March 12, 2010

HAMPTON, Va. - Brendan Murphy and David Devine will compete in the semifinals, aiming for individual national championships, when action continues Saturday at the NCWA National Championships.

SIUE is in third place as a team with 73.5 points. Central Florida leads with 100, and The Apprentice School is second with 84.5. There have been 69 teams that have scored points at the meet.

Murphy, a 133-pounder, advanced to the semifinals with a 7-2 victory over Kekura Musa, of Maryland-Baltimore. He next faces Marcus Chevres, of the Apprentice School, in the semifinals.

Devine moved into the 285-pound semifinals with win over Marion Military's Tyler Renfroe. His first match Saturday is against Central Florida's Daniel Rowe.

Dillon Pousson won three matches at 141 pounds Friday and advanced to the quarterfinals of the consolation bracket. He next faces Penn's Wade McCorkel.

Steve Ross advanced to the 157-pound consolation quarterfinals with an 11-1 rout of Grand Valley State's Tyler Caron. Ross lost in the quarterfinals 4-2 ro Northampton's Andrew Ritchie.

Eric Pretto also moved into the same position in the consolation quarterfinals. He next faces MIT's Ryan Madison at 165 pounds. Dustin Tancredi, of West Chester, ousted Pretto from the winner's bracket with a 3-1 victory Friday.

A.J. Smith used three consecutive pins to move his way through the consolation bracket at 197 pounds. He next meets Florida A&M's Roland Pitts.

Kyle Lowman was eliminated from the tournament at 149 pounds after an 8-6 quarterfinals loss to Robert Merchant, of SUNY-Cobleskill, and then a consolation loss to Central Florida's T.J. Gillin. Chase Grafton also ended his run at the tournament in the 235-pound weight class, losing to Grand Valley State's Carl Worthy.

-siue cougars-