0 technical victory over No. 2 seed Scott Smith of Virginia. Zander was 3-0 at the event and moved his record to 6-3 on the season.
Emison won the 133-pound championship last season and entered the meet as the No. 1 seed. He wrestled well leading up to the final, but lost a close 11-10 decision to the No. 2 seed, B.J. Compton, out of Old Dominion. Emison, who leads the Patriots in overall victories, now stands at 16-6 on the year.
Placing third at the event was freshman Joe Coughlin (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) at 125 and sophomores Matt Horton (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) at 184 and Heavyweight Ryan Kittrick (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin). Third-seeded Coughlin, who went 3-1 on the day, placed after posting a 6-5 decision over Jeremy Adams of Virginia Military Institute. Horton, who also finished 3-1 at the event, defeated Virginia's wild card entry, Chudi Uraih, 6-4. Kittrick fell to the No. 2 seed from James Madison in the main draw, then recorded three consecutive victories in the back draw, including a 5-2 win against Cecil Lee of Apprentice School to garner third.
Among the fourth-place showings were freshman Jay Chichester (Falmouth, Va./Colonial Forge) at 141 pounds, sophomore Robert Henry (Dumfries, Va./Potomac) at 149, freshman Randy Oates (Owings, Md./Northern) at 165 and senior Nick Webster (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) at 174.
Also participating at the event for Mason was 157-pound freshman Sean Grant (Eaton Rapids, Mich./Eaton Rapids), 165-pound freshman Matt Moyer (Elizabethtown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) and 184 pound sophomore Jim Martin (Forty Fort, Pa/Wyoming Valley West).
George Mason heads to VMI for dual meet action on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and completes the weekend at Colonial Athletic Association foe James Madison next Saturday at 2 p.m.
Scores (Agate): (1) Virginia, 114.5; (2) Old Dominion, 97.5; (3) George Mason, 72.0; (4), Virginia Military Institute, 65.5; (5) James Madison, 34.5; (6) Apprentice School, 15.0.
