JOHNSTOWN, PA (February 23, 2010) – The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown will host the 2010 NCAA Division II Super Region I Wrestling Tournament on Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 in the Sports Center.
Fifteen teams and nearly 150 wrestlers are scheduled to participate, with the top four wrestlers in each of the 10 weight classes advancing to the NCAA Division II National Tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska-Omaha on March 12-13.
All Results will be posted after each of the four sessions at www.upj.pitt.edu/Athletics
This year's Super Region I Tournament will feature six teams ranked in Division II's top-20, including No. 2 Newberry (S.C.) College, No. 6 Pitt-Johnstown, No. 8 Gannon University, No. 11 University of North Carolina-Pembroke, No. 17 West Liberty (WV) University and No. 19 Kutztown University.
Also competing are American International (MA) College, Anderson (S.C.) University, Belmont Abbey (N.C.) College, East Stroudsburg University, Limestone (S.C.) College, Mercyhurst College, Seton Hill University, Shippensburg University and St. Andrews Presbyterian (N.C.) College.
In addition, 23 of the nation's top-ranked individuals will be battling for a spot in the NCAA Division II National Tournament, including 2009 National Runner-up Shane Valko (Pitt-Johnstown), the nation's No. 1-ranked wrestler at 133 lbs. and Josh Shields (Mercyhurst), the defending National Champion and the top-ranked wrestler at 165 lbs. Mitch Smith (149 lbs.) (West Liberty) and Keeno Griffin (197 lbs.) (Newberry) are both ranked second in their respective weight classes, while Kyle Keane (165 lbs.) (Pitt-Johnstown) and J.J. Davis (174 lbs.) (UNC-Pembroke) are both ranked third.
Newberry's Sheridan Moran is ranked fourth at 133 lbs. in a weight class that features four wrestlers ranked in the top-8 nationally. Corey Bowers (133 lbs.) (Gannon), Adam Whetstone (141 lbs.) (Pitt-Johnstown) and Frank McGrath (Gannon) are all ranked fifth.
Jeremy Parker (141 lbs.) (Limestone), Kevin McElhaney (Gannon), Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) and Tim Darling (Nazareth, PA/Nazareth) (Kutztown) hold the No. 6 spots in their weight classes, and Russell Weakley (UNC-Pembroke), Nick Wykoff (West Liberty), Andy Lamancusa (Mercyhurst), Curtis Chenoweth (Newberry), Bryant Blanton (Newberry) and Mitch Knapp (West Liberty) are ranked seventh.
Nate Narouth (Shippensburg), Latra Collick (Newberry) and Zack McKendree (Gannon) are all ranked eighth.
Overall, Newberry boasts five wrestlers nationally-ranked and Gannon has four. Pitt-Johnstown, UNC-Pembroke and West Liberty have three ranked wrestlers, while two Mercyhurst wrestlers are ranked. Limestone, Kutztown and Shippensburg have one wrestler ranked apiece.
Session one of wrestling will begin on Friday, February 26 at noon and will consist of the First Round, Quarterfinals and the First and Second Round of the Consolations.
On Saturday, February 27 Session II will begin at 10 a.m. with the Semifinals, Consolation Quarterfinals and the Consolation Semifinals, followed by Session III at 2:30 p.m. Session III will feature the Finals, Consolation Finals, 5th-6th Place Matches and True-Fourth Matches.
Tickets are $5 for adults per session and $2 for children under 12-years-of-age per session. Tickets will only be sold by the session. All-Tournament passes and complimentary tickets will not be available
Brackets for this year's tournament will be released following a coaches' meeting on Thursday, February 25. Results will be updated on the Pitt-Johnstown athletics website following each session.
