March 16, 2000
EVANSTON, ILL. - Senior Scott Schatzman (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central), ranked third in the nation at 141 pounds, won a pair of matches to reach the quarterfinals at the NCAA Championships held at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Mo. Northwestern is in a tie for 27th place after day one with 7.5 points. Oklahoma State leads with 38 points.
Schatzman dominated Matt Goldstein of Lehigh, 16-2, in the first round and then defeated Brigham Young's Aaron Holker, 8-2, in the second round. The 141-pound weight class, regarded as the toughest in the nation this season, has lived up to that title thus far as all eight seeds advanced to the quarterfinals. Schatzman will meet sixth-seeded Damian Logan of Michigan in the quarters.
Three other Wildcats remain alive in the consolation bracket. Senior Mark Bybee (Chicago, Ill./St. Laurence), seeded seventh at 174, knocked off Kevin Boross of North Carolina State, 9-0, in the first round before being upset by Mark Dufresne, 11-3, in round two. Senior Tom Ciezki (Evergreen Park, Ill./St. Laurence) dropped a tough 1-0 decision to 10th-seeded Lionel Halsey of Cal.-Bakersfield and earned a bye into the second round of wrestlebacks. Sophomore Matt Huebner (Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) bounced back from an opening round loss to 6th-seeded Rusty Crook of Boise State to defeat Northern Iowa's Tony Wieland, 4-2, in the consolation bracket.
Quarterfinal and consolation action resumes tomorrow at 11 a.m.