With the exception of two minor changes from the final regular season rankings poll, the Colonial Athletic Association Wrestling Committee did an almost identical job as the 2008 CAA Wrestling Championship brackets were announced Thursday night.
The two-day CAA Championship begins Friday at 1 p.m. at the David S. Mack Sports Complex and wraps up with the finals and consolation finals on Saturday evening at 5 p.m. The CAA will send its champion and runner-up in each of the 10 weight classes to the NCAA Championships, March 20-22 in St. Louis, Missouri, along with four at-large selections, formerly called "wild cards".
Only replacements at 141 pounds and 149 pounds kept the tournament bracket from being identical with the final pre-tournament rankings. The Hofstra Pride, the pre-tournament favorite to win their seventh consecutive CAA Championship, lead the way with five number one-ranked wrestlers in the brackets in sophomore Lou Ruggirello (31-5) at 133, senior Charles Griffin (30-3) at 141, sophomore Jonny Bonilla Bowman (15-11) at 157 pounds, junior Alton Lucas (22-4) at 174 pounds and senior Joe Rovelli (23-4) at 197.
Old Dominion, which has finished second in the CAA Championships the past two years, has two top-ranked conference wrestlers in freshman James Nicholson (29-7) at 125 and sophomore Chris Brown (31-9) at 165 pounds. Rider, which placed second in the 2004 and 2005 CAA Championships, has two number one ranked wrestlers in senior All-American Don Fisch at 149, and senior Doug Umbehauer at 184. George Mason senior heavyweight Harry Zander (15-3) is the final top-ranked conference wrestler.
Six champions from the 2007 tournament return for the 2008 CAA Championship, although two have moved up a weight class. Hofstra seniors Dave Tomasette at 125, All-American Charles Griffin at 141 and Joe Rovelli at 184, and sophomore Lou Ruggirello at 133, Boston University sophomore Mike Roberts at 149, and Rider senior Doug Umbehauer at 174 return looking for titles again. Umbehauer moved up to 184 pounds and Rovelli moved up to 197 this year.
Brackets, results and other information and directions for the 2008 CAA Wrestling Championships can be found at http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/ath_wrest_08CAATourn.cfm. Links to this page can also be found on the Hofstra Athletics homepage (www.hofstra.edu/athletics ) and the Hofstra Wrestling homepage (http://www.hofstra.edu/Athletics/Wrestling/index_Wrestling.cfm ).
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, March 7
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - First Round
3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - Quarterfinals
7:00 p.m. - First Round Consolations
Saturday, March 8
10:00 a.m. - Noon - Second Round Consolations
Noon - 2:00 p.m. - Semifinals
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Third Round Consolations
5:00 p.m. - Introductions, Consolation Finals & Championship Finals
True Second Matches - Immediately following finals
2008 CAA Wrestling Championship Brackets
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