Dukes Finish Third at NCAA East Regional

March 4, 2006

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  100.52. Gardner-Webb    67.03. Duquesne        65.04. Millersville    43.05. Delaware State   7.0
Individual Champions

125. (SRU) Chris Clarke133. (GWU) Josh Pniewski141. (MU)  Cody Becker149. (GWU) Daniel Elliott157. (GWU) Adam Glaser165. (SRU) Jason Cardillo174. (DU)  Jared Ricotta184. (SRU) Charles Pienaar197. (GWU) Brent Blackwell285. (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

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