Albany, N.Y., March 22, 2002 - Junior co-captain Doc Vecchio (165) threw his hands in the air and leapt into head coach Troy Sunderland's arms Friday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Albany, N.Y., as the former walk-on put an exclamation point on a story book season by gaining Penn State's first All-America honors in two years. Vecchio earned Penn State's 143rd All-America honor and will become the Lions first ever placer at 165 pounds in his first NCAA appearance. The Nittany Lions stood 29th in the team scoring as action wound down late Friday night.

Vecchio earned the crucial victory in dramatic fashion posting a takedown 33 seconds into overtime for a 10-8 decision over Missouri's Tyron Woodley in the fourth round of consolation action. The wrestlers, which met earlier this year with Vecchio prevailing 6-3, staged a fast paced battle of wills. Vecchio posted two first period takedowns and an escape for a 5-4 lead after the first period. Woodley tied things up with an escape in the second and then took the lead, 7-6, after answering a Vecchio escape with a takedown with a minute remaining. Vecchio then reversed Woodley to regain the lead, but the Tiger escaped to send the match into overtime where Vecchio prevailed.

"I felt great out there," Vecchio said. "I've really felt great the whole tournament. I set my goals early last year to work as hard as possible, get in great shape and try to become an All-American, but I don't think I really believed it would happen. This is great."

"I think it's a great statement for Doc and our program," Sunderland said. "A kid who never won a PIAA title or anything comes in and buys into the program and what we're saying, works his butt off and becomes and All-American. It's great for him. He really deserves it and we're very proud of what he's done."

Vecchio returned to the mat an hour later and fell to No. 7 seed Eugene Harris of Oregon. Harris posted a pair of takedowns and a two-point nearfall in the first period to mount an early lead Vecchio was unable to overcome. With the 8-5 loss, the Shillington, Pa. native dropped into the seventh place bout to be held Saturday morning. He will face No. 5 seed Josh Henson of Pennsylvania in that match. A win would improve his team leading 34-13 record to among the top 15 all-time single season marks in Penn State history.

In other action on day, sophomore Marat Tomaev (133) came within one match of gaining All-America honors himself. He posted a 5-4 win over Appalachian State's Travis Drake in his first consolation match of the day setting up a match-up with No. 6 seed Cliff Moore of Iowa for All-America honors. He was unable to generate any offense in that match and controlled by Moore on the mat as the Hawkeye prevailed 4-0. Tomaev ended the season with a 23-13 mark after going 3-2 in the tournament.

Junior Mark Becks (184) and sophomore Pat Cummins (Hwt.) fell in their opening consolation matches on the day to end their seasons. Becks lost a 7-5, overtime decision to James Madison's David Colabella. He appeared to have gained the go ahead takedown in regulation time but was not awarded the points and gave up the match winning takedown with two seconds remaining in the overtime period. Becks completes the year with a 21-7 mark after going 1-2 in the tournament.

Meanwhile, Cummins gave up two near fall points after taking the down position to start the second period of his consolation match with Harvard's David Rechul. Rechul posted an escape to start the third period and then stayed away from Cummins, earning two stalling calls, and prevailed in the match 4-1. Cummins wrapped up the season with a 13-12 record and went 1-2 in his first NCAA appearance.

Action continues tomorrow starting at 8:00 a.m.

Penn State NCAA Scores

7 Penn State qualifiers
First Round: 4-3; Second Round: 1-3; Quarterfinals: 0-1
Consolations: 4-7
Tournament: 9-14

133 - Marat Tomaev
1st Round: W, 5-4 over (12) Rad Martinez, Clarion
2nd Round: L, 5-1 to (5) David Douglas, Arizona State Consolation Friday: W, 7-2 over Shawn Amistade, Pittsburgh
2nd Consolation: W, 5-4, Travis Drake, Appalachian State
3rd Consolation: L, 4-0 to (6) Cliff Moore, Iowa
Tournament: 3-2; Season: 23-13

141 - Scott Moore
1st Round: L, TF17-1;6:48 to (5) Aaron Holker, Iowa State
Consolation: L, 7-3 to Jason Mester, Central Michigan
Tournament: 0-2; Season: 30-14

149 - Nate Wachter
1st Round: L, 3-2 to Collin Robertson, Boise State
Consolation: W, 8-1 over Jon Garvin, N. Iowa

Consolation Friday: L, 5-3 to (10) Joe Henson, Pennsylvania
Tournament: 1-2; Season: 24-14

165 - (11) Doc Vecchio - All-American
1st Round: W, 4-2 over Chris Carlino, Cal. St. Fullerton
2nd Round: W, 3-1 over Burt Pierson, UC Davis

Quarterfinal: L, 8-5 to (3) Tyrone Lewis, Oklahoma State
Consolation: W, 10-8;sv over Tyron Woodley, Missouri
2nd Consolation: L, 8-5 to (7) Eugene Harris, Oregon
7th Place Bout: vs. (5) Josh Henson, Pennsylvania
Tournament: 3-2; Season: 34-13

184 - Mark Becks
1st Round: W, F;5:51 over Isaac Weber, Oregon State
2nd Round: L, 2-1 to (2) Damion Hahn, Minnesota

Consolation Friday: L, 7-5;sv to David Colabella, James Madison
Tournament: 1-2; Season: 21-7

197 - Pete Mielnik
1st Round: L, 10-2 to (8) Jason Payne, Northern Iowa
Consolation: L, 12-5 to (9) Erik Gladish, Arizona State
Tournament: 0-2; Season: 20-14

Hwt. - Pat Cummins
1st Round: W, 4-2 over Mike Carroll, Drexel
2nd Round: L, 14-6 to (1) Tommy Rowlands, Ohio State

Consolation Friday: L, 4-1 to Dawid Rechul, Harvard
Tournament: 1-2; Season: 13-12