All-American Matt Feast named to first-team.

March 28, 2003
The University of Pennsylvania placed nine wrestlers on the All-Ivy wrestling team including All-American Matt Feast, who was named to the first-team. The Quakers also had three wrestlers named to the second-team.
Feast, who placed seventh at the recent NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, was a unanimous selection at 285lbs. Feast went 5-0 in League competition on his way to a 34-5 season record. He led the Quakers in wins and winning percentage. Along with earning All-American honors as a sophomore, Feast was an EIWA Champion and was named Academic All-Ivy League. He was a second-team All-Ivy League selection in 2002.
Freshmen Matt Valenti and Matt Herrington each earned their first All-Ivy League recognition by being named to the second-team at 125 and 174lbs, respectively. Valenti and Herrington were both 3-1 in Ivy competition and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Valenti finished his rookie season with a 33-11 record and competed in the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships, while Herrington finished his season at 22-11.
Junior Doug McGraw was also named to the All-Ivy League second -eam. McGraw, who was 4-1 in the Ivy League, finished in the round of 12 at the NCAA Championships at 141lbs. He completed his junior season with a 30-10 record.
NCAA Qualifiers Jody Giuricich and Paul Velekei were honorable mention selections at 149 and 197lbs, respectively. Giuricich completed his senior season with a 32-9 record and finished second at the EIWA Championships to qualify for his second NCAA Tournament where he finished in the round of 12. Velekei qualified for his first NCAA Championships after finishing third at the EIWAs. He completed the 2002-03 season with a 22-10 record and went 3-1 in the Ivy League.
Freshman Matt Eveleth at 133lbs and junior Brett Vanderveer at 157lbs were also named honorable mention All-Ivy. Eveleth finished his year with a fourth place finish at the EIWA Championships. Vanderveer was 3-2 in league competition and finished the year with a 18-19 record.
The Quakers finished the 2002-03 season with an 8-4 record and a top-20 national dual meet ranking. The Quakers return five NCAA qualifiers and eight All-Ivy League selections in 2003-04.

The All-Ivy Team:
First Team
125 lbs.*Travis Lee, Cornell (So., Honolulu, Hawaii)
133 lbs. Alejandro Alvarez, Cornell (Jr., Grapevine, Texas)
141 lbs. Clint Frease, Brown (Sr., Clearwater, Fla.)
149 lbs. Jesse Jantzen, Harvard (Jr., Shoreham, N.Y.)
157 lbs.*Gabe Webster, Cornell (Sr., Athens, Pa.)
165 lbs.*Matt Palmer, Columbia (Fr., Germantown, Md.)
174 lbs.Tyler Baier, Cornell (Jr., Elmwood, Wis.)
184 lbs.*Greg Parker, Princeton (Sr., Clifton Park, N.Y.)
197 lbs.*Matt Greenberg, Cornell (Sr., Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
Hwt. *Matt Feast, Penn (So., Cressona, Pa.)


Second Team
125 lbs. Matt Valenti, Penn (Fr., Newton, N.J.)
133 lbs. Max Meltzer, Harvard (Fr., Blairstown, N.J.)
141 lbs. Doug McGraw, Penn (Jr., Emporium, Pa.)
149 lbs. Dustin Manotti, Cornell (Fr., Mifflinburg, Pa.)
157 lbs. Dustin Tillman, Columbia (So., Fremont, Calif.)
165 lbs. Scott Roth, Cornell (Jr., Martins Ferry, Ohio)
174 lbs. Matt Herrington, Penn (Fr., Cambridge, N.J.)
184 lbs. Clint Wattenberg, Cornell (Sr., Chico, Calif.)
197 lbs. Mike Gerstl, Columbia (Jr., Westtown, N.Y.)
Hwt. Jonas Corl, Harvard (Sr., Troutville, Va.)


Honorable Mention
125 lbs. Daniel Green, Columbia (Jr., Tulsa, Okla.)
133 lbs. Matt Eveleth, Penn (Fr., Severna Park, Md.)
141 lbs. Joe Clarke, Princeton (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.)
149 lbs. Jody Giurich, Penn (Sr., Blair, N.J.)
157 lbs. Brett Vanderveer, Penn (Sr., Berkeley Heights, N.J.)
165 lbs. Robert Griffin, Harvard (Sr., Franklin, Mass.)
174 lbs. Patrick O'Donnell, Harvard (Sr., Prosperity, Pa.)
184 lbs. Nick Ciarcia, Brown (Jr., Berlin, Conn.)
197 lbs. Paul Velekei, Penn (So., Allentown, Pa.)
Hwt. Bart Seemen, Columbia (So., Suffern, N.Y.)

 

 

The NCAA released the 2003 NCAA Division Wrestling Championship brackets and Penn sophomore Matt Feast was awarded the sixth seed at 285lbs. Feast will be joined by five other Penn wrestlers at the 2003 NCAA Championships that will take place March 20-22 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, MO.

Feast was the lone Quaker to be seeded for the championships. His first round opponent will be Justin Staebler of Wisconsin. Staebler defeated Feast earlier this season at the Michigan State Open, 3-1. Feast's potential second round match would be 11th-seed Andy Bowlby of Oregon State.

Freshman Matt Valenti, who is ranked as high as 11th in the nation, at 125 lbs.,  will meet third-seeded Ben VomBaur of Boise State in the first round. VomBaur was a fourth place finisher at the 2002 NCAA Championships. If Valenti gets by VomBaur, he would not meet another seeded wrestler until the quarterfinals.

Sophomore Doug McGraw's first round opponent will be Shane Cunanan of West Virginia University at 141 lbs. A win by McGraw would set up a potential second round match versus second-seeded Zach Esposito of Oklahoma State.

At 149 lbs., senior Jody Giuricich, is making his second appearance at the NCAA Championships. He received a favorable draw and will meet 12th-seeded Jeremy Spates of Missouri.   Giuricich's potential second round opponent could be fifth-seeded Jerrod Sanders of Oklahoma State.

At 174lbs, freshman Matt Herrington has a first round match-up with Jake Huffman of Oregon State University. Herrington could meet a familiar foe in the second round in fourth-seeded Ryan Lange of Purdue. Herrington lost a tight, 9-7, match to Lange in the dual meet earlier this season.

Sophomore Paul Velekei, who is also making his first trip to the NCAA tournament, drew David Schenk of Cal-Poly in the first round. His second round match will be against either Pat Cummins of Penn State or third-seeded Chris Skretowicz of Hofstra. Velekei defeated Cummins, 5-2, but fell to Skretowicz, 10-2, earlier this year.

Please visit www.ncaasports.com to view complete brackets. Continue to visit www.pennathletics.com for all the latest news and results from the NCAA Wrestling Championships.