| Healy Advances To Saturday Competition |
| by Brent Harris
03/04/05 |
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Chris Healy (Jasper, IN/Jasper) is two wins away from earning the national title at 174 pounds after two wins in the first day of competition at the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships. Teammate Phu Hong (Indianapolis, IN/Lawrence Central) finished 1-2 at the nationals after being eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals.
Healy earned the third seed at Thursday's coaches meeting and opened against Ryan Hagerty of Loras. Healy cruised to a 6-0 win, advancing to wrestle sixth-seeded Mark Hawald from John Carroll. Hawald was a 5-4 winner over unseeded Mick Davis from Pacific in the opening match. Healy dispatched Hawald with a 10-0 major decision, moving on to the semifinals. He will wrestle Josh Chelf, the seven seed from Wisconsin-La Crosse for a chance to compete for the title in the finals. A loss would send Healy to the consolation bracket, where he would need one victory to ensure an All-American title.
Healy, Chelf, and top-seed Joe Moon from Augsburg are the only seeded wrestlers remaining in the championship bracket. Unseeded Tony Howard from McDaniel advanced after dispatching the four and five seeds. Mark Sturm, who moved past Healy in the coaches meeting to take the number two seed, lost both of his matches and was eliminated from the tournament early Friday evening.
Hong drew third-seed Eddie Murray from Ursinus in the first round, losing 14-5. Hong wrestled Coe's Ryan Gotto in the second round, moving into the quarters with a 14-12 victory. But his dreams of advancing to the semifinals came to an end with a 9-7 loss to fifth-seeded Jordan Kolinski from Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Hong finished the season with a record of 26-12. He tied teammate Adam Miller (Pendleton, IN/Pendleton Heights) for fifth in career victories at Wabash with 87.
The NCAA Championships, hosted by St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, conclude Saturday evening.