Four Wrestlers Advance To Quarterfinals At Southern Scuffle
12/29/2006 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Dec. 29, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. - Four Maryland grapplers have advanced to the championship quarterfinals on the first day of the Southern Scuffle on December 29 at the Greensboro Coliseum Events Center. Junior Charlie Pinto and sophomore Alex Krom both won three matches at 141 while redshirt freshman Hudson Taylor and freshman Mike Letts also won all of their matches today to advance to the quarterfinals.
If Pinto and Krom were to meet in the tournament, it would not be until the final match. The two have faced each other before as Pinto beat Krom, 5-3, in the finals at the Body Bar Systems Invitational.
Pinto, the fourth seed at 141, beat Joel Webster of Edinboro by fall in 3:29. Then he took down Sean Carr of East Stroudsburg, 20-5, in 5:15. In the round of 16, Pinto won by decision, 14-10, against Drew Lashaway of Kent State.
Krom used a 14-1 major decision against Joe Schick of East Stroudsburg and a 8-5 decision against David Emison of George Mason to face third-seeded Vincent Ramirez of North Carolina who is ranked No. 13 in the nation. Krom pulled off the upset in impressive fashion with a pin at 6:24.
Fourth-seeded Letts used a pair of wins to propel himself into the quarterfinals at 174. Both wins came by way of major decision as he beat Derrick Morgan of Lock Haven 16-4 and Mike Grogan of Virginia 10-0.
Taylor, also seeded fourth at 197, won his first match by fall against Eric Cassidy of Pittsburgh. Taylor ended the bout with a pin at 3:23. He then went on to beat Yura Malamura of No. 1 Minnesota, 8-3.
The tournament, featuring eight nationally ranked teams and 62 ranked individuals, will conclude tomorrow.
