m — ST. LOUIS — Edinboro got two grapplers to the ultimate stage, just not the two one might expect.
Senior Paul Donahoe, a transfer from Nebraska who won the 125-pound championship in 2007, is in position to add a second title to his résumé after a pair of wins Friday. Joining him is not fellow 2007 champ Gregor Gillespie, but senior Jarrod King, who won both his matches at 165 pounds. Gillespie came up short, falling in his semifinal bout.
Donahoe went a different direction in his 125-pound semifinal bout with Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, who made it all the way to the semifinals despite missing a leg, choosing to grapple from his knees for the first time in the tournament. It paid off in the end, but made for a slow moving match through the first two periods. Still, the Fighting Scot senior took a 1-0 lead after two thanks to an escape 22 seconds in to the second stanza.
In the final period, Donahoe took the top position. Robles got out immediately to tie the score at 1-1. Donahoe finally got the first takedown after just missing on a couple other occassions. Robles escaped to make it 3-2 but, after a stall warning against Donahoe, the Scot sealed the match with another takedown for the 5-2 win.
Gillespie also went unconventional at 157 pounds.
After falling behind to Nebraska’s Jordan Burroughs 2-1 in after the first period, Gillespie chose to start the second from the bottom position. With riding time a factor at the NCAA level, most grapplers take the top position. Gillespie got out quickly to tie the score 2-2. Burroughs got another takedown, but the Scots senior again escaped quickly. A second stall warning against Gillespie and another Burroughs takedown put the Scot at a 7-3 disadvantage heading to the third.
Gillespie was never able to close the gap. Burroughs got two more takedowns and the Scot got just one more escape as the No. 1 seed advanced with an 12-4 major decision.
As for King, he won a whale of a match.
The senior took a 2-0 lead, getting the only takedown of the first period. He added another takedown in the second, but Iowa State’s Jonathan Reader countered with a takedown and a pair of escapes. With no scoring in the third period, the two went to overtime tied at 4-4.
The pair fought through sudden victory, a pair of tiebreaking periods, a second sudden victory and two more tiebreaking periods, only gathering two escapes each for a 6-6 score. That put the match to a tiebreaker, which King won based on his riding time advantage. King will face Wisconsin’s Andrew Howe today in the finals.
Donahoe advanced to the semifinals with a 7-3 decision in the quarters. Gillespie won his quarterfinal match, 1-0, while King posted a 12-5 decision to reach the semis.
The other five Scots were eliminated Friday.
Ricky Deubel (133) and Pat Bradshaw (197) each lost by fall, while Torsten Gillespie dropped a 6-4 decision. Chris Honeycutt made it within a win of placing, but lost his fifth-round consolation match by decision, 7-2. Joe Fendone also came up short of a podium finish, losing 8-6 in sudden victory during the fifth round of the 285 consolations.
As a team, the Fighting Scots stood in fourth place with a round of consolations to go. EUP has 63.5 points and trails just Ohio State (84.5), Iowa (72.0) and Iowa St. (64.5).
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Donahoe, King reach finals
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