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March 2004

Zack Esposito Reaches the Division I NCAA Finals - Match to be Broadcast on ESPN2

Backes and Cooperman Also Earn Divsion I All-American Honors

Saturday, March 20, 2004 – Zack Esposito (’02) has reached the finals of the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, MO with a 5-2 victory over his semi-final opponent, Dutin Manotti from Cornell University. Zack is currently a sophomore and wrestles for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Zack’s win sets the stage for a much anticipated matchup with Harvard’s number one-ranked Jesse Jantzen in the finals tonight.

Two other former Blair wrestlers, Cory Cooperman (’01) and Kurt Backes (’02) have also earned All-American Honors. Cooperman, a sophomore wrestling at 141 pounds for Lehigh University, reeled off four consecutive wins after being stunnedby a first-round loss. Cory will be wrestling for 7th place against Indiana University’s Coyte Cooper today. Backes, Iowa State’s freshman 184-pounder, also had to battle back from a first-round loss to earn his spot among the country’s elite. Kurt will be wrestling Lehigh University’s Travis Frick for 7th place. Incidentally, Travis Frick, a graduate of Nazareth High School, is the nephew of Blair assistant coach Jim Frick.

The semi-finals of the NCAA tournament will be broadcast on a tape delay on Saturday, March 20th at 1:00pm on the cable MSG network. The finals will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 6:30 pm Saturday evening.

For complete brackets and results, click here.

Tom Prairie Earns All-American Status for Second Consecutive Year

Tom Prairie (’01) a junior wrestling for Williams College placed fourth at 125 pounds at the Division III Nationals in Dubuque Iowa. Ranked nationally all season, Tom put together a strong tournament and became the second two-time All-American in the history of the Williams program. Tom placed third at 125 pounds last year.

Read the article about Tom’s accomplishment on the Williams Sports Information page by clicking here.