Pascoe Joins 100-Win Club

Travis Pascoe won his 100th career match and three <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Nebraska wrestlers advanced to the quarterfinals Thursday night at the 2005 NCAA Championships at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Mo.  After two rounds and consolation matches, the Huskers are tied with Wisconsin for 13th in the team race with 15.5 team points.  Leading the way with 39.5 team points is Oklahoma State.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

Pascoe clinched the bid to quarterfinals with a 6-5 win over Casey Phelps of Boise State.  Though the match was a close one, Pascoe never trailed after a pair of first-period takedowns.  Pascoe becomes the 16th wrestler to win 100 matches at Nebraska.  Pascoe will take on Justin Dyer of Oklahoma tomorrow morning in the quarterfinals.  Dyer broke Pascoe's 21-match winning streak on Feb. 12 in overtime, 13-11, but Pascoe defeated Dyer in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championships on March 5.

 

Jacob Klein also advanced to the quarterfinals at 165 pounds.  Klein, the No. 7 seed, beat Matt Nagel of Minnesota, 2-1 in their second-round match.  Klein scored an escape in the second period while a penalty point was given to Nagel in the third period, but it was the point gained from Klein's 1:36 advantage in riding time that proved to be the winning margin.  Klein will face Michigan's Ryan Churella tomorrow morning.  At the Lone Star Duals on Jan. 8 in Grand Prairie, Texas, Churella narrowly defeated Klein, 2-0.

 

At 197 pounds, B.J. Padden defeated Casey Phelps of Boise State in the second round of tiebreak periods.  Padden was awarded the victory after owning a riding time advantage of 40 seconds after the second round of tiebreak periods.  With the win, Padden advances to the quarterfinals to face Daren Burns of UNC-Greensboro tomorrow morning.

 

At 125 pounds, Andrew Hochstrasser of Boise State defeated Matt Keller of Nebraska in their second-round match, 5-3.  Keller took a 2-0 lead with a takedown 51 seconds into the match, but Hochstrasser registered three unanswered points to distance himself from Keller. 

 

Dominick Moyer also suffered his first loss of the tournament.  Moyer lost his second-round match to Minnesota's Mack Reiter, 7-5.  Moyer registered a second-period reversal to take a 3-2 lead, but Reiter scored a reversal to take a 4-3 lead.  Reiter took a 6-3 lead early in the third period with a takedown and, despite a late reversal by Moyer, Reiter was able to hang on to win.  Moyer will face Ryan McClester of The Citadel in the consolation bracket tomorrow.

 

At 141 pounds, 11th-seeded Matt Keefe of Chattanooga beat No. 6 seed Matt Murray of Nebraska, 8-6.  Murray led much of the match, but Keefe scored an escape and a takedown in the last 15 seconds of the match. 

 

However, after his match, Murray was taken to a local hospital.  His participation in the rest of the tournament is in doubt.

 

In consolation action, 149-pound senior Travis Shufelt took a 7-1 first-period lead and never looked back en route to a 16-3 major decision victory over Ron Doppelheuer of Edinboro.  

 

The quarterfinals will be broadcast live on ESPNU (channel 609 on DirecTV), starting at 10 a.m., while the semifinals will be shown live on ESPNU starting at 6 p.m., and syndicated by ESPN Regional Television in Omaha, Neb., on Cox Cable.

 

Second Round-

125-Andrew Hochstrasser (Boise St.) by dec. over Matt Keller (NU), 5-3

133-Mack Reiter (Minn) by dec. over Dominick Moyer (NU), 7-5

141-Michael Keefe (Chattanooga) by dec. over Matt Murray (NU), 8-6

165-Jacob Klein (NU) by dec. over Matt Nagel (Minn), 2-1

184-Travis Pascoe (NU) by dec. over Steve Borja (Va. Tech), 6-5

197-B.J. Padden (NU) by dec. over Casey Phelps (Boise St.), 3-2 (TB)

Consolation-

149-Travis Shufelt (NU) by major dec. over Ron Doppelheuer (Edinboro), 16-3