Kwiat wins opening match, leads No. 12 Wrestling in Session I of NCAA III Championships
By: Tim Glon
LACROSSE, Wis. — Junior two-time All-American Kyle Kwiat won his first round match to lead No. 12-ranked Ohio Northern in the first session of the 2012 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships Friday morning at the LaCrosse Center.
Kwiat, seeded No. 3 at 174 pounds, was one of four Polar Bears competing at the championships and was the only one to win his first round match.
He improved to 36-1 on the season at 174 pounds with a 7-1 victory over Ryan Dorman of Stevens (N.J.).
He advances to the quarterfinals Friday night to face James Roach of Saint Olaf (Minn.)
Senior Billy Painter dropped his first round match 9-0 to No. 2-seeded Landon Williams of Wartburg (Iowa).
Painter (26-8) will face Ryan Renon of Lakeland (Wis.) Friday night in the consolation semifinals.
Senior Mick Letcher fell by fall in 5:28 in his first bout against No. 4 seed Chris Burdge of Centenary (N.J.).
He then got a reversal with 24 seconds left to defeat Matt Fusaro of Johns Hopkins (Md.) 4-2 in a consolation first round match and won/lost.
Letcher (31-10) advances to Friday night's consolation quarterfinals against Jacob Bohler of St. Olaf (Minn.)
Junior Jeremy Jones lost his first round match by fall to Joe Schwartz of Wesleyan (Conn.) in 6:18.
He then lost to Dalton Bullard of Elmhurst (Ill.) by tech. fall 16-0 in the consolation first round Friday afternoon.
Jones ends his season with a 22-14 record.
The top eight wrestlers in each weight classes earn All-America honors.
Kwiat needs one more victory, while Painter and Letcher must win twice Friday night to guarantee a top-8 finish and All-America honors.