OMAHA, NE (March 12, 2010) - Tim Darling had a convincing win, while Scott Snyder and Kevin Bolinsky dropped their hard fought battles in the first session of the 2010 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship at Sapp Fieldhouse on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. (Updated Brackets)
Darling, the Super Region 1 champion, had an impressive 6-3 comeback win in the 184 bracket against C.D. Johnson of Southwest Minnesota State, who was a fourth place finisher at the Super Region 3.
After a scoreless first period, Johnson chose the down position and took a 2-0 lead off of a reversal. With under 15 seconds remaining in the period Darling jumped out of the hold and tied the match with a reversal then grabbed the lead with two-back points as time expired. The third period had an escape by Johnson, but a reversal by Darling secured the win to move on and face Austin Boehm of host Nebraska-Omaha.
In the 197 weight class, senior Scott Snyder (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh)'s late comeback bid came up just short, falling 9-4 to Donovan McMahill of Western State College of Colorada. Snyder closed a 4-1 gap in the third period with two take downs to make it a 5-4 contest. The region 4 champion McMahill, in his third-consecutive trip to nationals, was able to pull away as the final frame wound down. Snyder will enter the consolation round to face Wisconsin-Parkside's Joe Treml.
Heavyweight Kevin Bolinsky (Ashland, PA/North Schuylkill) made one mistake and the 2008 and 2009 national runner-up Dustin Finn (Central Oklahoma) took advantage and won by fall in 3:22. Bolinsky held his own up to that point, as he danced around the mat shooting for takedowns. He will also battle through the wrestleback's starting with Brian Rodas of SMSU.
The second session of matches will begin Friday evening starting at 6 p.m., Snyder and Bolinsky will need to wrestle two matches to make it to Saturday mornings events. If Darling wins his match, he will be done for the night and advance to Saturday's semifinal, a loss will force another match on Friday.
