By The Daily Item
OMAHA -- Bucknell wrestlers Andy Rendos and Kevin LeValley made history on Friday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships. Both veterans clinched top-eight showings as they made the way through the consolation brackets, meaning two Bison will be All-Americans in the same year for the first time in program history.
Rendos, who finished fifth in the 165-pound bracket at last year's NCAA Championships, will finish no lower than sixth this year, while LeValley will wrestle for seventh place in the 149-pound weight class Saturday morning against American's Kyle Borshoff. Rendos, who can still earn third place, is the second two-time All-American in school annals, joining Bobby Ferraro, who was recognized in 1994 and 1995. Five different Bison have now been All-Americans a total of seven times.
Now with 12 career NCAA victories, Rendos started Friday off with a quarterfinal match against top-seeded Andrew Howe of Wisconsin, who is undefeated this year. Howe sent Rendos to the consolation bracket with a 7-2 decision. Much like last year when he also lost to Howe in the quarterfinals, the ninth-seeded Rendos battled back through the consolation bracket. He defeated No. 4 Jonathan Reader from Iowa State, 7-2, avenging a loss at the NWCA All-Star Classic earlier this year. He followed that with a 9-5 decision over Old Dominion's Chris Brown.
Rendos will now face Edinboro senior Jarrod King, the No. 2 seed, in Saturday morning's consolation semifinal. King, who lost in the semifinals Saturday evening, entered the NCAAs with just one loss, while Rendos is now 33-5 this year. With two straight victories Saturday, Rendos will finish third, marking the best-ever showing for a Bison at the NCAA Championships. Currently, Tom Marchetti's fourth-place finish in the 1989 tournament is tops among all Bucknell wrestlers.
LeValley, competing at NCAAs for the second straight year, began the day in the consolation bracket and won his first three bouts, all by decision. His final win came in overtime against seventh-seeded Mitch Mueller from Iowa State. LeValley also beat Mueller to take third at the Midlands Championships in December.
Following the win against Mueller, the ninth-seeded LeValley had a chance to guarantee a top-six finish as well, but he lost 3-1 in sudden victory to No. 4 Kyle Ruschell of Wisconsin. It was just the eighth loss of the season for LeValley, who is 4-2 this week and owns a school-record 41-8 mark on the year.
LeValley will wrestle for seventh place Saturday morning against Borshoff, an opponent he defeated 2-1 in Davis Gym in a dual in late February.
Bucknell's two All-Americans in one season comes just four years after the program was reinstated. It is the first year the squad has had seniors and all three members of the senior class participated at the NCAA Championships.
In addition to the two All-Americans, senior David Marble was in action on Friday. He posted a 7-1 decision in his first match against Arizona State's Ben Ashmore. However, his career came to an end in his next bout, a 5-3 sudden victory loss to Drexel's Steve Mytych. Marble had defeated Mytych 4-3 during a regular-season dual.
Marble finished the season with a 30-10 record and his career with a 111-44 mark. His 111 victories rank third in program history, behind only Rendos (121) and Ferraro (118).
Bloomsburg's Matt Moley came up one match short in his quest for a third-straight All-American season, losing in the consolation bracket. In addition, the Huskies' Rick Schmelyun had his career come to a close with a loss in the consolation round.
Moley, wrestling at 157 pounds, started the day with a win by fall over Joseph Booth of Drexel in a time of 2:24. Moley then faced Jake Kerr of Iowa in the fourth round of consolations and pulled out a 5-1 win. Moley broke a 1-1 tie with a three-point near fall after Kerr chose bottom to start the period.
In round five of consolations and one win from guaranteeing himself All-American honors, Moley lost by a 9-8 score to second seed Adam Hall of Boise State.
At 165 pounds, Schmelyun saw his career come to a close with loss to Cody Yohn of Minnesota.
Also Friday, Oklahoma added two more wrestlers to its All-American list. Zack Bailey (141 pounds) and Mount Carmel graduate Eric Lapotsky (197) each recorded two wins in the consolation bracket to earn the honor.
Entering the final day's competition, Oklahoma stands in sixth place with 58 points. Iowa has already clinched the title with 120.5 points.
