Wrestling Opens Competition at NCAA Championships

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia wrestling team kicked off the 2008 NCAA Championships Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Ross Gitomer (So., Flemington, N.J.), Chris Henrich (Fr., Lansdale, Pa.) and Rocco Caponi (Jr., Uniontown, Ohio) competed at 125, 174 and 184 pounds, respectively, with Henrich and Caponi advancing to Friday action. Virginia is tied for 36th in the team competition with 4.5 points after day one.

Caponi (38-3), the No. 11 seed at 184, had a bye to start the tournament, then pinned Edinboro’s Christopher Honeycutt in the first round in 4:04 to earn his first career NCAA win. It also marked Caponi’s 12th pin this season tying him for third most in a single season in UVa history.

In his second-round bout, Caponi lost, 8-2, to sixth-seeded Raymond Jordan of Missouri to move into the consolation bracket. Caponi now faces Lior Zamir of Pennsylvania Friday morning. Caponi defeated Zamir, 7-2, earlier this season at the Virginia Duals.

Henrich (26-9) lost an 8-3 decision to third-seeded Brandon Browne of Nebraska in the first round. In the first round of the consolation bracket, Henrich rebounded to defeat Randy Oates of George Mason, 10-6, Thursday night. He now will match up with Illinois’ John Dergo on Friday morning.

Gitomer dropped two tough decisions Thursday and was eliminated from the championship. In his opening match, Gitomer lost a narrow 1-0 decision Central Michigan’s Luke Smith. Gitomer then fell 8-6 to Oklahoma’s Joey Fio in the first consolation round on Thursday night. He finishes his season with an ACC championship and a 37-13 record. His 37 wins ranks seventh in a single season in Virginia history.

The second day of competition starts at 11 a.m. Friday. The evening session starts at 7 p.m. ESPNU and ESPN360.com will broadcast the championships live Friday with coverage of the quarterfinals and semifinals.