December 6, 2005

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Freshman Brent Metcalf continued his strong early season performance by winning the 149-pound weight class at the 2005 Nittany Lion Open, hosted by Penn State University, on Sunday. Wrestling unattached, the Davison, Mich., native went 6-0 en route to the title. Also placing well were Jay Borschel (second at 174 pounds), Steve Borja (second at 184 pounds), Justin Staylor (third at 125 pounds) and Mike Faust (third at heavyweight).

At 125 pounds, Staylor, representing Tech, opened with an 18-1 technical fall over Caleb Levee of Navy before pinning Pat Wynne of Edinboro at the 3:57 mark. He then beat Brandon Kinney of Columbia, 8-3, to move into the semifinals. There, he lost to Penn State's Mark McKnight, 10-4, before picking up a medical forfeit over Drew Forshey of North Carolina to finish 4-1 and place third.

At 133 pounds, freshman Joe Slaton went 3-2 on the day as an unattached wrestler, but didn't place. He opened with a technical fall win over Errick Cholewa of Binghamton, 19-3, before pinning Invinzor Leoncion at the 35-second mark. After an 11-0 major decision over Michigan State's Ryan Froese, he then lost 8-3 to Navy's Brad Canterbury in the semifinals. He then was pinned by France Baughan at the 1:31 mark to eliminate him.

At 141 pounds, freshman Dan LeClere went 4-2 on the day wrestling unattached. He started with a 5-2 win over Penn's Brett McCurdy before pinning Joe Hasseman of Bloomsburg at the 2:40 mark. He then beat Chris Davis of Sacred Heart 7-1 before dropping a 16-4 major decision to Charles Griffin of Hofstra. In the consolation bracket, he picked up a 12-4 major decision over Kutztown's Dominic Sabia before losing to Frankie Gayeski of Lehigh, 5-0. The result of the seventh-place match was not available.

At 149 pounds, Metcalf improved to 16-2 on the season with the title. He is slated to redshirt, so his record does not count toward NCAA records. He opened with a pin at the 3:59 mark of Cornell's Curtis Roddy before beating Darren Kern of Bloomsburg, 10-3. He then disposed of Lock Haven's Matt Fittery, 7-5. In the quarterfinals, he beat VMI's Sam Alvarenga 6-3 before downing Penn's Matt Dragon 7-5 to reach the title match. There, he beat Hofstra's Mitch Smith, 3-1.

At 174 pounds, Borschel, wrestling unattached, went 5-1 on the day. He opened with a pin of Jim Tretter of Binghmaton at the 2:51 mark before pinning Jarrel Miller of Cleveland State at the 3:39 mark. He then beat Keith Gavin of Pittsburgh 6-5 before pinning Mike Ragusa of Buffalo at the 5:57 mark. In the semifinals, he picked up his fourth pin of the day in five matches, this time at the 2:59 mark against Carlos Ponce of Lock Haven. In the finals he was majored by RJ Boudro of Michigan State.

At 184 pounds, Borja, wrestling unattached, went 5-1 on the day to take second place. He opened with a 17-5 major decision over Chris Swan of Bloomsburg before picking up another major decision, this time a 13-3 victory over Gerred Price of Pittsburgh. His third major decision of the day came one match later, a 19-6 win over Dave Williams of ESU Wrestling. In the quarters, he picked up a 2-1 win over Joe Williams of Michigan State and the beat Justin Dobies of North Carolina, 2-1. In the finals, he lost 3-2 to Virginia's Rocco Caponi.

At heavyweight, Faust, representing Tech, went 4-1 on the day. He opened with a 5-3 win over Mike Davidowich of Millersville before picking up a 15-5 major decision over Freddie DiRamos of Michigan State. He then beat Sacred Heart's Payam Zarrinpour. 4-3 in the tiebreaker. In the semifinals, he lost to North Carolina's Spencer Nadolsky 3-2, but bounced back to take third with a 3-2 win over Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg.