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Davidson Wrestling at the NCAAs
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Patnesky Discusses Experience By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/24/2010 - 1:45 p.m. Eastern |
| The Day That Was By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/19/2010 - 3:06 p.m. Central |
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| Wrapping Up By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/19/2010 - 2:40 p.m. Central If I had to sum up the experience in one word, “bittersweet” might be the best descriptor. However, it implies that there was an equal helping of bitterness and sweetness, which I would disagree with. Let’s get the bitterness out of the way first. From the start, Alex has made it clear that he wants to be an All-American and that he expects to win. He was disappointed that he did not do better. Davidson students, staff, alumni and fans all wanted to see him accomplish his goals, but it turned out that it was not meant to be this week. But that’s sports, and for that matter, life. If winning was easy, it wouldn’t be so sweet. In a tournament with 330 participants and 10 winners, 320 were destined to go home thinking about what they could have done better. That’s just the way it is. Putting things in perspective though, Alex did a lot more winning than losing this year, so he has no reason to hang his head. He earned the opportunity to compete against the best in the nation, an honor that very few college athletes get to experience. His season record of 17-6 was among the best ever at Davidson, and as we’ve said a lot here, it had been awhile since the wrestling program had seen such success. He’s yet another example of a Davidson student-athlete proving that you can have it all – a challenging academic experience, a phenomenal community, and the opportunity to compete at the highest levels of collegiate athletics (is it just me or does it seem like we’ve been having a lot of these lately?) Alex eventually he will realize he is richer for the experience. He now knows what it is like to be competing with the eyes of 15,613 passionate wrestling fans upon him in such a high-charged atmosphere. He now knows what he needs to work on in order to earn a win here. He can now be a tremendous leader by example for his teammates. Essentially, he now has a season of sweetness to boost his confidence and a touch of bitterness that will remind him not to get complacent. Alex Radsky proved that he is a champion, and the Davidson community couldn’t be prouder for all that he has accomplished as a student-athlete. That, I would say is nothing but sweet. I’m looking forward to doing this all again next year in Philly. We’re still here in Omaha so check back for updates. |
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| Clair Prevails 4-1 By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 8:55 p.m. Central Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan defeated Alex via a 4-1 decision. Complete story to follow. |
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| Starting in a minute By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 8:43 p.m. Central GO ALEX! |
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| On Deck By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 8:40 p.m. Central Alex is on deck! The match before had two periods to go. |
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| Correction!!! By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 8:27 p.m. Central I'm thinking it will be more like 9:00 p.m. CT/10:00 p.m. ET. We're still in the 184 and 197 matches, so we need to get through those, heavyweight, and then 125 pound wrestlebacks before Alex. Stay tuned! |
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| Correction By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 7:20 p.m. Central My bad. Turns out they don't go in chronological order on the brackets. They are doing all of the Championship brackets before the wrestlebacks, so Alex probably won't go until 9:30 central / 10:30 eastern. |
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| Back in Action By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 6:55 p.m. Central SID Row - We're back! Alex should wrestle within the next half-hour. In the meantime, enjoy this interview with Bobby P: |
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| Back at the Hotel By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 2:55 p.m. Central Doubletree, Omaha, Neb. - We're back at the hotel resting up for Session II tonight. Some random thoughts . . . -The atmosphere is INCREDIBLE in the arena. With eight matches going on, there are just waves of fans cheering.The arena is packed Pretty cool when you have multiple sections yelling twoooooo! -The rivalries are pretty intense, as well. A big cheer went up when Oklahoma State got deducted a team point for unsportsmanlike conduct. -It's good to see some familiar faces. Plenty of SoCon people around and a couple of the officials who are regulars at Davidson matches. -For those reading my tweets or trying to follow the action online at NCAA.com, you may have noticed there was quite a delay before Alex went. There was a protest of a call during the prior match that held up the action. Stay tuned! I'll put together a video of today soon. Things get back underway at 6:30 p.m. central/7:30 eastern. Go 'Cats! |
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| Alex Drops Opener By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 12:00 p.m. Central Alex got pinned in 3:38 in his first match. He'll face Sean Clair of Eastern Michigan in the wrestlebacks which start tonight at 6:30 central/7:30 eastern. |
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Alex to go soon By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 11:46 a.m. Central SID Seating, Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb. - Alex about to start! |
| Alex Weighs In By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 10:50 a.m. Central SID Seating, Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb. - Alex successfully weighed in and the mats are filling up with wrestlers warming up. He and Joe Privitere are jogging now to start their pre-match warm-up. Less than an hour away from the start! Feel free to send me an email at mabrumbaugh@davidson.edu with any questions or comments. Go 'Cats! |
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| Championship Morning By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/18/2010 - 8:50 a.m. Central SID Seating, Qwest Center, Omaha, Neb. - Good morning Wildcats fans! Bobby, Joe, Janah, Alex, and yours truly piled into our minivan at 7:45 a.m. this morning to make the short trip to the Qwest Center for today's tournament. By the looks of the participant parking lot, you'd be hard pressed to rent a minivan in the Omaha area, as I think they have been all signed out for the week. Presently, I am sitting in my seat on SID row. There are two columns of four mats, so I am about five feet away from Mat 1. I certainly hope Alex is wrestling on Mats 1-4, because the others are at the opposite end of the arena and we'll be difficult to see. It looks like the seating assignments we're done alphabetically by school, so I am in between Cornell and Edinboro. The likes of Michigan and Michigan State are to my right behind me in what appears to be obstructed view seating with the Mat 1 scoring tower directly in front of them. The capacity is 15,000 here, so it'll be pretty cool when it fills up. All is calm now, except for my stomach. I'm dying for the media hospitality breakfast (opens at 9 a.m.) In the meantime, feel free to send me an email at mabrumbaugh@davidson.edu with any questions or comments. Go 'Cats! |
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A Video By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/17/2010 - 9:10 p.m. Central |
| From the Media Workroom By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/17/2010 - 3:45 p.m. Central OMAHA - Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. I am writing this from the media workroom the NCAA has done an excellent job setting up. Looks like we are curtained off on the convention center floor. I hoped to write more yesterday as we traveled from Charlotte to Dallas to Omaha, but my brain did not have enough energy to produce complete and coherent sentences by the time I could connect to the Internet and charge the computer back up. So here we go. Who are the characters you are reading about here? The travel party includes Alex Radsky (duh!), head coach Bob Patnesky, assistant coach Joe Privitere, trainer Janah Fletcher and yours truly. To introduce myself, I am Mark Brumbaugh and I am the wrestling contact in Davidson’s sports information department. As you probably have figured out, I am the one doing the reporting on wrestling for DavidsonWildcats.com after joining the staff this past fall. Luckily our travels were pretty uneventful. Assistant coach Joe Privitere and I both had our own row on the flight to Charlotte. Trainer Janah Fletcher had a window seat and a seat in between, while poor Alex got stuck in the middle of two people. Our flight to Omaha was only slightly delayed as the plane we were scheduled to be on had some mechanical issues. The airline pulled out another plane and after a "quick maintenance check" (please say "complete and thorough maintenance check" in the future) and we were on our way. I got an aisle seat while Bobby P (window) and Alex (middle, again) were right behind me. Their aisle seat was occupied by the self-proclaimed “biggest wrestling fan in Texas,” so they had a great conversation for the duration of the flight. I snagged a video interview with them that we’ll post to YouTube shortly. We then picked up our minivan and made our way to our hotel in downtown Omaha. Today we slept in and Alex got a quick workout in on the mats. Again It’s a pretty impressive facility. So we’ll keep you posted. |
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Welcome! By Mark Brumbaugh - 3/16/2010 - 3:17 p.m. Welcome Davidson fans! Not much to say here at the moment. I'll be departing for the airport shortly and will have more updates about Alex Radsky's trip to the NCAA Wrestling Championships. |
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This blog has moved! Check it out at blog.davidsonwildcats.com.