Donahoe Wins Title in Vegas

Paul Donahoe earned the 125-pound championship and Dominick Moyer advanced to the final round and earned a runner-up finish to lead the Husker wrestling team to fourth-place finish with 94 points at the Las Vegas Invitational in Primm, Nev. Missouri won the meet with 157 points.

Donahoe and Moyer were two of three Husker grapplers in contention for individual titles Saturday, as Jon May was the only one in the trio not to reach the finals.

At 125 pounds, the second-seeded Donahoe reached the finals after defeating Matt Eveleth of Penn in the semifinals by a 4-3 decision early Saturday. Donahoe won the championship with a 2-0 decision to Angel Escobedo of Indiana. Donahoe had cruised through the field in Friday’s matches, defeating Nick Ramirez of Wyoming by technical fall, 21-4, before beating Mike Rodriguez of Cornell by major decision to advance to the quarterfinals, 11-3.  Donahoe pinned Mark Moos of Michigan with 21 seconds remaining in the match to advance to the semifinals.

At 141 pounds, No. 5 seed Moyer pinned Chris Bencivenga of North Carolina-Greensboro with 1:40 remaining to claim his spot in the finals, before being defeated by Derek Moore of California-Davis, 11-0 in the final round. He won his first match of the meet by major decision over Heinrich Barnes of North Idaho, 10-2, and then earned another major decision victory, defeating Nick Walpole of Indiana, 8-0.  After earning a spot in the quarterfinals with a 9-3 win over Kyle Rushell of Wisconsin, Moyer won his fourth match on Friday with a 9-6 victory over 16th-ranked Charles Griffin of Hofstra. 

In the heavyweight division, Jon May’s bid to reach the finals was stopped by Bode Ogunwole of Harvard, 8-3. May won his opening round match over Andrew Skinner of Western State by fall with one second to go in the first period.  In the second round, May pinned Benjamin Reiter of Penn 2:30 into their match.  After that, May defeated Omar Maktabi of Michigan to move into the quarterfinals, 8-3.  May punched his ticket to the semifinals with an 11-3 major decision victory over Wade Sauer of Cal State Fullerton.

In the consolation bracket at 133 pounds, Mike Rowe fought back to earn seventh place with a 2-0 decision over Matt DeLorenzo of Columbia. Rowe fell to the consolation bracket when he was defeated by second-ranked Matt Valenti of Penn, 9-6, on Friday.

At 165 pounds, Marc Harwood was ousted from the competition after two straight losses when he dropped a 4-0 decision to Christopher Vondruska and then was pinned by Zachary Lee of Western State at 4:20. Harwood earned back earned back-to-back, first-period pins Friday.

No. 18 Nebraska will now return home and prepare for a double dual at the NU Coliseum against South Dakota State and Northern Colorado next Saturday, Dec. 9. The Huskers take on the Jackrabbits at 5 p.m., with the matchup against the Bears following at 7 p.m.

2006 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational
Star of the Desert Arena, Primm, Nev.
TEAM SCORES
1.Missouri ? 157.0
2. Michigan ? 109.0
3. Penn ? 100.5
4. Nebraska - 94.0
5. Wisconsin ? 90.5
6. Indiana ? 89.5
7. Harvard ? 70.0
8. Tennessee-Chatanooga ? 69.5
9. Hofstra ? 68.0
10. Pittsburgh ? 66.0

 Match Results-
125 Pounds
#9 Paul Donahoe (NU) by dec. over Matt Eveleth (Penn), 4-3
#9 Paul Donahoe (NU) by dec. over Angel Escobedo (Indiana) , 2-0

133 Pounds
#11 Mike Rowe (NU) by dec. over Matt DeLorenzo (Columbia), 2-0

141 Pounds
#7 Dominick Moyer (NU) by pin over Chris Bencivenga (North Carolina-Greensboro), 1:40
Derek Moore (California-Davis) by dec. over Dominick Moyer, 11-0            

165 Pounds
Christopher Vondruska (Ohio State) by dec. over Marc Harwood, 4-0
Zachary Lee (Western State) by pin over Marc Harwood, 4:20

Heavyweight
Bode Ogunwole (Harvard) by dec. over Jon May, 8-3