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Eight Ivy Leaguers Earn All-America Status
Created: 3/23/2002 7:32:37 PM
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 Thanks to the Sports Information staffs at Princeton, Harvard, Cornell and Pennsylvania
The Ivy League had a sensational collective performance at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Pepsi Arena in Albany over the weekend, with eight wrestlers representing four schools earning All-America status with top-eight performances.
Princeton junior Greg Parker lost for only the second time all year after stunning top-seeded Otto Olson of Michigan 11-8 in the semifinal match in the 174-pound weight class on Friday. Parker finished the year with a 33-2 record, both losses coming at the hands of Greg Jones from West Virginia.
With the final match scoreless in the early going, Jones brought Parker down awkwardly and Parker tore cartilage around his rib cage. He tried to fight through it; however, Jones took advantage of the injury and came a away with a 12-5 win.
Parker's only other defeat came in his second match of the year when Jones won 3-2.
"He (Parker) got hurt and the injury really hampered his ability to score points," says Princeton head coach Mike New. "He was tough. He never quit."
Parker became Princeton's first EIWA Champion in 16 years and Princeton's first NCAA finalist since John Orr in 1984-85. Parker is Princeton's fifth ever NCAA finalist. Bradley Glass is Princeton's lone NCAA Champion. Glass won the heavyweight title in 1951.
"It was a tough way to lose," says New. "But this just leaves himself (Parker) room for improvement next year."
Parker, who wrestled in his second straight NCAA tournament, earned All-America status with his finish.
The Penn Quakers, the ninth-ranked team in the country, has three All-Americans with Yoshi Nakamura placing third, Rick Springman finishing sixth and Josh Henson seventh. The Quakers finished in 11th place in the team standing with 43 points.
Nakamura rebounded from his heartbreaking loss in the semifinals defeating Scott Owen of Northern Illinois 7-5 in the consolation semifinals at 157. Nakamura then finished his Penn career in grand fashion with a fall at 2:39 over Oklahoma State's Shane Roller. The win over Roller was his 36th of the season, which ties him with teammate Josh Henson for the most wins in a season. Nakamura completes his brilliant Penn career as a two-time All-American and Penn's second winingest wrestler with a 115 wins in a career.
Henson capped a fascinating run in his senior season with a seventh place finish at the Championships after defeating Penn State's Doc Vecchio 11-9 at 165. The win completes a stunning year for the Quaker as he started the season unranked nationally.
At 174, Springman ended his Penn career with a sixth-place finish, as he dropped both of his consolation matches in the morning. Springman lost his consolation semifinal match 7-1 to Nathan Coy of Oregon State and then loss a tight one-point match to Michigan's Otto Olson 6-5 for fifth place. Springman finishes a Penn career as a two-time All-American and with a 108 career wins for fourth-most in Quaker wrestling history.
Cornell and Harvard each had two All-Americans.
Cornell freshman Travis Lee ended his freshman season with a 14-4 victory over Chris Rodrigues of North Carolina to claim seventh place at 125. Lee was joined by junior Clint Wattenberg, who earned sixth place after falling to higher-seeded foes Jessman Smith of Iowa (2-1) and Damion Hahn of Minnesota (3-3; ot) at 184.
Lee avenged an earlier loss to Rodrigues at the Sharpie Open. In the postseason, Lee defeated three wrestlers (Rodrigues, Penn's Mason Lenhard, Oklahoma's Matt Ridings) who he lost to earlier in the year.
It is only the third time in program history when multiple Big Red wrestlers have earned All-America status in the same year. The first time was in 1964, when Charles Bush (115) and Geoff Stephens (157) each placed in the top eight. The second time was in 1993, when three wrestlers - David Hersch (126), Mark Fergeson (134) and Kyle Rackley (177) - each earned All-America status.
Harvard's Jesse Jantzen and Dawid Rechul rounded out the Ivy All-Americans.
Jantzen finished third at 149, the best finish at nationals by a Crimson wrestler since Harvard great John Lee placed third in 1953. Jantzen fell in the quarterfinals to eventual national champion Jared Frayer of Oklahoma but won four matches in the consolation bracket. His route included victories over top-ranked Mike Zadick of Iowa and third-ranked JaMarr Billman of Lock Haven. The fifth-seeded Jantzen then pinned Jake Percival of Ohio University in the third place bout. Jantzen completed his sophomore campaign with a 38-3 record. Two of those losses came at the hands of the national champion.
Rechul placed seventh in the heavyweight division. He lost a close sudden victory decision to Purdue's Jake Vercelli in the first round and had to advance through the consolation bracket. The senior reeled off three consecutive victories before falling to eventual third-place finisher John Lockhart of Illinois. He then defeated Kevin Hoy of Air Force for seventh place. Rechul completed a stellar career with a 28-9 mark and competed in three NCAA Championships.
It is the third time in the history of the program, and third time in the last four years, that Harvard has produced two All-Americans in the same year. In 2000 Joey Killar '00 and Ed Mosley '00 earned the distinction while Killar and Dustin DeNunzio '99 were All-Americans in 1999. Harvard wrestlers have earned All-American accolades 14 times, with seven of those honors coming in the past five years under Head Coach Jay Weiss.
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Related Schools: No Associated School
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Related Sports: Wrestling
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*This Article has been archived.*
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