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University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Athletics

PITT-JOHNSTOWN MOUNTAIN CATS

Wrestling

Three Wrestlers Earn All-America Honors; Dempsey Reaches 100-Win Plateau

03/12/2011

Seven Mountain Cat wrestlers earned a trip to the 2011 NCAA Division II National Wrestling Tournament at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, and three came away with All-America honors. Ryan Link (133 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.) placed fourth at 133 lbs., and Jack Bachman (Greensburg, Pa.) finished eighth at 141 lbs. In addition, Chris Dempsey (HWT.) (Sewickley, Pa.) became a two-time All-American and the 23rd Mountain Cat to reach 100 career victories on his way to a fifth-place finish at heavyweight. As a team, Pitt-Johnstown finished in a tie for 10th-place with Minnesota State-Mankato with 31.5 points.
Nebraska-Omaha won the tean national title with 102.5 points. St. Cloud State (Minn.) was second (90.5 pts.), while Augustana (S.D.) College (81.5 pts.), Upper Iowa University (66 pts.) and Western State (CO) College (64 pts.) rounded out the top-five.
After suffering a 4-0 loss to Western State's Jesse Cruz in the opening match, NCAA No 3-ranked Ryan Link (133 lbs.) battled back to win four straight matches to earn a spot in the third-place match. However fifth-ranked Jason Jeremiason (Augustana (S.D.) College) pinned Link at 4:45 to give Link a fourth-place finish. Link finished the tournament with a 4-2 record.
Dempsey, who placed eighth at last year's national tournament, won his first match, but suffered a loss in the second round. Dempsey, ranked seventh going into the tournament, rebounded with a 3-2 decision over Chadron State's Sam Udell in the second round of the consolations. On Saturday, he defeated No. 8 Jake Elkins (Newberry (S.C.) College) in the consolation quarterfinals, before falling to the fifth-place match with a 9-4 loss to No. 3 Charlie Alexander (Western State (CO) College. However, Dempsey answered with a 3-1 decision over Nebraska-Omaha's Taylor Escamilla to place fifth. Dempsey was also 4-2. With his four wins, Dempsey finished his Pitt-Johnstown career with 102 victories.
Bachman (141 lbs.) won a a 4-0 decision over Ky Corley (Central Oklahoma) in his first bout, but fell into the wrestlebacks after a 9-6 loss to fifth-ranked Matt Irwin (Indianapolis). Bachman then won an 11-2 major decision over Ashland's Kyle Kanaga to advance to Saturday's action. After suffering a 4-2 setback to fourth-ranked Naveed Bagheri (San Francisco State) in the consolation quarters, No. 8 Jimmy Savala (Chadron State (Neb.) College dealt Bachman an 8-5 loss in the seventh-place match. Bachman went 2-3 at the tournament.
Nathan Link (149 lbs.) (Cresson, Pa.), Zach Lundgren (157 lbs.) (DuBois, Pa.), Steve Makin (174 lbs.) (Portage, Pa.) and No. 4-ranked A.J. Brentzel (184 lbs.) (Irwin, Pa.) were all eliminated in the second round of the consolations after posting 1-2 records.
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