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Central Florida's Lawlor Defeats NCAA All-American in UFC-100 Bout

07/15/2009 -

Tom Lawlor, one of the few four-time NCWA All-Americans and three-time NCWA National Champion, made national news last Saturday at the UFC 100. Lawlor, the most prominent wrestler in Central Florida’s NCWA history, beat former NCAA All-American C.B. Dollaway in the featured middleweight bout before a record UFC pay-per-view audience.

Lawlor defeated Dollaway via submission with a guillotine chokehold only 55 seconds into the bout. Lawlor earned the Submission of the Night Award for the quick effort.

Dollaway, an NCAA Division I All-American at Arizona State who also won an NJCAA National title after a stellar high school career in Ohio, was the favorite in the undercard bout.

The win moves Lawlor’s UFC record to 6-1, with five of the six wins coming in the first round.

A complete biography on Lawlor that includes a variety of action photos, plus a post-fight video from Saturday, are at this UFC link:

http://www.ufc.com/TomLawlor
 

July 18, 2009

AAU Tournament @ Hagerty High School

UCF will be co-hosting an AAU Youth Wrestling Tournament at Hagerty High School on July 18, 2009.  All participants must have a current AAU card.

Click Here for the Tournament Flier

2009 Wrestling Banquet:

2009-2010 UCF Wrestling Team Captains: Steve DeAugustino & CJ Hauser

Awards:

Johnny Rouse Perseverance Award: William Rothenberg
Scott Sherman Scholarship Award: CJ Hauser
Gerald Gerley Leadership Award: Ryan Witzel
Jason Balma Heart Award: Steve DeAugustino
Larry White Most Improved Wrestler Award: Frito Cherenfant
Thomas Lawlor Most Outstanding Wrestler Award: Richard Rippy
 

Complete NCWA Championships Recap
From NCWA 03/17/2009

HAMPTON, Va. – The Apprentice School clinched its first NCWA national title well before the start of the placing matches for the heavyweight class. Yet the Builders’ celebration remained on hold because there was history still to be made if it could get one more win in the tournament’s final moments.
Cecil Lee highlighted Apprentice’s already-victorious afternoon with a 5-1 win over Tim Rose of Amherst College to pin an individual national title to go alongside the team trophy. Lee’s win, his 46th of the season to break another school record, came in front of a host of students and staff from the Newport News, Va., school that hosted the event at the Hampton University Convocation Center just a few miles away from its campus.
Apprentice tallied six All-Americans, most than half of its lineup, to outlast three-time defending national champion Grand Valley State by a 118.5-109 count.
“To do this in our area is quite a way to finish my career,” Lee said. “It felt like I was at home with all the fans cheering in the finals.”
“I thought we had potential with this young team,” said Apprentice School head coach Bruce Shumaker, who was honored as the National Coach of the Year later Saturday evening at a post-tournament banquet. “Right now it's amazing. They did a tremendous job this weekend, and we have a championship now.”
Three teams were in tight contention for the national title entering Saturday’s final two sessions, with Apprentice holding just a half-point lead over Grand Valley State and the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School within striking distance 4.5 points back. The Builders’ title shot developed in the semifinals of both the championship and consolation brackets, where it gained enough advancement points to provide the eventual winning margin.
Apprentice wrestlers were 2-1 in championship semifinals and 2-1 in consolation semifinal bouts.
Grand Valley State, which brought 22 wrestlers to the tournament, was 1-2 in the championship semifinals and 1-4 in the consolation semifinals. Richard Doherty advanced to the national title match at 174 pounds and settled for second.
Apprentice’s other All-Americans, representing a top-eight finish, were Marcus Chevres (second at 133 pounds), Ty Holley (fourth at 141), Matt Perry (eighth at 149), Will Harcum (fifth at 165) and Charles Mills (fourth at 174). The Builders will likely head into the 2009-10 season as favorites to repeat. Their entire roster consists of underclassmen except for Lee and Holley.
Grand Valley’s All-Americans were Jonathan Murray (fifth at 125), Mike Leonard (fifth at 157), Richard Doherty (second at 174), Kelvin Miller (fifth at 197), Joe Kuzmicz (fifth at 235) and Corey Melinn (third at 285).

Other Tournament Notes:

U.S. Naval Academy Prep takes third
U.S. academy preps place among top seven teams and claim four individual titles

All five wrestlers from the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School won their finals matches Saturday, ending an impressive final-day rally into third place. NAPS finished with 96.5 points, edging the Marion Military Institute by a half-point.
Nick Hylton provided that extra point by winning the national championship in the 197-pound weight class, scoring a reverse with 10 seconds remaining for a 9-8 win over Dan Brower of Miami (Ohio). Jake Schalles won the national title at 165 pounds minutes earlier with a decisive 6-1 win over Eric Gobin of the U.S. Military Academy Prep School.
Matt Jackson (157) and Oscar Huntley (174) won their matches for third-place finishes, and Chris Piccolella took fifth at 149 pounds. The NAPS wrestlers combined to go undefeated through the first three rounds to reach the semifinals and earn All-American status.
Steven West led the U.S. Military Academy Prep School into sixth place with a decisive 17-7 national-title win over Apprentice’s Chevres at 133 pounds. Gobin took second at 165, and Alan Lutterman fought through six consolation rounds at 285 pounds after losing his opening bout before finishing fourth as MAPS’ third All-American.
Dillon Horn (149) and Thomas O’Connor (174) fell out of the tournament in the third consolation round.
The U.S. Air Force Academy Prep School finished seventh led by Cole VonOhlen, who pinned his way through five matches to win the national title at 141 pounds. VonOhlen, a freshman, earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler award after a first-period fall over Justin Bowser of Maryland-Baltimore County in the national title match.
Ethan Martinez placed fifth for the AFAPS, and Tim Smell (197) and Jared Erickson (235) each took seventh earn All-American honors.

More on the military academies – Marion Military Academy (Ala.) takes fourth

Six wrestlers from Marion Military Academy earned All-American status, helping MMI take fourth overall with 96 points. Reece Freeman led the group with a national runner-up finish in the 125-pound class. Derrick Lucas placed fourth at 165 to go with seventh-place finishes by Kyler Kirkwood (174), Dominic DeMarco (197) and Michael Mullen (285). Gavin Shoemo (133) placed eighth.

Central Florida continues top-five streak

Central Florida’s five All-American wrestlers helped it maintain one of the most dominant streaks in the 12-year history of the NCWA. The Knights placed fifth overall with 85.5 points, marking the seventh straight year they’ve placed among the top five teams, including national titles in 2004 and 2005.
National runner-up Richard Rippy led the way, charging through the 184-pound championship bracket before falling in the national title match to Steve Gerrard of Colorado State.
Frito Cherenfant (125) and Steve DeAugustino (133) led UCF’s rally in the final day to move up three places into the top five. Both won third-place matches, and Ryan Witzel (157) and Christopher Hauser (174) took sixth each.
Central Florida has placed in the national top eight every year since its charter season in 2002.

Kansas State treks into 10th place after hitch-hiking to quarterfinal rounds

Based on the trek the
Kansas State wrestling team took here Friday, they might try to add cross country to their athletic resumes, too. Thanks to some quick thinking, good conditioning, and some friendly members of coastal Virginia, the Wildcats stayed in contention for a top-10 finish during the Friday afternoon session.
Time was already short when the team van got jammed behind a traffic accident in Norfolk, Va., on the opposite shore of Chesapeake Bay from the Hampton University Convocation Center.
Out of options and with the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel still in front of them, the Wildcats’ seven wrestlers abandoned their team van to begin a mad dash for the center on foot, running in the rain alongside Interstate 64 braving 40-degree temperatures.
“We weren’t going to go out like that, sitting in our van,” said Nick Newell, the Wildcats’ 165-pounder who advanced to the semifinals an hour later. Missing the session’s 5 p.m. start time would have disqualified the entire team. “So we took off running to take our chances on making it.”
The team ran for about a mile-and-a-half. But what to do when you’ve got 40 minutes to cover the last six miles to an event? Stick out your thumb. The seven passed the accident scene, then hitch-hiked in smoother traffic the rest of the way as three friendly cars pulled over to help, turning the ugly Friday weather more pleasant.
“We kept looking at our watches, and looking across the bay. We were making good time, but knew we needed help,” said Newell, who eventually placed third overall.
All seven reached the center in time to warm up, way ahead of their van that arrived 20 minutes later. The stressful hour might have pumped the team up, as five of the seven won their next matches. Keaton Taylor (133), Joey Heersche (133), Thomas Pipes (149) and Newell (165) earned All-American honors for 10th-place Kansas State.

Amherst’s big boys give big effort doing more with less

Amherst College made the most of their school’s initial entries into the NCWA Championships. Guy Matisis and Tim Rose were a two-man team for the Lord Jeffs, and produced a 14th-place finish overall with 44 points. They are Amherst’s first two All-Americans during its NCWA tenure.
Both wrestlers were undefeated in the tournament heading into their national title bouts. Matisis won the 235-pound bracket with an 8-7 win over Lucas Borneman of Middle Tennessee State, and Rose took second at 285 following a 5-1 loss to Cecil Lee from The Apprentice School.

Yakima Valley Community College wins women’s division in program’s first year

So much for developing a program for national competition. In its first season, Yakima Valley Community College of Yakima, Wash., had three national champions and three more All-Americans to run away with the NCWA’s team title with 73 points. Simon Fraser (Canada) was second at 57.5, and Pacific University third at 35.5.
Tamika Jones (105), Ashlee Phy (130) and Monique Dilliner (159) each won national titles within their weight classes based on round-robin schedule format, followed by a championship bout between the first- and second-place wrestlers. Phy earned the Most Outstanding Wrestler award and had the most pins in the fastest time. Jones was the only entry at 105 pounds, but wrestled within the 112 bracket.
Cady Chambers (second place at 112), Christina Stanley (third at 121) and Rachel Segura (third at 139) also earned All-American honors.

There’s something new about that 184-pound bracket

Half of the All-Americans in the 184-pound men's bracket earned their school’s first All-American nods under the NCWA banner. Greg Cormier (Massachusetts), Jerod Northcott (Mercer), Garrett Johnston (Oakland, Mich.) and Benjamin Harding (Weber State) each put their school on the NCWA’s All-American map this season.
Here’s a list of school producing first-time NCWA All-Americans this season:
Amherst College (Amherst, Mass.) – Guy Matisis (235 pounds), Tim Rose (285)
Bowling Green State (Bowling Green, Ohio) – Greg Burger (157 pounds)
Hudson Valley Community College (Troy, N.Y.) – Brian Borst (125 pounds)
Lee University (Cleveland, Tenn.) – Joe Jellison (125 pounds)
Massachusetts (Amherst, Mass.) – Greg Cormier (184 pounds)
Mercer Univ. (Macon, Ga.) – Jerod Northcott (184 pounds)
Oakland Univ. (Oakland, Mich.) – Garrett Johnston (184 pounds)
Radford Univ. (Radford, Va.) – Alex Driggers (235 poiunds)
Southern Illinois – Edwardsville – Blake Reed (165 pounds)
West Chester Univ. (West Chester, Pa.) – Dillon Evans (champion at 149 pounds)
Weber State (Ogden, Utah) – Benjamin Harding (184 pounds)
 

 

UCF Places 5th at NCWA National Tournament

 Congratulations to Frito Cherenfant, Steve DeAugustino, Ryan Witzel, CJ Hauser, and Richard Rippy on earning NCWA All-American status and to the entire UCF Wrestling Team for earning 5th Place at the 2009 NCWA National Tournament.  These five individuals increase UCF's All-American list to 57 since 2002.

Nationals Tickets are now on Sale...

Through March 8th Tickets will be offered on line at the advance Purchase Discounted Price of $50 for the 3 day event .Beginning on March 9th they will only be available at the gate at the full price of $70 ...For tickets have Fans go to the " NATIONALS "tab on the NCWA website.

UCF's Richard Rippy and Devon Jackson Place Top Three at Laker Open (2/8/09)

Following the 2009 Laker Open in Allendale, MI, Richard Rippy (184lbs.) finished the tournament 4-0 beating Waubonsee Community College's Dan Johnson in the finals 7-2.  Also at 184 lbs, UCF's Graham Smith finished the tournament 3-2 just one match outside of the placing round.  At 174 lbs., Devon Jackson finished the day 4-1 in third place.  In his final match Jackson defeated Matt Fetterley (Muskegon CC) 4-2 with a final second takedown for the win; this win came after Fetterley's pin over Jackson during the dual meet against Muskegon the night earlier.

The Knights now prepare for their dual meet against Southeast NCAA (Division II) powerhouse UNC - Pembroke.  The dual meet against UNCP will close out the regular season for the Knights as they prepare for the conference tournament in Atlanta, GA (Kennesaw State University) on February 28.

UCF Places 2nd at 2009 NCWA National Duals (4-1 Record)

For videos on the event, visit:

http://www.flowrestling.org/videos/coverage/view/234573-ncwa-national-duals

 

Kennesaw State University Set to Host the SE Conference Tournament

Kennesaw State University's bid was recently accepted to host the 2009 Southeast Conference Tournament in Kennesaw, GA.  The tournament will decide which wrestlers move on to the NCWA National Tournament in Hampton, VA on March 12.  UCF will attend this event with the goal of once again winning the conference tournament.  Last season, UCF won the conference tournament and qualified every weight class for the national tournament.

 

Match brings out crowd

BY ANNABELLE TOMETICH
atometich@news-press.com

High school wrestlers from throughout Southwest Florida converged on the Fort Myers High School gymnasium Monday night to watch something many of them had never before seen in person — NCAA Division I wrestling.

Clusters of purple, garnet, green, red and blue gathered in the Green Wave bleachers to watch Purdue defeat the University of Central Florida 44-9.

"Our coach told us to come out and watch. He thought it would be a good experience," Cape Coral wrestler and first-time Division I viewer Nelson Ochoa said.

Purdue scheduled the dual meet to coincide with training camps the Boilermakers will be attending in Naples this week. Central Florida coach Jason Balma wrestled for Fort Myers, graduating in 2001.

"It's kind of neat sometimes to pick a match that has a local connection," Purdue coach Scott Hinkel said. "Typically you get a larger crowd with a lot of enthusiasm. It's a pretty neat experience."

Despite the lopsided score, Monday's audience solidly backed the underdog Golden Knights. UCF is not a Division I school. The Golden Knights wrestle in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association, a highly regarded club division.

UCF has four Southwest Florida wrestlers on its roster: Richard Rippy, Justin Crimmins and Willie Rothenberg of Fort Myers High and Frito Cherenfant of Lely.

So did any of those locals expect to be back in their high school gym wrestling against a Big Ten school?

"Not in a million years," Rippy said, laughing.

Just one Central Florida wrestler earned a win on the mat. CJ Hauser defeated Purdue's Jason Martin 6-5 in the 174-pound weight class. The Golden Knights' other points came from a forfeit win by Steve DeAugustino at 133 pounds.

"We did well. The guys all went out there with the right attitudes. They went after them like they'd go after any other opponent," Balma said.

In a sort of undercard match, Riverdale beat Fort Myers 65-10. Like Balma, Green Wave coach Matt Markowski was proud of the improvements his team showed against the defending Class A state titlists.

"The score may not have reflected it, but many of our guys wrestled really well," Markowski said. "We've been working on a lot of things over the holiday break and they showed it today. Overall, going against a team like Riverdale, I was very proud."

 

12/31/08 - Central Florida Duals

The Knights improved their dual meet record to 6-0 with wins over Lawrence University (DIII - WI) and Milwaukee School of Engineering (DIII - WI).  Both teams attended the Sunshine Open and wrapped up their Florida tour with a match at UCF.  During the match against Lawrence University, the Knights started with a forfeit at 125lbs. and 133lbs.   At 141lbs. and 149lbs. Willie Rothenberg and TJ Gillin lost close decisions to Lawrence's Z. Welke and T. Norton.  At 157lbs. Ryan Witzel earned a pin followed by consecutive forfeits at 165lbs. and 174lbs.  At 184lbs. Graham Smith lost a decision to Lawrence's S. Leas.  Richard Rippy (197lbs.) scored a second period technical fall to put the Knights ahead 35-10.  In the final match Lawrence's B. Hoh earned a first period pin over UCF's Daniel Rowe making the final score 35-16.

Last season the Knights lost a close 20-19 match over M.S.O.E, so both teams prepared a tough match.  At a 125lbs. MSOE took an early lead with fall for Sammy Deligio over UCF's Daniel Desenberg.  UCF's Steve DeAugustino (133lbs.) and Willie Rothenberg (141lbs.) tied the team score at 6-6 with two decisions over Dominic Deligio and H. Suggs.  MSOE bounced back with two consecutive wins for Virgil Pope and Joel Vandeboom over TJ Gillin (149lbs.) and Ryan Witzel (157lbs.) to make the score 6-13 in favor of MSOE.  At 165lbs. UCF's Justin Crimmins lost a third period decision to S. Bramstedt.  UCF's CJ Hauser (174lbs.) answered back with a first period pin over B. Howard to make the score 12-16.  At 184lbs. MSOE rebuilt their margin with a third period pin for Matt Olsen over Graham Smith.  Trailing 12-22, the Knights needed two consecutive wins at 197lbs. and 285lbs to win the match.  UCF's Richard Rippy (197lbs.) and Daniel Rowe (285lbs.) responded with two first period wins; winning the match for the Knights 24-22.

Both teams from Wisconsin represented great sportsmanship and the UCF team was very pleased to host the teams.  The Knights now prepare for the start of the spring semester with a match against Big Ten Conference team, Purdue University, in Ft. Myers, FL on January 5 at 8:00pm.

11/29/08 - Cavalier Duals

The Knights finished their Fall Semester competition this past weekend with the Cavalier Duals, hosted by Darton College in Albany, GA.  The Knights finished the afternoon with a win over East Georgia College (45-5) and a second win over Darton College (25-17).  Moving up the 285 lbs. for the Knights, Richard Rippy was able to clinch the win for the Knights with a win over Darton College's Kelvin Jordan in an exciting third period win.  See the results page for full dual meet results.

 

11/22/08 - UNCP Classic & Bobcat Invitational

Following a strong performance at the Citadel Open, The Knights traveled to the University of North Carolina - Pembroke for their annual Classic and Swainsboro, GA for the Bobcat Invitational.  Finishing in 2nd place for the Knights at the UNCP Classic was CJ Hauser (174 lbs.).  Hauser recorded a 4-1 record for the day with two pins before losing a major decision to UNCP's JJ Davis.  Just outside of placing for the Knights was Frito Cherenfant (125 lbs.) and Ryan Witzel (157 lbs.).

At the Bobcat Invitational, Andres Munoz (149 lbs.) finished in 1st place with a 4-0 record.  Daniel Polaski (235 lbs.) and Kyle Greaves (157 lbs.) both finished in third place at the tournament.

Next the Knights travel to Albany, Georgia to wrestle Darton College and East Georgia College.

The Citadel Open 11/8/08

The Knights left The Citadel with 3 UCF place winners and 1 unattached place winner.  Devon Jackson (174 lbs.) finished the tournament in second place falling to The Citadel's J. Oddo in the finals.  Also at 174 lbs., CJ Hauser finished the tournament in fourth place.  At 197 lbs. Richard Rippy finished the tournament in third place with a technical fall over Darton College's A. Boley.  Traveling with the Knights and finishing third was Gabe Hale at 141 lbs.

Making an impressive showing for the Knights and finishing just outside the medal round was Stephen DeAugustino (133 lbs.), Ryan Witzel (157 lbs.), and Graham Smith (184 lbs.). 

The Knights will now gear up for their home dual meets against Darton College, Marion Military Institute, and Middle Tennessee State University on Novemeber 14 and the Central Florida Open on November 15.

 

Alumni Match 11/1/08

This past weekend the Knights kicked off their competition season with an alumni match instead of the traditional sanctioned college tournament. “The match was intended to launch our young team into the competition season with a fun event that encouraged team camaraderie and reaffirmed our young and growing tradition,” said Head Coach Jason Balma. “In order to continue and build our team tradition, it was important to the coaches and older teammates to get alumni, who made their mark on the NCWA, together with the young wrestlers. It was neat to see a lot of the alumni, from the team’s NCWA revival in 2001, back together wrestling; it was an event that reminded us what makes the sport of wrestling so great ,” said Balma.

Although the alumni team featured “older” team members, many never stopped training over the years and came ready to do battle with current team. While conditioning was certainly a factor for many of the alumni in the(3) 90 sec. periods, many continue to train and support wrestling by coaching at local high schools, volunteer coaching at for the current team, or training in mixed martial arts.

The evening was filled with many fun events, including speeches, wrestling, raffles, and a post event BBQ; however everyone couldn’t help but be entertained when Tom Lawlor came onto the mat dancing to MIA’s “Paper Planes” handing out autographed photographs of him as Daniel Polaski waited at the center of the mat. Lawlor is currently on the Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter”.

“We are very excited about this season and this was a perfect event that will launch our team into a successful start,” said Balma.

The Knights kick off their season with an open tournament hosted by The Citadel in Charleston, SC on November 8.

Although the current team finished on top (24-21), the alumni made an impressive showing and really came ready to rumble. The dual meet came down to the final match featuring alumni and current radio DJ Shawn (“ShawnJaya”) Stuart who lost a close match to junior Andres Munoz.

Here are the results:
James Schumacher (alumni) dec. Daniel Polaski
Steve DeAugustino dec. Frito Cherenfant (alumni)
Matt Bohren (alumni) dec. TJ Gillin
Jorge Benzsquen dec. Paul Rothenberg (alumni)
Ryan Witzel dec. Rob McCarty (alumni)
Jayson Patino (alumni) dec. Willie Rothenberg
CJ Hauser dec. Mike Lemieux (alumni)
Joe Gibson dec. Jeff Ruberg (alumni)
Raun Jessee (alumni) pin Justin Crimmins
Richard Rippy pin Jason Ruberg
Tom Lawlor (alumni) pin Daniel Polaski
Andres Munoz dec. Shawn Stuart (alumni)
 

NCWA Announces 2009 National's Location

The NCWA announced that the 2009 NCWA National Tournament will be hosted in Hamption, VA (Hampton University).  Since 2002, UCF has finished 8, 4, 1, 1, 4, 2, 3, respectively at the national tournament.

 

Former UCF Wrestler and 3X NCWA National Champion Appears on Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter"

 

Former University of Central Florida 3X NCWA National Champion Tom Lawlor will compete this Wednesday (September 24 - 10pm EST) for his spot in the "Ultimate Fighter" house. Lawlor, a 2003, 2004, & 2005 NCWA National Champion, fights out of Orlando for American Top Team in light heavy-weight division. While in the NCWA, Lawlor wrestled in the 235 lbs. weight class. Lawlor's record going into the show is 6-2-0. Make sure to watch the show and support the NCWA's first 3X National Champion!

http://www.tomlawlor.net/

-Jason Balma
www.ucfwrestling.net