March 6, 2010

CAA Championships Bracket in PDF Format

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - Sophomore Mendbagana Tovuujav and junior Brandon Bucher both advanced to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships after placing second and third, respectively, at the CAA Championships. The two-day tournament was hosted by Rider University at Alumni Gymnasium in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Tovuujav, the top seed at 174 pounds, advanced to the championship bout, where he faced Binghamton University's Josh Patterson, the second seed. Tovuujav, the defending conference champion, dropped a 16-6 major decision to finish in second place. Despite the loss, Tovuujav qualified for the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season as the top two wrestlers at 174 pounds both earned automatic berths to the national tournament.

Bucher earned the final automatic NCAA Championship berth at 149 pounds with a third-place finish. Bucher lost his first match of the tournament but rebounded to win three straight to win the consolation bracket. The Dillsburg, Pa. native won the consolation championship bout with an 8-2 decision over Drexel's Brett McCurdy.

Senior Brian Wright narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Championships at 125 pounds. Wright advanced to the championship bout but lost an 8-2 decision to Old Dominion's James Nicholson. Wright then wrestled Boston University's Fred Santaite in a true second-place match for the right to advance to the national tournament. Wright lost a 15-4 major decision to Santaite to just miss earning an automatic qualifier.

In the team scoring, George Mason finished sixth with 29.5 points. Binghamton University won the championship with 87.5 team points. Old Dominion (73) finished second and Rider University finished third (58.5).

The NCAA Championships are scheduled for March 18-20 at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.