Fresno State Athletics
Wrestling Squad Halved in First Day at NCAA Championships
3/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 21, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State lost two wrestlers in the first day of NCAA Championship competition Thursday at the Pepsi Center in Albany, N.Y. Defending National Champion Stephen Abas and junior Eddie Gifford are all that remain of the original Bulldog squad of four.
After junior Ralph Lopez, freshman Marcio Botelho and Gifford lost in the first round, Lopez and Botelho lost again in the first round of consolations and were knocked out of the tournament. Gifford survives to see Friday thanks to a bye in the first round consolations.
An obviously disappointed Fresno State head coach, Dennis DeLiddo, said, "We wrestled terribly today."
No. 1 seeded Abas beat California native Jose Leon 2-0 in the first round and went on the beat Chris Williams of Michigan State 11-1. Abas will wrestle No. 6 seeded Shawn Williams of Oregon in Friday's quaterfinals at 7 a.m. Abas and Williams have not yet wrestled against one another this season.
With two more years experience under his belt, Lopez finished his third NCAA Championship the same way as his did his freshman year, 0-2. The junior 141 pounder lost his second match to Edinboro's Chad Caros by a 12-4 major decision. Lopez previously lost a close 8-7 match to Caros this season at the Las Vegas Invitational.
Although Botelho had a strong freshman season and was 23-11 going into the NCAA Championships, his one year of experience couldn't keep him alive in the biggest tournament of his career. His second match ended quite like his first, with a pin in less than 2 minutes. Botelho got stuck by Willie Gruenwald of Oklahoma State in 1 minute and 48 seconds.
Log on to www.gobulldogs.com to follow Abas on his quest for a third National Championship at the 2002 NCAA Championships.
