Evans, Hostetter and Bennett Place at Millersville's "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic

Saturday, January 10

Millersville, PA

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Millersville University

"Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic

Evans, Hostetter and Bennett Place at Millersville's "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic

1/10/2009 8:34:46 PM | Wrestling

Complete Brackets

Millersville, Pa. - 258 wrestlers representing 33 programs were in action Saturday at Millersville University's Sixth Annual "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic. Among the place winners were Millersville's Jarrett Hostetter, Jeremy Brooks and Ray Bennett.

Hostetter, wrestling unattached at 157 pounds, took third place. Brooks captured a runner-up finish at 165 pounds, and Bennett placed fourth at 197.

For Hostetter, it was his third-straight third-place finish at the "Shorty" Hitcock Memorial Classic. He was impressive early, scoring a fall in 39 seconds in the open round, and then recording technical falls of 24-5 and 16-0 to advance to the semifinals. There, he met eventual champion Steve Fittery. Despite a tight battle, Fittery edge Hostetter 7-2 in overtime.

Hostetter bounced back with a 7-2 win over Virginia Tech's A.J. Johnson, and in the third place match, he Nassau Community College's Eduardo Delgado, 3-1.

Brooks gave Millersville a place winner in the 165 pound weight class for the third-straight year. He cruised into the title bout with a 14-7 win over Campbell's Steve Witorek and a 9-7 decision over Kutztown's David Zeek. Maryland's Josh Asper, however, ended Brooks' run, 9-1.

Also at 165 pounds, Josh Evans looked to defend his title and place for the third-straight year. After scoring a pinfall in the opening round, he fell to Asper, 9-2. Evans was then elminated in the consolaton bracket by Drexel's Alex Rinaldi.

Millersville's season leader in victories, Shane Smith, narrowly missed placing at 174 pounds. Smith scored an 18-1 tech fall over Penn State's Matt Dodd in the opening round and advanced again by pinning Thomas O'Connor of Army Prep in just 13 seconds. Smith moved into the semis with a 14-6 major decison of VMI's Doug Nesmith, but fell to eventual champion Robert Hamlin of Lehigh, and was downed in the consolation semis by Drexel's Dave Woodall.

Bennett posted three decisions in to reach the semifinals before being edged by eventual champion Micah Burak of Penn. In the consolation bracket, he scored another decision over Virginia Tech's Tim Miller before dropping a tight 6-5 decision in the third place match to Army's Orion Ross.

Millersville has been hosting a wrestling tournament since 1974-75, but six years ago, the format was changed from a team competition to an "open" and renamed in the honor of former Millersville coach Floyd "Shorty" Hitchcock, who passed away in 2002. Hitchcock served as Millersville's wrestling coach from 1984-2002 and totaled a school record 180 dual victories during that span with a winning percentage of .613.