Orndorff Splits Final Matches, Places Fourth
March 20, 1999
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Senior heavyweight Mat Orndorff split his Saturday session matches to take fourth place before a medal round crowd of 14,055 at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Penn State University. Both of Orndorffs defeats at nationals came at the hands of Illinois Karl Roesler. Roesler came from way behind to beat Orndorff, 10-8, in overtime in the championship quarterfinals Friday and controlled the Saturday match for a 7-2 third place victory. Roesler earned a pair of first period takedowns, another in the second and finished his scoring with riding time.
Orndorff opened his Saturday competition with a 5-1 victory over third- seeded Leslie Apedoe of Virginia Military Institute. The first-time All-American earned both of his takedowns in the late first and second periods by countering moves by Apedoe. Orndorff lost the shutout when he was penalized for stalling with under 10 seconds to go.
He completes his season with a record of 33-7 and a career mark of 95-40. His 28th career pin to open the tournament against Iowa States Mark Knauer left him one short of the OSUs all-time Top 10 career pin list. "Mats had a great career for Oregon State," said OSU head coach Joe Wells. "I congratulate him and thank him for the way he finished."
Orndorffs performance kept the Beavers in the Top 20 of the team competition. The Beavers 22.5 points have them tied for 20th with Harvard. Minnesota maintains a two-point lead over Iowa and both schools have three wrestlers in the championship round.
"Obviously, the tournament didnt go as we had hoped for us. We were a young team and there are better times ahead," said Wells.
Going into tonights championship bouts, consistent sellout crowds for all sessions had produced a total attendance of 66,599. With the added seating for the finals, attendance for the three days will exceed 80,000.
NCAA Consolation semi-final (Saturday early session) Hwt.: (#4) Mat Orndorff dec. (#3) Leslie Apedoe, VMI, 5-1
NCAA Third-Place Match Hwt.: (#5) Karl Roesler, Illinois dec. (#4) Mat Orndorff, OSU, 7-2
Team standings prior to final session: 1. Minnesota 94.5, 2. Iowa 92.5, 3. Oklahoma State 80, 4. (tie) Penn State and Iowa State 74.5, 20. (tie) OREGON STATE and Harvard 22.5.
