Juniors Eren Civan and Kevin Lester spent their spring break at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Philadelphia, P.A. Held at the Wells Fargo Arena, home of the 76ers, the event had been sold out for months.
On day one of the competition, Civan upset No. 12 ranked Cody Yohn of Minnesota, pinning him in 2:28 minutes. In the championship bracket, Civan then faced No. 5 seeded Colt Sponseller of Ohio State and fell to him 7-3. Lester also started off the day with a win against Virginia’s John Danilkowicz, defeating the Cavalier that he had previously lost to this season 5-4 at the Northeast Duals. Lester then faced off against No. 3 Ryan Flores of American, whom Lester lost to in a hard-fought clash. Flores, who finished second at NCAAs, wrestled for Columbia for two seasons before joining American.
On day two, Lester and Civan both dropped down into the consolation bracket. Civan started the day off with a 2-1 overtime win against John-Martin Cannon from the University of Buffalo. Civan then faced off against Penn’s Stephan Burak, whom he had previously defeated twice this season, at the Penn dual and the EIWAs. However, Civan’s tournament ended as he fell to the Quaker 6-3. Lester kicked off day two with a pin against Clayton Jack from Oregon State in a mere 41 seconds. Lester’s next match, however, was his last, as he fell to Kent’s Brendan Barlow 5-1.
Columbia finished 39th, with nine team points after two days of competition. Penn State went on to win the tournament with 107.5 points.
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