Oplinger Takes First, Four Dragons Place at Cornell Body Bar Invitational

Saturday, November 22

Ithaca, NY

9:00 a.m.

Drexel University

Cornell Body Bar Invitational

Oplinger Takes First, Four Dragons Place at Cornell Body Bar Invitational

11/22/2008 9:02:00 PM | Wrestling

Complete Brackets

Ithaca, N.Y. - Jon Oplinger took the 197-pound weight class at the 2008 Cornell Body Bar Invitational while three other Drexel wrestlers placed in the one-day tournament. Oplinger made his Drexel season debut in the tournament and went through the field unscathed as he defeated Richard Starks of Army, 5-2 in the final. Steve Mytych captured second place at 125 pounds while Brian Stouffer took fifth place and heavyweight Kyle Frey placed sixth for the second straight tournament.

Oplinger entered the event as the top-seed at 197 pounds and did not disappoint. He opened the tournament with a pinning of Army's Orion Ross at 2:27 then outpointed Taylor Moore of Cornell, 12-5. In the semifinals, Oplinger edged Eric Chine of Kent State, 3-2, to set up a meeting with second-seeded Richard Starks of Army in the championship final. Oplinger took the title with a 5-2 decision over Starks.

Mytych opened the tournament as the top seed at 125 pounds but was tripped up in the final by Boise State's Brian Owen, 6-5. Like Oplinger, Mytych pinned his first opponent who also hailed from Army. He then narrowly defeated Lou Ruland of Maryland, 3-2. Mytych earned a 5-4 victory in the semifinal over fifth-seeded Ian Moser of Bloomsburg before falling to Owen in the final.

Stouffer opened his run in the 174-pound competition with a 2-1 win over Jake Vetter of Army. He dropped a 10-0 decision to Cornell's Steve Bosak but rallied in the consolation bracket. Stouffer beat Tyler Roshau, 6-4, then edged Colin McDonald of Cornell, 4-3. He then took the fifth-place match by medical forfeit as the senior compiled a 4-1 record at the event.

Frey followed up his sixth-place finish at the season-opening Bearcat Open with another. Despite losing to top-seed and eventual champion Jermail Porter of Kent State, 9-4, Frey took his next match 6-0 over Cornell's Clinton Snyder. He then topped teammate Bryant Deinhardt, 4-3. an overtime win over Buffalo's Brent Correll, 11-9. In the fifth-place match, Frey lost a close 10-8 decision to Army's Mike Sprigg, the four-seed of the heavyweight division.