(Philadelphia, Pa.) Clarion 157-pounder James Fleming (So. West Mifflin) defeated Sean McMurray (MSU) but lost his second round bout to Jason Welch (Northwestern) on the first day of the  81^st NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia. Teammate Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr. Tashkent, Uz.) lost his first round match at 165, but rallied to win his wrestle back match on Thursday night. Both will wrestle on Friday morning.

 

            After the second round Penn State has the team lead with 30.5 points, Cornell is a close second with 27.5 points and Iowa is third with 24.

 

            Held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa., Fleming defeated Sean McMurray of Michigan State 5-0 in his first match. Fleming posted a takedown at the end of the first period for a 2-0 lead. In the second he deferred his choice and McMurray took neutral. Fleming posted a takedown with about 20-seconds left in the period to go ahead 4-0. In the third Fleming chose down, escaped, and the two finished the match on their feet.

 

            On Thursday night Fleming lost a 5-0 decision to #8 seed Jason Welch (Northwestern). Fleming had a near takedown in the first, but Welch fought off a potential cradle. Welch scored a first period takedown for a 2-0 lead. The duo went scoreless in the second period after Welch chose neutral. Fleming was in on a single but Welch rolled out of danger. Fleming took top in the third and rode Welch for about 40 seconds. At one point he had what appeared to be an inside cradle, but the bout was stopped for a potentially dangerous hold. On the restart Welch got a good start, got to his feet and reversed Fleming to take a 4-0 lead. Welch had 2:18 riding time for a 5-0 final score.

 

            On Friday morning Fleming will wrestle Oklahoma State's Robert Erisman.

 

            Abdurakhmonov lost his opening bout 2-1 to Cornell's #9 seed Justin Kerber. After a scoreless first period, Abdurakhmonov started in the down spot and escaped about 50 seconds into the period. Bekzod had two good single leg shots during the second but could not score. In the third Kerber chose down – and Abdurakhmonov rode Kerber until 12 seconds left when Kerber escaped and was also awarded a penalty point for Bekzod “fleeing the mat”, giving Kerber a 2-1 lead while Abdurakhmonov had 58-seconds of riding time, two seconds short of a riding point. Off the restart, Bekzod shot a double leg and was close to a takedown – but time ran out before he could finish the move.

 

            In the wrestle backs, Bekzod defeated Dan Yates of Michigan 6-4 to stay alive. Abdurakhmonov scored a double leg takedown with 1:35 left in the first period for a 2-0 lead. Yates escaped 33-seconds later and Bekzod led 2-1 after one period. Yates started down, escaped to tie the match, then Abdurakhmonov hit another double leg takedown for a 4-2 lead with 1:25 left in the second. Yates escaped, and then late in the period, Bekzod scored a counter takedown for a 6-3 lead. Bekzod chose down in the third and Yates rode him the entire period while getting a point for two stalling calls against the Clarion junior to make the final score 6-4.

 

            Abdurakhmonov will wrestle Donnie Jones of West Virginia in the Friday morning consolations. He lost to Jones 6-4 in the dual this season.

 

            “I'm proud of our guys – we wrestled very hard today,” said fifth year head coach Teague Moore. “We're looking forward to tomorrow – we're hoping it's a big day.”

 

            The Friday session will begin at 10:30am.