March 18, 2005
ST. LOUIS – The Cal State Bakersfield seniors Efren Ceballos (Manteca HS) and Matt Sanchez (Gilroy/Iowa State) each picked up wins in the consolation bracket to stay alive in Friday morning action at the 2005 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Saavis Center in St. Louis.
Ceballos, the No. 6 seed at 125 pounds, mounted a tremendous comeback, but it just fell short as he dropped to the consolation bracket with an 8–7 loss to the No. 3 seed Kyle Ott of Illinois. Ott jumped out to a 4–1 lead with a pair of takedowns in the first period and trailed 6–2 after allowing another takedown midway through the second. Near the end of the second period, Ceballos pulled Ott back on the mat to score a takedown of his own, pulling the score to 6–5. In the third, the two fought hard, but Ceballos was unable to secure a takedown until just seven seconds remained in the match.
Ceballos can earn that elusive All–American honor with a win in his first match of tonight’s session against Mark McKnight of Buffalo who downed Joe Kemmerer of UNC–Greensboro 5–3. While he has qualified for the NCAA tournament the previous three seasons, he has just missed out on All–American honors those three years.
Sanchez responded well after a frustrating loss yesterday dropped him into the consolation bracket, scoring a pair of major decisions, 13–3 over Tim Harner of Rider University and 11–3 over Sam Gray of Navy. Sanchez, the No. 10 seed in the tournament at 133 pounds, jumped out to a 10–2 lead in his match with Harner, scoring two takedowns, a reversal and some back points and held on for the 13–3 win.
His third round matchup was a rematch with Navy’s Sam Gray, who he pinned in just over a minute when the two squads dueled earlier in the season. Sanchez, who now needs just one win to earn All–American honors, once again got on the board early with a takedown and three back points. However, in the third period, Sanchez put it away with a reversal and more back points for the win. Tonight’s battle for All–American honors will pit a pair of Pac-10 foes as Sanchezz will go up against Boise State’s Scott Jorgensen. Jorgensen, who has defeated Sanchez in two of their last three meetings including the Pac–10 championship match, was knocked to the consolation bracket with a 9–3 loss to No. 1 seed Travis Lee of Cornell.
Anthony Baza (Sunnyvale/Fremont HS) was unable to get a necessary win to stay alive in the consolation bracket, losing 8–2 to Travis Shufelt of Nebraska. Shufelt won an early scramble in the first period for the takedown and added a pair of back points to build a 4–0 first period lead. Baza responded in the second with a takedown of his own, but was unable to get anything else going in the loss. Baza ends his season with a 16–11 including his first NCAA victory in Thursday’s action.
The evening session on Friday will feature the championships semifinals as well as two rounds of the consolation bracket. The session begins at 6:30 p.m. All of today’s action can be seen on ESPN’s newest affiliate network, ESPNU, as well as on local syndicates. For more information, log on to NCAAsports.com.
CSUB RESULTS AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
125
No. 6 Efren Ceballos
Champ. 1st round—def. Jeff Sato, Columbia, 8–4
Champ. 2nd round—def. No. 11 John Velez, Northwestern, 6–5
Champ. Quarterfinals—lost to No. 3 Kyle Ott, Illinois, 8-7
Consolation 4th Round—vs. Mark McKnight, Buffalo
133
No. 10 Matt Sanchez
Champ. 1st round—def. T.J. Enright, Ohio State, 12–5
Champ. 2nd round—lost to Nathan Morgan, Oklahoma State, 7–5
Consolation 2nd round—def. Tim Harner, Rider, 13–3
Consolation 3rd round—def. Sam Gray, Navy, 11–3
141
Roberto Vargas
Champ. 1st round—lost to Ryan Lang, Northwestern, F, 2:21
Consolation 1st round—lost to Jordan Leen, Cornell, 5–4
Tournament Complete
149
Anthony Baza
Champ. 1st round—def. Josh Medina, Lock Haven, 4–2
Champ. 2nd round—lost to No. 2 Phillip Simpson, Army, 11–2
Consolation 2nd round—lost to Travis Shufelt, Nebraska, 8–2
Tournament Complete
California State University, Bakersfield Athletic Department
9001 Stockdale Highway, Bakersfield, CA 93311-1022
Phone: (661) 654-3071 • FAX: (661) 654-2376
