February 18, 2006

Maroons Place Sixth at Great Lakes Regional

CHICAGO -- Five University of Chicago wrestlers posted top-six performances as the Maroons placed sixth at the 14-team NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Saturday at the Ratner Athletics Center.

Augsburg College, which boasted six champions and three runners-up, won the event with 162 points. Elmhurst College garnered second place with 134.5 points, followed by St. John's (Minn.) University (89), North Central College (85), Augustana (Ill.) College (82.5), and Chicago (61).

Junior Mike Bishof (Oak Brook, Ill./ York) turned in the Maroons' top performance with a third-place showing at 165 pounds. The fifth seed, Bishof won five of seven bouts on the day, including a 9-4 decision over fourth-seeded Lee Rahrlien of Concordia (Minn.) College in the third-place bout.

Freshman Ben Hart (Wood Dale, Ill./ Fenton), who was seeded eighth at 125 pounds, grappled his way to a fourth-place finish as he won three of five bouts. Hart fell to the eventual champion, Elmhurst's Tom Gagan, in his opening match before defeating the fifth and sixth seeds in the consolation bracket.

At 174 pounds, junior Phil Kruzel (Elmhurst, Ill./ Fenwick) advanced to the championship semifinals before finishing in fifth place. Seeded fourth, Kruzel won three of five matches. He dropped a 6-0 decision to the 174-pound winner, Josh Rupprecht of Elmhurst, in the semifinal round.

Junior Andrew Bribriesco (Bettendorf, Iowa/ Bettendorf) and freshman Tom Nero (Carlisle, Ind./ Sullivan) each split six bouts en route to sixth-place finishes at 141 and 285 pounds, respectively.