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By Wayne Catan
March 2005

Five Blair Alumns Earn All-American Status

Former Blair Alumns Zack Esposito and Steve Mocco Earn NCAA Titiles; Mark Perry, Matt Palmer and Cory Cooperman Earn All-American Honors

When Zack Esposito decided to go to Oklahoma State University, he had one thought in his head: to become an NCAA Champion. On Saturday, March 19, 2005 at approximately 5:00 p.m. CST that dream came true for the former Blair Academy phenom when he defeated a tough Philip Simpson of West Point, 5-2, to win the 149 lb. weight class at the 2005 NCAA Championships. Joining his former Blair teammate and current Oklahoma State University teammate on the top rung of the ladder was Steve Mocco, who defeated Cole Konrad of Minnesota in Sudden Victory to earn the heavyweight crown at the 2005 NCAA Championships. That win over Conrad notched Mocco’s second NCAA title. Esposito will defend his 149 lb. crown in 2006 in Oklahoma City.  

Esposito had a fine tournament. He defeated Michigan’s Eric Tannenbaum 7-2 in the semifinals and prior to that he defeated a tough Jon Masa, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Zack had two other wins on the weekend: a 13-2 decision over Matt Anderson of Lehigh and an 11-0 decision over Doug Withstandley of Purdue. It was the 5-2 win over Simpson that was fresh in Zack’s mind when we got a chance to speak with him

“I have been dreaming of this since I was five years old. Look at me (Esposito had a black-and-blue forehead). My face is smashed up, my ankle hurts, my neck hurts, but it’s all worth it,” Zack Esposito said.

Mocco’s road to the finals was just as linear. He had decisions over an American University opponent and a pin over Peter Ziminski of Eastern Illinois before he had to go against Matt Fields of Iowa in the quarterfinals. (Remember, Steve transferred to Oklahoma State from Iowa, so there was some added pressure for Steve.) Mocco beat Fields 4-0 to advance to the semifinals where he beat a tough Pat DeGain of Indiana 4-0. That set up a Mocco vs. Konrad battle. If you watched it live on ESPN you saw Mocco use his foot-sweep in Sudden Victory for his second NCAA title. Look for a Conrad vs. Mocco match-up in next year’s NCAA title match.

“I didn’t wrestle great, but I won,” Steve said. “I can do better than this.”

Mark Perry made the finals with a 3-0 win over defending NCAA Champion Troy Letters of Lehigh in his semi-finals. Perry, just a freshman, had a fine tournament for the Iowa Hawkeyes. He defeated a tough Tyrone Woodley in the quarterfinals, 3-0. Perry fell to Johnny Hendricks of Oklahoma State in the finals 5-2. Perry has three more years to earn an NCAA title. Letters, Hendricks and Perry are all back at 165 lbs, making it one of the toughest weight classes in the nation.

Cory Cooperman put on quite a show on Saturday afternoon. After being defeated in the quarterfinals by Andy Simmons of Michigan State, Cooperman rattled off four straight wins including a 10-1 drubbing of Daniel Frishkorn of Oklahoma State to earn third place. Cooperman is now a two-time All-American and will vie for the 141 pound NCAA title next year, his senior year.

And out of Columbia University, Matt Palmer put in one of the toughest performances of his life at 165 lbs. He was unseeded but defeated defending All-American David Bolyard of Central Michigan and highly-ranked Jacob Klein of Nebraska to earn Eight Place. Palmer is the first All-American for Columbia since Dave Galdi placed in 1982. Palmer has two years of eligibility remaining.

Please direct all questions and comments to buxtoj@blair.edu.