BOISE STATE WILL SEND NINE WRESTLERS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT

BOISE, Idaho The Boise State wrestling team received word on Wednesday (March 10) that nine Bronco wrestlers have qualified to compete at the 2009 NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Mo., March 19-21. The Broncos earned seven NCAA automatic bids by winning six Pac-10 Conference titles and capturing one runner-up finish at the conference tournament, March 1-2. On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that Boise State will also receive two at large berths, as nominated by an NCAA selection committee.

            The six Boise State wrestlers who captured individual Pac-10 titles are: Andrew Hochstrasser (31-2, 16-1 dual) at 133-pounds, Jason Chamberlain (21-7, 10-6) at 149, Tyler Sherfey (26-8, 15-4) at 165, Nate Lee (18-3, 13-1) at 174, Kirk Smith (36-1, 19-1) at 184, and Brent Chriswell (13-1, 10-1) at 197. Boise State’s lone runner-up finish came from Adam Hall (32-4, 18-1) at 157-pounds.

            Senior Cory Fish (19-9, 8-6) and freshman Brian Owen (12-7, 6-5) have both received at-large bids to the NCAA tournament after placing fourth at the Pac-10 championships. Fish, who has wrestled at 141-pounds this season, qualified for the 2008 NCAA tournament after winning the 133-pound Pac-10 crown. Owen will represent Boise State at 125-pounds.

            Chamberlain and Owen will be the only Broncos competing in their first NCAA tournaments. The other seven wrestlers have all competed in at least one national tournament prior to this season. Sherfey (2007, 2008) and Lee (2007, 2008) will be competing in their third NCAA tournaments, while Hochstrasser (2005), Fish (2008), Hall (2008), Smith (2008) and Chriswell (2008) will all be competing in their second.

            The Broncos travel to the national tournament with high expectations, as seven wrestlers are currently ranked in the nation’s top-20 by USA Today/InterMat/NWCA (March 10). Boise State has four wrestlers ranked in the top-10 for their respective weight class. Smith and Hochstrasser enter the NCAA tournament tied for the highest current ranking of any Bronco at No. 4. Smith will look to improve upon an extremely successful freshman tournament where earned All-American status with an eighth-place finish.

            Chriswell enters the NCAA tournament ranked No. 6, while Hall was voted No. 7. Rounding out the group of Broncos ranked in the top-20 is Lee (No. 13), Chamberlain (No. 16) and Sherfey (No. 18).

Coverage of the NCAA Tournament

 

            ESPN announced Tuesday (March 10) that it will be providing extensive live coverage of the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. ESPNU, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN360.com will combine for expanded coverage of the tournament. For the first time, all 11 hours of coverage on ESPNU, ESPN and ESPN2 will be presented in high definition.

            The tournament quarterfinals will air Friday (March 20) at 11 a.m. ET on ESPNU and ESPN360.com. ESPN2 will telecast the semifinals along with ESPNU. For the third consecutive year, the semifinals will be telecast side-by-side, allowing viewers to see both semifinal matches in each weight class simultaneously. ESPNU will telecast the Championship Medal Round on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. The Championship round is scheduled to conclude with the Finals at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.

            ESPN360.com will compliment the ESPNU HD, ESPN2 HD and ESPN HD telecasts, providing live coverage of all four quarterfinals matches and both matches during the semifinals. ESPN360.com is available at no cost to millions of U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel. Users accessing ESPN360.com from an on-campus “.edu” or “.mil” network domain in the United States receive free, seamless access to the NCAA wrestling tournament.

BOISE STATE WILL SEND NINE WRESTLERS TO NCAA TOURNAMENT

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