6 Fighting Scots Heading to NCAA's - 3 with Seeds

[Allen Brown]

March 7, 2012

EDINBORO, Pa. – The NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee released the brackets for the upcoming 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, with three Edinboro wrestlers earning seeds. The Nationals are set for March 15-17 in St. Louis, MO.

Six Fighting Scots are headed to National. As expected, Chris Honeycutt is the highest-seeded Scot. The senior is seeded number two at 197 lbs. with a 36-1 record. He will face Keldrick Hall (21-10) of Oklahoma in the first round.

A year ago Honeycutt was the number one seed at 184 lbs. He would go on to earn All-American honors for the first time with a fifth place finish.

Redshirt freshman A.J. Schopp earned a number seven seed at 133 lbs. He has a 36-4 record with 17 falls and was Edinboro’s lone Eastern Wrestling League champion. Schopp will face Matthew Nelson (17-5) of Virginia in his first NCAA bout.

Fellow redshirt freshman David Habat garnered the ninth seed at 149 lbs. He comes in with a 35-6 record, while his first round opponent, Nick Brascetta of Virginia Tech, has a 21-4 ledger.

Ernest James (30-10) had the toughest luck in the draw. The sophomore heavyweight will face top-seeded heavyweight Ryan Flores of American, who is 17-0, in his first-ever trip to Nationals.

Redshirt freshman Mitchell Port (27-8) will face Lehigh’s Stephen Dutton (19-5) in his opening match at 141 lbs.

Finally, freshman Vic Avery meets Boaz Beard of Iowa State, who is 10-5, in his first match. Avery has a 23-13 record.

~ Fighting Scots ~