March 4, 2006

Preliminary Round Results

Boiling Springs, N.C. - Led by senior Jared Ricotta, Duquesne University's wrestling team finished third at the 2006 NCAA East Regional Saturday at Gardner-Webb University in North Carolina. In preliminary action in the morning, four Dukes advanced to the afternoon championship round.

The Dukes' 65 points was just two shy of second place GWU (67). Slippery Rock finshed first and tied with the host Bulldogs' with four winners. Millersville, like DU, won one championship match. Delaware State was shut out.

On the prelims, sophomore Jonathan Bittinger (Smithfield, PA / Albert Gallatin) won his 125-pound match against the host school's Cortney Roberts via an 8-4 decision. Sophomore Cody Midlam (Dayton, OH / Chaminade-Julienne) grabbed an 8-2 decision over Delaware State's Ryan Gibbons in the 165-pound class. In the 174-pound weight, Ricotta (Morrisdale, PA / West Branch) shut out the Bulldogs' Chad Davis, 6-0 and senior Mark Himes (Brookville, PA / Brookville) made it three DU wins over GWU opponents with a 4-3 decision over Brandon Beach at 184 pounds.

Ricotta was the lone DU victor today with another 6-0 win over Gardner-Webb's Chadd Davis. He will be making his second trip to the NCAA National Championship, which will be held in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on Thursday, March 16 through Saturday, March 18, 2006.

2006 NCAA East Regional Results

1. Slippery Rock  100.5
2. Gardner-Webb    67.0
3. Duquesne        65.0
4. Millersville    43.0
5. Delaware State   7.0

Individual Champions
125. (SRU) Chris Clarke
133. (GWU) Josh Pniewski
141. (MU)  Cody Becker
149. (GWU) Daniel Elliott
157. (GWU) Adam Glaser
165. (SRU) Jason Cardillo
174. (DU)  Jared Ricotta
184. (SRU) Charles Pienaar
197. (GWU) Brent Blackwell
285. (SRU) Matthew Burkholder

Most Outstanding Wrestler 

Daniel Elliott, Gardner-Webb

At Large Bid

David Pienaar, Slippery Rock

Coach of the Year

Derek Delporto, Slippery Rock