By Rick Schneider & Tony Koziol

March 9, 2010

The Elmhurst College wrestling team sent seniors Jake Oster and Charlie Curran and junior Mark Corsello to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III
Championship on March 5-6.  Oster and Curran finished off the weekend by being named All-Americans. 

Oster was seeded fourth coming into the Championships. 

Before the meet Oster commented on how he thought he was the one to beat, despite missing a month due to injury earlier in the season.  He had lost only one match since returning from his injury.

“I like my chances,” Oster said. “I think I’m the guy to beat at my weight class.”

Oster who was the 2009 national champion at 125 pounds had an opportunity to become back-to-back national champion.   

However, he was unable to repeat as national champion after he fell to the number-one seed Coe College’s Clayton Rush in the semifinals.  Rush went on to win the 125-pound weight class.

“It was a really close match,” said Oster.  “You are always disappointed when you don’t win the whole thing.”

On March 5 Oster pinned Mr. Union’s Riki Reynolds in 4:27. 

In the second round Oster took just 38 seconds to pin his opponent to move into the semifinals. 

After the loss to Rush, Oster was placed in the consolation semifinals.  There he faced Buena Vista’s Austin Mogg. Oster defeated Mogg 9-6. 

The win then advanced Oster to the third place match.  A 7-0  win over Augsburg’s Joshua Robert secured the third-place finish. 

Although Oster was disappointed to not repeat as national champion, he was still pleased with the way he ended his career. 

“I feel pretty good ending my career with a third-place finish,” said Oster. 

On top that the Oster was also named an All-American for the fourth time. 

“It was something I wanted to accomplish coming here as a freshman,” said Oster. 

Unlike Corsello and Oster, Curran failed to finish in the top two in his weight class after finishing third at 149 pounds. By not finishing first or second, Curran failed to automatically qualify for Nationals. However, Curran was selected for Nationals as one of eight at-large Nationals qualifiers.

Curran had a 30-5 record and won his first conference title this season. He advanced to  Nationals for the first time in his college career. 

Because Curran came into the tournament unseeded, he gained a  first-round bye. 

Curran would then face the number three seed, Luther’s Jason Pyle. 

Curran was in control for almost the entire match until the final 15 seconds, when Pyle scored a final  take-down to take a 9-8 victory. 

“It was a pretty tough loss to take.  I had him beat,” said Curran. “It felt like I was losing a grip on the tournament.”

In the consolation round Curran scored two wins to advance to the quarterfinal match.

“It wasn’t until [the next match] that I really forgot about [the loss],” Curran said.  “I was able to get into the flow [again in]  that next match.”

However, a 9-4 loss dropped him into the seventh-place match, where he lost to Concordia College’s Justin Berens. 

Although Curran would have liked to finish higher, the eighth-place finish earned him All-American honors. 

“I have been working so hard to get to it that it is kind of unbelievable to achieve it,” Curran said.  “[I did] not even qualify last year. And then not only qualifying but making it to the second day this year and then All-American.  I am just trying to enjoy the moment.”

Junior Mark Corsello made his third consecutive appearance at Nationals.

Corsello said he had been getting mentally prepared for Nationals  after he lost in the championship match at last year’s Nationals.

Before the tournament, Corsello commented on how he has improved this year.
“There are a lot of tough guys but I know I can beat them,” Corsello said. “I have made a lot of improvements this season.”

Corsello came into the tournament as the top seed at 285 pounds with an perfect record of 30-0. 

In the opening round Corsello faced UW-Whitewater’s Jon Schmidt.  After a 1-1 draw at the end of regulation the match went into extra time. 
In the first overtime Schmidt recorded a take down to win 3-1. 

Corsello was then placed in the consolation bracket where he lost to the seventh-seed and was eliminated from the competition. 

Before Nationals the ‘Jays had wrestled at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Feb. 20.  There they finished third out of 15 teams at the Regional. 

The Bluejays finished the Regional with 133.5 points finishing behind Concordia-Moorhead College (142.0) and Augsburg College (224.0).

Freshman Joe Rau at 197 pounds and senior Dan Hamilton at 157 pounds had third-place finishes for the Bluejays and nearly qualified for Nationals.

Both Rau and Hamilton failed to pick up the win in their final match in their weight classes that would have automatically qualified them for Nationals.

Head coach Steve Marianetti liked the way his team competed at the Regional.

“As a team, we peaked and really wrestled well,” Marianetti said. “They wrestled up to their abilities. That was nice to see.”