Brester and Dwyer in quarterfinals at NCAA nationals

NCAA Wrestling Championships wrapped up day one at Qwest Center Omaha for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Heavyweight Tucker Lane won his Thursday morning match 2-1 and lost last night’s second round match Konrad Dudziak of Duke 4-3.
Craig Brester moved into the quarterfinals with two wins yesterday including his 11th pin at 197. Stephen Dwyer at 174 won two matches of 6-0 and 5-0 to advance to this morning’s quarterfinals. At 184 Josh Ihnen lost his first match, but in the wrestlebacks came up with a 3-1 decision to move on. Mike Koehnlein lost both of his matches at 141.
Brester will be wrestling in the quarterfinals for the fourth time of his career, including a runner-up finish in 2009. Dwyer’s qualification is the second as a Husker after he also began the 2008 national tournament with a 2-0 mark, before slipping to eighth place. Each senior is now one victory away from 2010 All-America status.
In Dwyer’s second round win Friday night, he beat Dorian Henderson of Missouri in a match that included two technical violations on the Tiger wrestler. Dwyer will face off against Jarion Beets of Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals. Beets’ day was highlight by a first round upset of fifth-seeded Scott Glasser (Minnesota), 14-7.
After pinning Rider’s Tyler Smith in his first match Thursday, Brester was dominant in his second round match against Logan Brown of Purdue en route to a 7-0 victory. Brester will match up with seventh-seeded Anthony Biondo of Michigan. Like Brester, Biondo pinned his first round opponent on Friday.
NCAA Wrestling Championship.