LANCASTER, PA. - Threemembers of the Rutgers wrestling team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Scott Goodale, competed in the second day of the EIWA Championships, held in the Mayser Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster, Pa. Although the team finished in 11th place with 29.5 total points, Lamar Brown (Red Bank, N.J.) and Steve Adamcsik (Chester, N.J.) each earned a berth in the NCAA Wrestling Championships, the first time that Rutgers placed two in the prestigious event since 2004-05, when Andy Roy and Chris Ressa represented the school.
Brown was the lone RU wrestler in the Championship brackets at the start of the second day. He earned a spot in the finals of the 197-pound bracket with a 3-1 overtime win over Justin Kerber of Cornell, and although he fell in the finals 10-1 to American's Joshua Glenn, Brown clinched a spot in the NCAA Tournament with his second place finish, marking the highest place for a Rutgers wrestler since 2004, when Andy Roy (174-pounds) and Rudy Medini (184-pounds) each finished in second place in their respective weight class.
In the consolation bracket at 141, Adamcsik defeated Sean Carr of East Stroudsburg 11-6 before falling to eventual fourth place winner Corey Jantzen of Harvard. Adamcsik then defeated American's Kyle Borshoff to take fifth place in the weight class. He was named as one of the three wildcards, the second time he has reached the NCAA Wrestling Championship. He was the last Scarlet Knight to compete in the NCAA Wrestling Championship, reaching in 2005-06 by way of wildcard after finishing sixth in the EIWA Championships.
Sophomore heavyweight Karim Mahmoud (Wallington, N.J.) also began the second day in the consolation bracket, but fell 12-2 in the quarterfinals to the eventual sixth place winner, Cornell's Maciej Jochym. In the second round of the Championship heavyweight bracket on Saturday, Mahmoud dropped a tight 6-3 decision to eventual champion Ed Prendergast of Navy, marking the closest bout Prendergast faced in the tournament.
The NCAA Tournament, to be held in St. Louis, Mo., will begin on Thursday, March 20, and conclude on Saturday, March 22. The event will take place at Savvis Center and be hosted by the St. Louis Sports Commission and the University of Missouri. TEAM SCORES BRACKET
