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Eight Blair Alumni Vie for Titles/All-American Status at the 2005 NCAA Championships on March 17-19 Defending Heavyweight Champion Steve Mocco Leads The Way; Zack Esposito, Kurt Backes, Cory Cooperman, Robbie Preston and Mark Perry in the Mix In St. Louis NCAA Action! Blair will be well-represented. There will be plenty of Blair athletes in action. Here we go… Two (Steve Mocco Blair class of 2001 and Mark Perry Blair class of 2003) were named Jr. Hodge Trophy winners (the Jr. Hodge Trophy is equivalent to the Heisman Trophy). Further, seven of these Blair athletes were named first-team High School All-Americans. They are: Cory Cooperman, Steve Mocco, Zack Esposito, Matt Palmer, Mark Perry, Kurt Backes and Robbie Preston. And, two Blair athletes, who now reside in Stillwater, Okla. and now compete for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, were named “Asics High School Wrestler of the Year”— those two, Steve Mocco and Zack Esposito will head into the 2005 NCAA Championships with #1 seeds. Hence: Blair Academy has laid down a nice foundation for these student-athletes to excel in college, on the international circuit and beyond. The action all started at Blair Academy. “As you can imagine we thought these kids were special when they attended Blair. The workouts were incredible and watching them develop was a very rewarding experience as a coach,” said Jeff Buxton, Blair head coach. “We provided them with opportunities and they all took off with them; it is no surprise to our coaching staff that all these kids have excelled in college.” Out of the Big Eight comes Steve Mocco (heavyweight), Zack Esposito (149 lbs.) and Kurt Backes (184 lbs.), who all won individual crowns. In the east Cory Cooperman (Lehigh) smashed his way thru the 141 lb. bracket beating fellow Blair teammate Nate Gulosh, who now competes for the U.S. Naval Academy, in the finals, 14-1. “Coops” is in the mix at 141 lbs; he’ll have to beat either Teyon Ware of Oklahoma or Nate Gallick of Iowa State in the semi-finals to advance to the finals. Mocco’s nemesis in 2004-2005 has been Cole Conrad of Minnesota, the #2 seed. (Steve has two overtime wins against Mr. Conrad.) This should be an interesting match at heavyweight – if they both advance. Esposito’s competition will come from the east in the form of Phillip Simpson of West Point and Dustin Manotti of Cornell. “Espo” has been firing on all cylinders and is ready. Kurt Backes, who now wrestlers for the Iowa State Cyclones, should have the #2 seed, and he's a clear favorite for the finals where – if he makes it — he will go head-to-head against two-time NCAA Champion Greg Jones of West Virginia University. Matt Palmer has to prove himself after laying off a year at the Ivy institution – Columbia. Look for Palmer to slip in as an All-American. He has the ability. Can he put it all together in St. Louis? Meet Mark Perry (the 165-pounder for the Iowa Hawks) who got nicked by Ryan Churella of Michigan in the Big Ten finals last week. Mark will look for redemption in St. Louis. Look for a top-5 seed for Perry, and look for Perry to make the finals. Robbie Preston of Harvard has been sneaking up on his competition all year. He (Preston) has been impressive of late, especially at the 101st EIWA Championships, where he won the 125 lb individual title – he can place high in national meets. He has beaten most of the top competitors and is ready. To follow these Blair athletes log onto www.themat.com or www.wrestlingmall.com and tune into ESPN on March 19, 2005 for ESPN’s coverage of the finals at 4:00 p.m. CST. Also check local listings on Fox Sports for semi-finals action. Check local listings for ESPN as times may vary. Please direct all questions and comments to buxtoj@blair.edu. |
