Taylor Earns Bid To NCAA Championships
3/4/2007 7:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 4, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. - Redshirt freshman Hudson Taylor received one of four ACC wild cards to compete at the 2007 Division I Wrestling Championship. Taylor, who is 26-8 with 14 falls at 197 pounds, joins senior Jason Kiessling and freshman Mike Letts as both earned automatic bids after winning the ACC Championship at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively.
Taylor, who finished second at the conference championship on March 3, won both of his matches by fall. Nine of his last 13 matches have been won by fall and five of his pins have come against ACC opponents. He has also notched a technical fall and a major decision in that stretch.
North Carolina's Spencer Nadolsky (HWT), Virginia Tech's Eric Decker (165), and Virginia's Eric Albright (133) earned the other three wild cards for the ACC.
Taylor earned a pair of wins by fall in the first round and the semis to advance to the 197 pound final at the ACC Championship. He first pinned Patrick Keenum of Duke in 4:16 and then he took care of Virginia's #4 Kyle Narkiewicz in 1:13.
In the final against #2 Ryan Goodman of NC State, Taylor took a 1-0 lead into the third period. With Goodman on bottom, he got a reversal with just over a minute to take a 2-1 lead. Taylor responded with one of his own a few seconds later, but Goodman countered with yet another reversal with 25 seconds left to take a 4-3 lead. Taylor escaped his grasp with 15 seconds to go and the two went into overtime. In the extra session, Goodman recorded a takedown to collect the 6-4 decision.
Keissling earned his first ACC title at 165 pounds with a 3-2 decision against #3 Eric Decker. Kiessling got the only takedown of the match with 58 seconds left in the first period and then he earned an escape early in the second. Those three points would prove to be enough.
Kiessling topped #4 Aaron Glover of Duke, 13-1, in the semis after receiving a first round bye to reach the finals.
At 174 pounds, Letts reached the finals in very similar fashion as Kiessling as he beat Duke's #4 John Barone by major decision, 16-3, after earning a first round bye.
In the finals against NC State's #3 Rick Brownlee, Letts earned two takedowns in the first period that Brownlee escaped from to make it 4-2 after one. Letts then opened the match up with an escape early in the second and then another takedown with under a minute left to take a 7-2 advantage that he would never relinquish. He added one more takedown in the final stanza and added a riding time bonus point for the 10-4 win.
Taylor, Kiessling, and Letts will now begin preparations for the 2007 Division I Wrestling Championships that will take place between March 15-17 at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan.
