WRESTLING

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BUFFALO, NY - The first session of the NCAA Wrestling Championshps are completed at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and three UB wrestlers remain in the hunt for a national championship. Three UB wrestlers advanced to the second round of competition.

"We are very proud of the efforts of the guys that won their matches," said head coach Jim Beichner. "We still feel real good about their chances in the remainder of the tournament."

Senior Shawn Kegel (Wantagh, NY/MacArthur) received a first-round bye after his opponent, Brian Watson from Oregon State did not make weight in the morning weigh-in. Kegel now wrestles Roman Fleszar from Hofstra. Fleszar, ranked fifth in the 133-pound bracket, defeated Kegel last season at the New York State Collegiate Championships in their most recent meeting. Fleszar advanced to the second round with a 5-4 decision over Jeff Ratliff from Ohio State.

With a 6-5 victory over Nick Catone from Rider, junior Dave Guarino (Derby, NY/Lake Shore) also advances to the second round of competition in the 165-pound bracket. Earlier in the day, Catone defeated eighth-seeded Carl Fronhofer from Pittsburgh to advance to the match against Guarino. Guarino now faces Kevin Stanley of Indiana University, who advanced to the second round with a 9-3 victory over Chris Pendleton from Oklahoma State.

Senior heavyweight John Eschenfelder (N. Syracuse, NY/Cicero-N. Syracuse) advanced to the second round with a 4-1 decision over Ryan Kehler from West Virginia. Eschenfelder defeated Kehler 4-1 earlier in the season at the Virginia Duals. Eschenfelder will now wrestle Matt Brink from Michigan, the fifth seed at heavyweight, who received a first-round bye.

Senior Josh States (Lockport, NY/Lockport)will compete in the wrestlebacks after dropping a 15-11 decision to Anton Talamantes from Ohio State in the first round of the 184-pound bracket. In their prior matchup, States defeated Talamantes 5-2 at the Buckeye Duals. States now faces Dave Colabella from James Madison University. Colabella dropped his first-round match to second-seeded Nate Patrick from Illinois.

The second round of wrestling and the wrestlebacks will resume tonight at 6:30 p.m.