Mocs put forth strong effort at NCAA

By Abby Lee
Assistant Sports EditorThe Mocs finished the 2007 NCAA Wrestling Championships last weekend with their highest team total since 1977.

Senior wrestler Matt Keller, of McDonald, Tenn., stood out as the school's sixth two-time All-America, and placed fourth in the 133-pound weight class.

Last year he earned his first All-America award last year at eighth place, but this year Keller moved up to a fourth place finish.

Keller defeated Darrell Vasquez of Cal Poly 5-2 on Saturday to advance to third place, but No. 1 Nick Simmons of Michigan State scored a 8-0 major decision over Keller. Overall, Keller ended the season with a 33-4 record.

As a team the Mocs ended with a university record-high of 29.5 team points and finished in 20th place.

The team also made it farther at Nationals than any year since 1978, when the team began to compete at the Division I level.

Six of the nine Mocs that qualified for Nationals competed until the fifth round of consolations, including 2005 All-America Michael Keefe who was unseeded but made it to the championship bracket finals.

Javier Maldonado at 125 pounds, eighth-seeded Aaron Martin at 149, Jake Yost at 157, and heavyweight Matt Koz also made it to the fifth round.