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March 3, 2001

LARAMIE, Wyo. - Team Scores/Individual Results

Three UW wrestlers qualified for the NCAA Championships this past weekend at the West Regional.

Seniors Steven Schenk and Craig Rumsey were champions in their weight class. Schenk entered the 174 pound bracket seeded fourth, and he defeated the #1, #3 and #5 seeds on his way to the championship. Schenk wrestled #5 Mike Kratz of Marquette in the first round, winning by technical fall at 3:41. In the semifinals Schenk was set to face #1 seed Eric Brown of Northern Iowa. Schenk totally dominated Brown in the match, winning by a score of 15-2. In the finals Schenk defeated #3 Louis Taylor of Eastern Illinois 5-3.

Rumsey was seeded #3 in the 197 pound weight class. In the first round Rumsey defeated George Flannick of Marquette by fall at 3:43. In the semifinals Rumsey faced Joe Gleissner of Eastern Illinois. Rumsey pinned Gleissner at the 2:53 mark to make his way into the finals. In the finals Rumsey faced #1 seed Jason Payne of Northern Iowa. In a close, hard-fought match Rumsey defeated Payne 4-2.

Both Schenk and Rumsey earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships with their championships. Freshman Levi Prevost was the third Cowboy to qualify. Prevost was selected as a wildcard qualifier in the coaches wildcard meeting. Prevost placed third in the 157 pound weight class. Prevost entered the tournament seeded #3 and faced Jake Harreld of Marquette in the first round. Prevost defeated Harreld 12-4 and moved on to face #2 Drew Kelly of Northern Iowa, who he defeated 8-4. That set up a finals match between #1 seed Nathan Vasquez of Fresno State and Prevost. Vasquez defeated Prevost in the championship match 6-4 in overtime. Vasquez scored a takedown with two seconds left in overtime for the win. Vasquez entered the Regional ranked #9 nationally in the weight class.

Wyoming had a couple of second-place finishers in Mark Hamrick and Justin Christenson. Hamrick lost the 149 pound championship match to Scott Frohardt of Air Force 6-1. Hamrick was the #2 seed and defeated #3 seed Joe Weber of Northern Iowa 8-4 in the semifinals. Christenson had an outstanding day for the Cowboys. He came into the tournament the #6 seed in the 165 pound weight class. In the first round Christenson lost to Alex Pelbath of Air Force 9-6. In the consolation semifinals Christenson beat #4 seed Eddie Gifford of Fresno State 3-2 and won the consolation final over Pelbath 5-4, avenging his only loss. Christenson then wrestled in a true second match against #1 seed Peter Butville of Marquette. Christenson won the second-place match 6-1, capping off a standout day for the junior.

Sophomore Thad Trujillo finished third at 141 pounds for Wyoming. After defeating Phil Bronsteatter of Marquette in the first round 11-6, Trujillo lost to eventual champion Ralph Lopez of Fresno State in the semifinals 10-3. But Trujillo would bounce back with a pin over Tim Loeffle of Eastern Illinois and a 10-2 victory over Ryan Montanez of Air Force to claim third-place. In the true second match Trujillo lost to #1 seed Mark Rial of Northern Iowa. Junior John Faczak (125) and sophomore Brad Steele (Hwt) both finished in fourth-place in their weights while freshman Kevin Kessner (184) didn't place.