Friday, March 06, 2009

Basketball, Wrestling Begin NCAA Play

The 2009 NCAA Division III Basketball and Wrestling Championships begin today for Centennial Conference teams. The wrestling championship gets underway at noon in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with first-round bouts. The women's basketball tournament tips off at 5 p.m. in Brunswick, Maine, while the men's basketball tourney begins at 6 p.m. in Columbus, Ohio, and 8 p.m. in Lancaster.

Wrestling
The 2009 NCAA Division III Wrestling Championship begins Friday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and the Centennial Conference contingent received five seeds when the brackets were released. Merchant Marine grapplers garnered a pair of seeds, including 141 James Beshada (#5), and 149 Dan Twito (#7). Gettysburg 157 Andrew Goldstein received the highest seed at No. 4, while Muhlenberg 149 Rob Kein and McDaniel 285 Brock Glotfelty gained No. 6 seeds. Can the Conference better its 2005 and 2006 performance of four All-Americans? Is this the year when a CC wrestler medals, joining Gettysburg's Jake Dell (1997) and Stevens' Brandon MacWhinnie (2008)? Stop back throughout the day for updates on Centennial grapplers or sign up for Twitter and receive updates on your cell.

Women's Basketball
"It’s a very lucky thing for the Muhlenberg women’s basketball team that the NCAA Tournament takes place in March. With St. Patrick’s Day just a few weeks away and names on their roster like NCAA basketball Kaitlyn O’Malley, Kelly McKeon and Erin McSherry, the Mules hope the luck of the Irish will be with them. “I hope all our Irish descendants help us out,” said senior Bethany Enterline, who is entering her third NCAA Tournament. “[Junior] Katie Ferris went to Ireland and brought us back souvenirs, so hopefully those will bring good luck, too.” The Mules (24-3) face Westfield State (22-4) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday. The teams travel to Maine, where the host school, Bowdoin, will face Castleton State in the second first-round game tomorrow." The Conference is 18-20 all-time in NCAA games but has not won an opening-round game since the Mules defeated Wesleyan, 57-50, in 2006. Bowdoin is coached by former Swarthmore head coach Adrienne Shibles, who led the Garnet to a 138-96 record over nine seasons (1997-2005). Bowdoin Tournament Website

Men's Basketball
The Conference placed two teams - Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall - in the 60-team field for the second straight season. The Centennial is 22-22 all-time in NCAA games with three trips to the Final Four (F&M: 1996, 2000; Ursinus 2008).

"The Gettysburg College men’s basketball team will make its second-straight appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament this weekend when it heads to Columbus, Ohio, for the first two rounds of play on March 6-7. The Bullets will be the odd-man out in the four-team regional with a trio of Ohio schools in the mix: host Capital University (24-4), The College of Wooster (22-6), and Thomas More College (19-8). Gettysburg (18-8) earned its fifth trip overall to the tournament after winning the Centennial Conference championship last weekend, beating host and then No. 23 Franklin & Marshall College 73-65 in the finale. Wooster and Thomas More also won their respective conferences, the Fighting Scots earning their 11th championship as a member of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) and the Saints pulling out their first crown as a member of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC). Capital, ranked 13th in the latest D3hoops national poll, was upset in the championship of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament by John Carroll University." Capital Tournament Website

"The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team earned its 20th NCAA Division III Tournament bid announced on Monday and will host the first and second rounds on March 6-7. The Diplomats (22-5) return to the 60-team tournament for the first time since the 2003-04 season. F&M received an at-large bid after falling to Gettysburg 73-67 in the Centennial Conference (CC) Championship game on Sunday. The Diplomats will face Wesley (18-9) in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m. The other first-round game features Brandeis (17-8) and Scranton (21-6) at 6 p.m. Friday's winners will meet in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. Wesley earned its first NCAA Tournament bid in program history by winning the Capital Athletic Conference title with a 64-51 victory over Marymount. The Wolverines are 18-9 on the season, setting the school record for most wins in a season since they moved to Division III. Brandeis is making its third straight NCAA appearance. The Judges earned an at-large bid into the tournament with a 17-8 overall record and a 10-4 mark in the University Athletic Conference. Scranton received a pool B bid after winning their second consecutive Landmark Conference championship this weekend, defeating Susquehanna 80-75. The Royals are making their second straight and 22nd NCAA tournament appearance." F&M Tournament Website

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks guys, really looking forward to the NCAA wrestling tournament to see how the CC guys do!

Anonymous said...

Not a good start for the Centennial so far, with Kein, Twito, Beshada, and Goldstein all going down.

d3Playbook said...

1:30 CST update
125
#7 Mark Kist (Wartburg) d. Jordan Alfaro (USMMA), 12-3

133
#2 Brandon Ball (Coe) d. Philip Greene (USMMA), 23-6 (5:48)

141
Jordan Loy (Loras) d. #5 James Beshada (USMMA), 7-3

149
Blaine Woszczak (Ithaca) d. #6 Rob Keim (Muhl), 3-2; Dale Fava (Del Valley) d. #7 Dan Twito (USMMA), 7-2

157
Dan DiColo (TCNJ) d. #4 Andrew Goldstein (Get), 7-6

d3Playbook said...

2:30 CST update ...

165
#3 Ben Youel (North Central) d. Vincent Renaut (USMMA), 8-6
174
#2 Rocky Mantella (Del Valley) d. Ryan Dormann (Stevens), 9-5
184
#6 Bryan Lenhardt (Johnson & Wales) d. Matt Horn (Muhlenberg), 8-4
197
#8 Andy Moore (UW-LaCrosse) d. Eric Vincent (USMMA), 5-3
285
Deron Sharp (E-Town) d. #6 Brock Glotfelty (McDaniel), 6-5

d3Playbook said...

8:00 CST update
125
Max Oldenburg (UW-Whitewater) p. Jordan Alfaro (USMMA), 4:29
133
Philip Greene (USMMA) p. #7 Nicholas Cucciniello (Johnson & Wales), 2:50
141
Nick Garber (Waynesburg) d. #5 James Beshada (USMMA), 15-3
149
#6 Rob Kein (Muhlenberg) d. Joey Massman (Concordia, WI), 5-1
Adnrew Gardella (CWRU) d. #7 Dan Twito (USMMA), 5-0
157
#5 Jesse Milks (UW-Platteville) d. #4 Andrew Goldstein (Gettysburg), 6-5
165
Orlando Ponce (Augsburg) d. Vincent Renaut (USMMA), 7-6
174
Ryan Dormann (Stevens) d. #7 Troy Carlson (Chicago), 5-4
184
Matthew Horn (Muhlenberg) p. Seth Rehn (Coe), 4:09