March 18, 2004
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Matt Kallai picked up a win in his opening-round match on Thursday at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis, Mo. Kallai was the only one of the six Viking qualifiers to advance out of the first round, though the other five are still alive in the consolation bracket.
Kallai, a freshman from Wadsworth, defeated Duke's Levi Craig in the opening round, scoring and 8-2 decision in the 174 pound bracket. He moves on to face Brad Dillon of Lehigh, the No. 3 seed, in the second round on Thursday evening.
Freshman DeAngelo Penn was pinned in his opening round match at 125, losing to Christian Bowerman of Fresno State at the 4:26 mark of the match. Penn will face Wisconsin's Tom Clum, the No. 3 seed in the tournament who was upset in his first match, in the consolation first round.
At 141 pounds, senior Anthony Coleman took the tournament's No. 3 seed, Teyon Ware of Oklahoma, to a 3-3 tie after seven minutes before Ware scored a sudden-victory takedown to pick up the 5-3 win. Coleman will face Purdue's Doug Withstandley in the consolation first round this evening.
Sophomore Ron Howard, a qualifier at 184 pounds, lost to Nick Catone of Rider, the 11th seed in the tournament, 15-5. The pair had squared off at the Virginia Duals on Jan. 9, with Catone defeating Howard, winning by fall at the 6:47 mark. Howard will face Arizona State's Nick Frost, the No. 6 seed and an upset victim in the first round, in the consolation first round.
Joe Phillips lost a tough 6-2 decision to Marcio Botelho of Fresno State, the No. 12 seed, in his opening match in St. Louis. Phillips will face Ohio State's J.D. Bergman in the consolation first round.
Senior Russ Davie, who entered the tournament as the No. 9 seed, was upset by Harvard's Bode Ogunwole, 2-0, in the opening round. Davie had defeated the Harvard freshman at the Midlands Invitational on Dec. 29, 1-0. Davie will face Ryan Adams of North Carolina in the consolation round this evening.
