By The Daily Item
OMAHA, Neb. — Andy Rendos, one of the most decorated wrestlers in Bucknell history and the backbone to the rebirth of the program, capped his career with another All-American selection on Saturday afternoon, one of two Bison to earn honors along with Mount Carmel grad Eric Lapotsky.
For the first time in school history, Bucknell had a pair of wrestlers earn All-America honors in the same season. Rendos earned his second consecutive All-America honor with a sixth-place finish at 165, while Kevin LeValley grabbed his first All-America citation with a seventh-place showing at 149.
Rendos, a four-time NCAA qualifier who owns the Bucknell career wins record (121), entered Saturday with a chance to finish as high as third, but lost a pair of matches. LeValley, who finished the season with a school-record 42 victories, won his only match Saturday to tie for the fourth-best NCAA finish in program history.
Rendos, who finished his career with 12 NCAA wins, is just the second two-time All-American in school history, joining Bobby Ferraro, who was cited in 1994 and 1995.
On Saturday, the ninth-seeded Rendos tried to better his fifth-place finish from last March, but lost to No. 2 Jarrod King of Edinboro in the consolation semifinals. He then came back and held a 3-0 lead over Oklahoma freshman Tyler Caldwell entering the third period of the fifth-place match. However, Caldwell outscored the Bison senior 6-0 in the final period for a 6-3 victory.
Rendos, who will graduate with a 121-32 career record, had won five of his six bouts on Thursday and Friday, with the only loss to No. 1 Andrew Howe of Wisconsin. One of his wins was against No. 4 Jonathan Reader of Iowa State, while two of his three losses were to the top two seeds in the field.
LeValley’s opponent Saturday was a familiar one as he faced American’s Kyle Borshoff for seventh place. The ninth-seeded LeValley owned a 2-1 career mark against Borshoff, including a 2-1 decision in a dual late last month at Davis Gym. LeValley extended that record to 3-1 with a 5-0 shutout of Borshoff. It was the largest margin of victory for either wrestler in their four all-time meetings, which have all been decided by decision.
LeValley’s seventh-place finish concluded a remarkable breakout season for the two-time NCAA qualifier. He finished with a 42-8 mark, with all eight losses by decision by a total of 17 points. He obliterated the school wins mark by nine and became just the fifth different person in school history to earn All-America honors.
Bucknell’s two All-Americans are impressive, considering it is just the fourth year for the Bison since the reinstatement of the program. It is the first time since the reinstatement the roster has included a senior class, and all three seniors — Rendos, David Marble and Shane Riccio — qualified for NCAAs.
Tom Marchetti (1989), Bryan Burns (1991) and Bobby Ferraro (1994, 1995) are the only other Bucknell wrestlers to be named All-Americans.
Lapotsky took down two seeded opponents to place in his third and last NCAA Championships at 197 pounds. The senior struggled against Cornell’s fourth-ranked Cam Simaz at 197 pounds, as the sixth-seeded Sooner gave up three takedowns and a two-point nearfall to lose by major decision, 9-1.
The senior turned the dominance around in the fifth-place match, dominating No. 5 Trevor Brandvold of Wisconsin, 7-0. Lapotsky racked up 4:42 of riding time in addition to two takedowns and a two-point nearfall to win and finish fifth.
