Sprenkle, Salminen Drop Opening Matches at NCAA Championships

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – North Dakota State senior Vince Salminen and sophomore Trent Sprenkle both dropped their opening bouts at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday, March 17.  Both wrestlers now move into the consolation bracket in the double elimination tournament.

At 125 pounds, Sprenkle will next wrestle Princeton’s Garrett Frey, who lost a 16-5 major decision to Kent State’s Nicolas Bedelyon.  Salminen will face off against Frank Hickman of Bloomsburg, who lost an 11-7 decision to Derek St. John of Iowa in the 157 pound consolation bracket.  The action is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Central.  Live stats are available here.  Live video coverage of the championships is available at ESPN3.com.

In the opening round, Sprenkle lost to 11^th seeded Frank Perrelli of Cornell, 4-3.  After a scoreless first period, Sprenkle got on the board first with a second period escape.  Perrelli tied the match with an escape early in the third period, but Sprenkle responded with a takedown to take a 3-1 lead.  Perrelli came back to score an escape with 55 seconds remaining and then tallied the match-winning takedown with 48 seconds remaining in the third  period.

Salminen took on 11^th seeded Walter Peppelman of Harvard in the first round at 157 pounds.  Peppelman scored an early takedown and then was able to pin Salminen 32 seconds into the first period.