LHU’s Neff & Garcia Advance at NCAA Championships

ST. LOUIS – Dan Neff (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) and Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold) of the Lock Haven University wrestling team have advanced to Day 2 of the 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships with wins Thursday night.
Both Neff and Garcia won during Session 2 to help them move on at the NCAA tournament.

Ronnie Perry (Christiana, Pa./Solanco) went 0-2 and was eliminated from the tournament. The sophomore 133-pounder finished the season at 30-11 and is now 43-20 for his career.

Neff (149) advanced into Friday action with a dominating 7-1 victory of Gardner-Webb’s Ryan Mosley. Neff got things going late in the first period, when he worked hard for the first takedown. Taking the 2-0 lead into the second, he rode out the period and cruised from there.

With the win, Neff moves to 22-13 on the season. This marks Neff’s third straight trip to the NCAA Championships, with his last two coming at 141 pounds. It marked Neff’s third career NCAA Tournament win and he’s now 3-5 in his career at the NCAA Championships.

Garcia (184) dominated Wyoming’s Ben Stroh from the start and finished with a 10-2 major decision. Garica scored a takedown just 12 seconds in and rolled from there, racking up 3:59 of riding time.

Garcia moves to 35-8 on the season in his third straight NCAA Tournament appearance at 184 pounds. He’s now 4-5 for his career at the NCAA Championships.

In a rematch of the 133-pound Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) finals, Rider’s Robert Deutsch used a strong third period to slip by Perry, 5-2. The match was tied 2-2 after two, but a last-minute escape and late takedown gave Deutsch the victory.

The Bald Eagles went 0-3 earlier during Session 1.

All three Bald Eagles had tough First Round opponents, as each drew a seeded wrestler.

Perry (133) scored a late third-period takedown and pushed No. 3 seed Cory Clark of Iowa to the limit, but fell 7-5. A late first-period reversal by Perry made it 5-3 after one, and trailing 6-3 late in the match, Perry used a quick duck under to make it 6-5, as time ran down in the bout. Clark would go on to tack on a riding-time point.

Neff (149) fell to No. 2 seed and returning National Champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, 8-2. Tsirtsis earned a quick first-period takedown and led 2-1 after one. Neff looked to be the aggressor and pushed the pace throughout the second, but couldn’t score despite several strong shots.

At 184, Michigan’s Domenic Abounader, the eighth seed and Big Ten Champion pinned Garcia (5:52).

Session 3 begins Friday at 11 a.m. EDT from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Neff will take on Purdue’s Brandon Nelson and Garcia gets Willie Miklus of Missouri.

The three-day NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships continue through Saturday (March 21) night’s finals (8 p.m. EDT).