North grad Hoffman advances to consolation round

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By Jon Gremmels | Friday, March 21, 2008 |

ST. LOUIS — One Quad-City 125-pounder made it to the second day of competition at the NCAA Wrestling Championships at Scottrade Center, while another wasn’t so fortunate.

Eric Hoffman, a senior at North Dakota State from Davenport North, opened with a five-point move off a counter shot and led the rest of the way as he defeated Joey Fio of Oklahoma 12-6 in the first round before losing 6-3 to top-seeded Angel Escobedo of Indiana in the second round Thursday night.

Trailing 5-1 on the strength of two Escobedo takedowns, Hoffman tried to rally late and got a takedown of his own to pull within 5-3 with 9 seconds remaining, but he couldn’t turn Escobedo, who added a point for riding time at the end.

It was just the opposite of his first match, in which Hoffman dominated. He countered a leg shot by Fio in the opening minute of their match and took down Fio to his back for five points.

“That’s a move I look for, something I count on,” Hoffman said. “It’s a counter tilt and something funky. I don’t have a name for it.

“With a 5-0 lead, I don’t think there are too many guys who can come back on me.

Hoffman added a takedown with 1:06 left in the opening period for a 7-1 lead. Fio pulled within 11-6 in the second period, but Hoffman rode him out in the final two-minute period and got a point for riding time for the final margin.

Hoffman will face Javier Maldonado of Tennessee-Chattanooga in today’s consolations.

Iowa State’s Tyler Clark, a true freshman from Bettendorf, had a much rougher time, losing a pair of close matches.

Central Michigan’s Luke Smith beat him 4-3 in an overtime tiebreaker in the first round, then Clark lost 4-2 to Marcos Orozco in the wrestlebacks and was eliminated. In the latter, Clark surrendered an early takedown, then Smith rode out the third period to seal the victory.

The first-round loss was even tougher.

Smith rode out in Clark in the first 30-second tiebreaker and then scored the winning point on an escape just before time expired in the second tiebreaker. Smith forced overtime when he earned a point for 1 minute, 12 seconds of riding time in regulation.

But Smith’s rides in regulation and overtime were controversial. In each of the periods, he clung to Clark’s ankle as Clark dragged Smith and tried to crawl and kick free with the wrestlers back to back on two occasions. Smith was warned for stalling with 18 seconds left when he did it in the third period, but was not warned in the overtime.

Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com.