Hopkin and Mustari Both Go 1-1 In Day One of NCAAs
March 20, 2008
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - After two sessions on the first day of the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championship, Northern Colorado sophomore 125-pounder Tony Mustari and senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin both went 1-1 and will continue competition tomorrow in the consolation rounds.
Mustari won his first-round bout 5-1 over Jasen Borshoff of American University. In the second-round he met up with fourth-ranked Tanner Gardner of Stanford, who is now 35-1 on the season after a technical fall, 15-0, over Mustari. Mustari will meet Eric Morrill of Edinboro, who pinned Collin Cudd of Wisconsin in 5:38 Thursday evening. Mustari is now 32-7 on the year.
Hopkin dropped his first-round matchup with sixth-ranked Matt Fields of Iowa, 7-3. In the consolation bracket, he faced Eddie Bordas of Rider, whom he defeated in a major decision, 10-2. Tomorrow morning, Hopkin faces Zach Sheaffer of Pitt, who is currently ranked 13th and lost a 3-2 decision to fifth-ranked David Zabriskie of Iowa State in the second round. Hopkin is now 29-6 on the season and 99-31 for his career, needing one more victory to become one of just four wrestlers in Northern Colorado history to win 100 bouts.
Hopkin scored first, recording a takedown in the first period. Bordas escaped for the 2-1 score. In the second period, Hopkin was down and recorded a reversal to take the 4-1 advantage and he added three more points with a near-fall via a cradle to end the period. In the final stanza, Hopkin again scored two points on a reversal. An escape by Bordas ended the on-the-mat scoring, but Hopkin also received one for riding time for the 10-2 major decision.
The morning session tomorrow begins at 10:00 a.m. (Central) at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Live stats for the NCAA Championship are available on ncaasports.com.
