Colabucci Takes Second at Harold Nichols Open

AMES, Iowa (November 16, 2013) – West Virginia University wrestling competed against 20 other schools at the Harold Nichols Open at Iowa State, featuring over 300 wrestlers. Sophomore Mark Colabucci (184) went 4-1 on his way to a second-place finish.

Colabucci won four consecutive bouts to reach the finals. All four of Colabucci's wins were by decision. In the quarterfinals, he beat Ellsworth's Matt Hurford, 7-3., and Damonte Stogner in the semifinals, 4-0.

In the finals, Colabucci was defeated by No. 2 Minnesota's Brett Pfarr. Colabucci was brought to the mat in the first period, but was able to tally the escape point. Pfarr scored a reversal in the second to take a 4-1 lead into the third, and then earned riding time.

Sophomore Tim Wheeling made a deep run in the 157-pound consolation bracket, finishing the tournament in sixth place. After falling to Logan Molina of the Cyclones, 6-4, in the second round, Wheeling won three matches to earn a rematch against Molina. The semifinals match of the consolation bracket came down to riding time, giving Molina the 2-1 decision.

In the fifth-place bout at 157 pounds, Wheeling was brought to the mat early by SDSU's Cody Pack and suffered three nearfalls. Pack went on to win the match by technical fall.

Senior Colin Johnston (133) won three matches to reach the semifinals, after which he withdrew from the bracket. Senior Mac Mancuso (184) went unbeaten, winning two matches before pulling out in the quarterfinals.

Freshman Cory Stainbrook (125) won two matches, including a technical fall over Robiel Tesfaldet of South Dakota State, before No. 2 Minnesota's Sam Brancale beat him by major decision, 12-4. In the consolation bracket, Stainbrook pinned Nate Smith from Iowa Central before withdrawing from the bracket.

At 149 pounds, junior Mike Morales opened the tournament with a pin against Hank Goettl of SDSU. Morales fell in the next match to St. Cloud State's Josh Howk. Morales then won two straight matches in the consolation bracket.

Junior Brutus Scheffel recovered in the consolation bracket after a first round loss to the JackRabbits' Dalton Moran. Scheffel defeated Grand View's Dallas Houchins, 6-4, in overtime, and Colton Johnson of Nebraska-Kearney, 10-4.

Sophomore Bubba Scheffel continues to lead the Mountaineers in pins, recording three pins to bring his season total to nine. All three of Bubba's victories today came by fall. He was knocked out of the championship bracket in the third round by Iowa State's Tanner Weatherman.

In the heavyweight bracket, sophomore A.J. Vizcarrondo met with No. 1 Tony Nelson from Minnesota. Vizcarrondo scored an early takedown, but Nelson would gain control over the next two periods, defeating Vizcarrondo, 7-2. Vizcarrondo beat teammate Wayne Purnell and St. Cloud State's Caleb White in the consolation bracket.

“The purpose of the trip was to wrestle a dual meet with Iowa State. The tournament was a secondary purpose, but it allowed us to get some other people matches,” said coach Craig Turnbull. “For those that wrestled two matches yesterday, we did not want to wrestle them in a whole tournament. We purposefully set a number of matches. The weekend was overall very good for us, and we grew as a team through the experience.”

“A few of the extra guys that we brought wrestled really well. Tim Wheeling wrestled extremely well and gained valuable experience,” Turnbull says. “Colabucci, who is second on our depth chart, wrestling in the finals was very good for our program.”

Highlighting the participating schools at today's open was No. 17 Iowa State, Maryland, No.2 Minnesota, No. 11 Missouri, No. 13 Nebraska, the NAIA's top-squad Grand View and No. 9 in the NAIA, Midland.

Match-by-Match Results

125

Round 1
Cory Stainbrook (Bye)
Johnny Pellegrino (Bye)

Round 2
Stainbrook inj. Def. over Robiel Tesfaldet (SDSU)
Pellegrino dec. over Mitch Maginnis (Nebraska) (3-0)

Round 3
Cory Stainbrook dec. over Hunter Haralson (Lindenwood) (9-4)
DaWayne Robertson dec. over Johnny Pellegrino (11-4)

Round 4
Sam Brancale (Minnesota) maj. dec. over Cory Stainbrook (12-4)

141
Round 1
Colin Johnston (Bye)

Round 2
Colin Johnston dec. over Brandon Wright (Grand View) (6-2)

Round 3
Colin Johnston wins by fall over Brock Coutu (Nebraska Kearney)

Round 4
Colin Johnston wins by tech. fall over Nathan Ryan (Morningside) (20-3)

149

Round 1
Mike Morales (Bye)
Tre Miller-Scott (Bye)

Round 2
Mike Morales wins by fall over Hank Goettl (SDSU) (third period)
Luke Zilverburg maj. dec. over Tre Miller-Scott (11-2)

Round 3
Josh Howk (St. Cloud St.) wins by fall over Mike Morales

157

Round 1
Dalton Moran (SDSU) wins by fall over Brutus Scheffel
Tim Wheeling (Bye)

Round 2
Logan Molina (ISU) dec. over Tim Wheeling (6-4)

165

Round 1
Ross Renzi dec. over Ryan Zumwalt (St. Cloud State) (7-4)

Round 2
Ross Renzi dec. over Brock Smith (Nebraska Kearney) (4-3)

Round 3
Mike Moreno (Iowa State) dec. over Ross Renzi (3-1)

174

Round 1
Bubba Scheffel wins by fall over Austin Lindsey (SDSU) (1:49)
Josh Berg (St. Cloud St.) dec. over Christian Chirico (6-4)

Round 2
Bubba Scheffel wins by fall over Cody Johnston (Missouri) (1:33)

Round 3
Tanner Weatherman (Iowa State) wins by fall over Bubba Scheffel

184

Round 1
Mac Mancuso dec. over Ben Schwery (SDSU) (3-1)
Mark Colabucci dec. over Shea Nolan (SDSU) (5-2)

Round 2
Mac Mancuso dec. over Christian Mays (Grand View) (3-2)
Mark Colabucci dec. over Tyler Pullin (Grand View) (5-4)

Round 3
Mark Colabucci dec. over Matt Hurford (Ellsworth) (7-3)

Round 4
Mark Colabucci dec. over Damonte Stogner (Unattached) (4-0)

Finals

Brett Pfarr (Minnesota) dec. over Mark Colabucci (5-1)

197

Round 1
Leo Trindade maj. dec. over Kasey Crump (8-0)

Round 2
Tyler Lowy (Central) dec. over Leo Trindade (6-4)

HWT

Round 1
Austin Goergen (St. Cloud St.) wins by tech over Wayne Purnell (18-3)
A.J. Vizcarrondo wins by fall over Jacob Borgmeyer (Lindenwood) (1:40)

Round 2
Tyler Nelson (Minnesota) dec. over A.J. Vizcarrondo (7-2)



Consolation Matches
125: Jordan Kingsley dec. over Johnny Pellegrino (4-2)
125: Cory Stainbrook wins by fall over Nate Smith (ICCC)
149: Tre Miller-Scott overtime dec. over Tyrell Galloway (4-3)
149: Kyle Leet (South) wins by fall over Tre Miller-Scott
149: Mike Morales dec. over Tre Rutz (Grand View) (8-1)
149: Mike Morales maj.dec. Over Kyle Leet (SDSU) (15-4)
157: Brutus Scheffel overtime dec. over Dallas Houchins (Grand View) (6-4)
157: Brutus Scheffel dec. over Colton Johnston (Nebraska Kearney) (9-4)
157: Tim Wheeling dec. over Ryan Niven (ICCC) (3-1)
157: Tim Wheeling dec. over Cody Pych (Lindenwood) (9-3)
157: Tim Wheeling dec. over Chase White (Nebraska Kearney) (5-4)
157: Logan Molina dec. over Tim Wheeling (2-1)
157: Cody Pack (SDSU) wins by tech. Fall over Tim Wheeling (19-2)
165: Ross Renzi overtime dec. over Carson Powell (Iowa State) (3-1)
165: Chad Lowman (Grand View) maj. dec. over Ross Renzi (11-0)
174: McCoy Newburg (Nebraska) wins by fall over Christian Chirico
174: Bubba Scheffel wins by fall over Thomas Moman (Grand View)
197: Willie Miklus (Missouri) wins by fall over Leo Trindade
HWT: Wayne Purnell wins by fall over Landon Johnson (ICCC)
HWT: A.J. Vizcarrondo dec. over Wayne Purnell (3-2)
HWT: A.J. Vizcarrondo wins by fall over Caleb White (St. Cloud State)
HWT: Malcolm Allen (ICCC) overtime dec. over A.J. Vizcarrondo (6-4)

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