Fresno State Athletics
Wrestling Has Week Off Before Heading to Nationals
3/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 11, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - NCAA Qualifiers
Fresno State qualified four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships held in Albany, N.Y., March 21-23. Senior Stephen Abas (Hayward, Calif.) will go for his third National Championship in the 125 division. The third time could be the charm for junior Ralph Lopez (Fresno, Calif.) who qualified his freshman and sophomore years but went 0-2 and 2-2 respectively. Junior Eddie Gifford (Las Vegas, Nev.) and freshman Marcio Botelho (Lemoore, Calif.) will make their NCAA debut.
West Regional Results
The Bulldogs took second place at the 2002 NCAA West Regional Championships on Saturday at Fresno State. Abas was the only Bulldog to win a division title. He did so with a 15-7 major decision over Air Force's Heath McKim in the finals. Three wrestlers took second place in their divisions but were wild card picks to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Lopez lost to Northern Iowa's Dylan Long in the finals of the 141 division. Gifford lost to Air Force's Terry Parham 5-4 in the 184 division. Botelho lost to Northern Iowa's Kyle Hansen in a 7-5 sudden victory in the 197 division. Senior Darrick Duran (Fresno, Calif.) took second place in the 165 division but did not receive a wild card entry to Nationals. Senior Derrick Hayes (Seaside, Calif.) was ranked No. 18 going into the regional meet, but defaulted his first match due to an injury. He then lost his second match to take fourth.
Regional Team Results
No. 17 Northern Iowa was the team to beat at the West Regional. The Panthers took home first place by earning 107.5 points. Fresno State took second with 67.5 points and Wyoming took third with 62.5 points. Eight Northern Iowa wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships, taking close to half of the regional's 19 qualifying spots.
Fresno State in the Rankings
Fresno State is ranked 24th in InterMat's final Division I rankings, released March 5. The Bulldogs were voted No. 20 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll released Feb. 20.
