Tice and Cathell Earn NCAA At-Large Bids as Brackets Are Unveiled
KENT, Ohio - Kent State junior Ross Tice (165) and senior Matt Cathell (157) were awarded at-large bids to the 2011 NCAA Championships Wednesday night when the 33-men brackets were released. Tice and Cathell join Nic Bedelyon (125), Tyler Small (133), Dustin Kilgore (197) and Brendan Barlow (285) as KSU's record-tying six representatives at the national tournament. The Golden Flashes have now had five or more NCAA qualifiers in six straight seasons.
Kilgore (33-2) earned the No. 4 seed at 197 and will face Missouri's Brent Haynes in the opening round. Kilgore will be on the same half of the bracket as No. 1 Cam Simaz of Cornell, whom he defeated 10-9 in the finals of the Body Bar Invitational in November.
Bedelyon (23-3) was given the No. 6 seed at 125 and will face Garrett Frey of Princeton in the round of 32 next Thursday. A win could set up a rematch with 11th seed Frank Perrelli of Cornell, who he defeated 4-0 earlier this season. Bedelyon and Kilgore will be making their third NCAA appearance.
Small (17-14) will take on the No. 1 133-pounder in the nation, Oklahoma State's Jordan Oliver. Danny Mitcheff fell to Oliver in the fifth place match at last year's NCAA Championships.
Barlow (21-11) also received a tough first round draw against No. 6 seed Ryan Tomei of Pittsburgh. Tomei edged Barlow 6-5 during a dual meet in December. Barlow won three matches in his first NCAA appearance last season.
Tice (28-12) will face Donald Jones of West Virginia in the first round in his second NCAA appearance.
Cathell (14-7) will face No. 5 seed Jesse Dong of Virginia Tech in the opening round. It will be Cathell's third NCAA appearance and first while at Kent State.
The Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia will play host to the NCAA Championships March 17-19.
