Welcome back to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis for the 2008 Division I wrestling championships. We started this session by being asked to “rise as one nation” and “join together in singing our national anthem.” Well it wasn’t purely a capella, as they did have an organ accompainment.

Back to wrestling. To recap the first session, Penn went 2-6, with No. 9 125-pounder Rollie Peterkin and 165-pounder Zack Shanaman the only winners. As such Penn will send six wreslters to the “wrestlebacks” the consolation portion of the tournament. However, first tonight will be the championship brackets, with Peterkin to face No. 8 Brandon Precin of Northwestern and Shanaman to face No. 10 Michael Cannon of American.

In the wrestleback portions, which will directly follow the completion of the second round of the championship half of the bracket, the six Quaker wrestlers will face single elimination. Junior Rick Rappo (141) will face Germane Lindsey of Ohio, junior Cesar Grajales (149) will face Lucas Espericueta of Stanford, Redshirt Freshman Scott Giffin (174) will face No. 8 seed Gabriel Dretsch

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The first match in session two for Penn was a nail bitter, as No. 9 Peterkin and No. 8 Precin were neck and neck for the majority of the bout. With :55 to go in the first, Precin got a takedown, but Peterkin immediately earned a reversal to keep it tied at 2. Then with just over a minute left in the second, Peterkin earned an escape to take a lead. However, with :30 seconds left Precin got a takedown. So heading into the third it was 4-3 Precin. Peterkin wouldn’t score again. Precin earned both a near fall 2 and a reversal to clinch the win, advancing 8-3. Peterkin must now win at least three in a row if he wishes to place eighth or better.

Meanwhile the bout of the first day is going on at 133 pounds. Top seed Franklin Gomez of Michigan State faces Big 10 rival and unseeded Reece Humphrey of Ohio State. The bout was 4-3 humphrey before Gomez pulled out a miracle escape, starting with the bottom position with 8 seconds left. The 4-4 match went to two one minute, and two thirty second overtimes. Before in the third thirty-second OT both grapplers earned an escape point. However, Gomez had four extra seconds of riding time, giving him the win. But it was not without controversy. With only a second left, it appeared Humphrey had earned a takedown of Gomez, but the ref had called them out of bounds right before the apparent winning move.

Penn’s second matchup at the championship level was delayed, as a two sudden victory and four thirty second overtime periods match between No. 11 Tyler Sherfey of Boise State and No. 6 Matt Kochler of Pittsburgh occured on the same mat. In the end Kochler got an escape, but with :08 seconds left Sherfey tied it up. However, Kochler had superior riding time.

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Back to Penn wrestling. Zack Shanaman was up next, facing 10th seeded Cannon. The first was back and fort tie, as an early takedown by Cannon and a late reverse for Shanaman knotted the score up at 2 apiece. However, Cannon got a last second escape so it was 3-2 Cannon at end of first. In the second a stall warning gave Shanaman a point to tie around 1:00 left. 3-3 going into third. But in the third Cannon got both an escape and a takedown to take a 6-3 lead. Although Shanaman got an escape point with :15 to go, it wasn’t enough. With Shanaman and Peterkin losing, all Penn wrestlers are now down to single elimination. So Penn’s streak of two years with a national champion has come to a close.

For more information, including coach and player reactions, see tomorrow’s DP.

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