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Cornell has wrestlers in nine of 10 weights at NCAA championships

Cornell, ranked No. 1 and trying to become the first Eastern school in 58 years to win an NCAA team title, will have wrestlers in nine of the 10 weight classes for the 2011 NCAA wrestling championships, which will take place at the Wells Fargo Center next Thursday through March 19.

    by Frank Fitzpatrick, Inquirer Staff Writer
    Published 

Cornell, ranked No. 1 and trying to become the first Eastern school in 58 years to win an NCAA team title, will have wrestlers in nine of the 10 weight classes for the 2011 NCAA wrestling championships, which will take place at the Wells Fargo Center next Thursday through March 19.

Cornell, which, when the brackets were revealed Wednesday night by the NCAA, got one wrestler into every class but heavyweight, enters the event as the favorite. The Big Red finished second a year ago but will be at a numerical disadvantage against the sport's two traditional powerhouses, Iowa and Oklahoma State.

The Hawkeyes, winners of the last three team championships, and the Cowboys, who have won a record 34 national titles, each qualified someone in all 10 brackets.

The other team expected to be a serious contender, Big Ten champion Penn State, ranked No. 2 most of this season, will have competitors in all but two classifications, 165 and 197 pounds. Penn State was the first and only Eastern team to capture the NCAA crown, in 1953.

Scores of the competitors will be from wrestling-rich Pennsylvania and nearby New Jersey, including top seeds Jordan Oliver (133 pounds) of Oklahoma State, an Easton native; Michigan's Kellen Russell (141) from High Bridge, N.J.; Nebraska's Jordan Burroughs (165) from Sicklerville, N.J.; and Lehigh heavyweight Zach Rey.

Locally, Penn will have six wrestlers - 10th seed Rollie Peterkin at 133; 12th seed Zack Kemmerer at 141; and four unseeded competitors: Steve Burak at 165 and brother Micah Burak at 197, Scott Giffin at 174, and Mark Rappo at 125. Drexel's Joe Booth (165) is also an unseeded competitor.

A total of 330 wrestlers - 33 in each of the 10 weight groups - will be competing over three days in six sold-out, day-night sessions at the Wells Fargo Center, beginning next Thursday morning and continuing through Saturday night. There are 12 seeds in each bracket and a lay-in, or pigtail, match.

For a list of all 330 wrestlers, go to www.philly.com.