Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
NCAA Championships
Three Away... Parker Concludes First Day With Technical Victory
March 20, 2003 | Wrestling
March 20, 2003
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Senior Greg Parker defeated Ed Strauss by a technical fall to advance to the quarterfinal of the 184-pound weight bracket in the NCAA championships, held at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Parker will face Oklahoma State's Jake Rosholt, who he owns a 10-2 victory over already this season, in the next round.
Parker opened his first day at the NCAA championships with a 15-2 win over Boise State's Tony D'Amico. His second round match wasn't much more difficult, as Parker pulled out to a 19-4 lead when the match was called at the 5:26 mark of the match.
The top six seeds all advanced to the quarterfinals, including third-seeded Clint Wattenberg of Cornell and Josh Lambrecht of Oklahoma, both of whom are potential semifinal opponents for Parker in tomorrow's second session. If Parker advances past Rosholt, who he topped at the Reno Tournament of Champions tournament on December 19, he would get one of those two wrestlers. Lambrecht is a finalist at this weight class, while Wattenberg was Parker's opponent in the EIWA final two weeks ago. Parker, who also earned a double-overtime victory against Wattenberg earlier in the year, earned a third-period pin to defeat his Big Red opponent.
In the top half of the draw, Iowa's Jessman Smith is the top seed and is still alive. He will face unseeded Ben Heiser of Northern Illinois in one quarterfinal, while fourth-seeded Scott Barker (Missouri) and fifth-seeded Mark Becks (Penn State) will meet in the other quarterfinal.
Parker, an NCAA finalist at 174 pounds last year, improved to 24-4 with the two wins today. He will enter the quarterfinals on a 15-match win streak.