(Philadelphia,Pa.): Clarion junior Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Tashkent, Uz.) lost his All-America match Friday night to Maryland's #4 seed Josh Asper after winning two bouts Friday afternoon and was eliminated from further competition at the 81^st NCAA Division I Wrestling Nationals hosted at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa.

 

            Teammate James Fleming (So. West Mifflin) lost his match on Friday afternoon and was also eliminated from the competition at 157-pounds.

 

            The team scoring after Friday night's semifinals show Penn State in the lead with 87 points, Cornell is second with 71.5 but could still catch PSU in the wrestle backs. Iowa is third with 66 points and Oklahoma State fourth with 65.The last Eastern team to win a D-I wrestling title was Penn state in 1953. No Ivy League school has ever won a D-I wrestling national championship. Clarion is 48^th with 5 points.

 

            The Golden Eagles Abdurakhmonov wrestled well on Friday and was 2-1 on the day. In the All-America wrestle back placing round Friday night, Bekzod lost 5-0 to #4 seed Josh Asper of Maryland. There was no scoring in the first period with the best flurry actually going to Abdurakhmonov who nearly had a takedown in front of the Clarion bench, but Asper worked out of bounds. Asper chose down in the second, escaped, then scored a big takedown with 1:07 left in the second. He rode the Eagle grappler the remainder of the seconds, and after Bekzod chose down for the third period, rode the Clarion junior the entire third period for the win.

 

            “Bekzod gave a great effort all day today,” said fifth year head coach Teague Moore. “He just came up a little short tonight. I'm proud to have him in blue and gold.”

 

            Earlier in the day Abdurakhmonov won two impressive bouts to get to the A-A round. He first defeated West Virginia's Donnie Jones 7-1 and then toppled Appalachian State's Kyle Blevins by a major decision 9-1.

 

Against Jones Bekzod took a 1-0 lead in the first period on a penalty point. In the second Abdurakhmonov escaped, then scored a double leg takedown for a 4-0 lead. After a Jones escape, Bekzod took Jones down again with a double leg for a 6-1 lead. Jones chose down in the third and Bekzod rode him the entire period for a final score of 7-1.

 

Versus Blevins he took control early with a takedown 14 seconds into the first period on a quick double leg. He used a cradle later in the period to score a three-point near fall and lead 5-0 after one period. In the second Blevins chose neutral and Abdurkhmonov responded with a takedown on the edge of the mat to go ahead 7-0. Blevins escaped to end the period at 7-1.

 

Bekzod chose down in the third and worked for an escape to lead 8-1 and then was awarded a riding point for 3:18 of riding to post his major decision of 9-1.

 

            “Bekzod had two nice wins in the afternoon,” said Moore. “Against Jones he avenged an earlier loss this season with two nice takedowns and really controlled the match with some great riding. Against Blevins he really took control early – and his near fall cradle really turned the match in his favor.”

 

            The season ended in the first round this afternoon for talented sophomore James Fleming. The #9 seed lost an 8-3 decision to Oklahoma State's Robert Erisman and was eliminated from the tournament.

 

            Erisman opened quickly with a takedown in the first period – and rode Fleming for about a minute. Fleming answered with a reversal and rode Erisman out collecting 17 seconds of riding time. Fleming chose down to start the second and was tilted for three near fall points for a 5-2 Erisman lead. Erisman chose top in the third, Fleming escaped quickly, but Erisman scored a takedown, and with riding time won 8-3.

 

            Fleming had a very strong season finishing the year with an overall record of 31-4. He was the PSAC and EWL Champion and EWL “OW”. Combined with a record of 28-8 last year, the two-time NCAA Qualifier has a career record of 59-12 with the Golden Eagles.

 

            CLARION NOTES: Abdurakhmonov finished 3-2 at nationals and closed the season with a 38-11 record … Fleming ended 1-2 at nationals – defeating Sean McMurray (Mich. State) 5-0, then losing to Jason Welch (Northwestern) 5-0 and Erisman 8-3… Both Welch lost in the semi's but is guaranteed to be an All-American… Clarion has not had an All-American since 2005 when Chris Horning finished 8^th at 157-pounds… Clarion has 43 Division I All-Americans in its great history since starting to D-I's in 1967 … The first under Coach Bob Bubb was in 1969 when Doug Niebel was 6^th at 160-pounds… Clarion had a match record of 4-4 at nationals and now has an all-time record of 318-284 … Clarion scored 5 points at nationals and is currently in 48^th place… The 81^st NCAA Nationals will be the final one for former Clarion Wrestling coach Bob Bubb… Bubb, Clarion's legendary coach from 1967-92, retired in 1992 and shortly after became the Executive Director of the NWCA for several years – and since 1990 has been the Secretary Rules Editor for all levels of NCAA Wrestling … He will retire from that position after the finals on Saturday night … Congratulations Bob on a job well done.