By The Daily Item
BLOOMBSURG -- Bloomsburg University will send three wrestlers to the NCAA Division I championships next week in Omaha, Neb. after the wild-card selections were announced on Wednesday.
Joining seniors Matt Moley and Rick Schmelyun, who qualified via their finishes on Sunday at the Eastern Wrestling League championship, will be junior Nate Graham. In addition, Josh Roosa is listed as a first alternate at 149 pounds.
Moley will be seeded ninth at 157 pounds and will face Colton Salazar of Purdue in the opening round. Salazar is 30-11 on the season, while Moley is 25-3. Moley is on the same side of the bracket as top-seed J.P. O'Connor of Harvard who is unbeaten at 30-0. The two would meet in Friday's quarterfinals as long as both wrestlers win their first two bouts. Moley is a two-time All-American having finished eighth as a sophomore and sixth as a junior.
Schmelyun is ranked 11th at 165 pounds and will face Paul Gillespie of Hofstra in the opening round. Schmelyun is 28-7 on the season, while Gillespie is 29-12.
Graham will be unseeded at 174 pounds and will face unseeded Jacob Ison of Ohio University in round one. Graham is 27-9 on the season, while Ison is 22-6. Should Graham win opening match he would face top-seed and unbeaten Mack Lewnes of Cornell who is 36-0.
Action gets underway Thursday, March 18.
