Ohio Grapplers Compete in First Day of NCAA's

Contact: Brian Stanley (740) 593-0054 or sportsmedia@ohio.edu

ATHENS, Ohio (March 16, 2001) -- All three Ohio grapplers finished the day 1-1 at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the University of Iowa. Luke Moore (Springfield) won his first round 174 lbs. match, defeating Steven Schenk of Wyoming 6-2. Dan Bednar (Brecksville) and Ryan Smith (Dayton) did not fair as well. Bednar (197) fell to #11 Mike Fickell of Pennsylvania 6-4, while Smith (157) fell to #11 Leo Urbanelli of Cornell 7-5.

Moore's victory gave him the tough task of facing the #1 ranked wrestler in his weight class, Josh Koscheck of Edinboro. Koscheck would get the better of Moore, defeating him 5-0. Moore will face Corey Bell of North Carolina in the second round of wrestlebacks today. Moore defeated Bell earlier this season, 5-4 in a tiebreaker.

Bednar and Smith won both of their first round of wrestlebacks and will continue with second round matches today. Bednar defeated Greg Enyon 7-3 and will face MAC rival Brent Faustman of Central Michigan. The two split this year. Bednar won 4-3 to win conference championship, while earlier in the season, Faustman won 8-6 in a dual. Smith also bounced back, defeating The Citadel's Robby Bell 8-2 and will face Lehigh's Ryan Bernholz.

Today's matches began at 11:00 a.m. eastern.