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Carolina Posts Three Runner-Up Finishes at Rubbermaid Open
Dec. 6, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina's Mike Booth, Mark Canty and Chris Rodrigues each placed second in their respective weight classes Saturday to pace the 22nd-ranked Tar Heel wrestling team at the 2003 Rubbermaid Open at Carmichael Auditorium. No. 25 Michigan State led the way with four individual titles, while Ohio University claimed three. Rodrigues, a junior All-America, grabbed second place at 125 pounds. After winning his first four bouts of the day, Rodrigues fell to The Citadel's Ryan McClester by a 5-3 count in the final. Rodrigues, who is ranked 15th nationally by InterMat Wrestling, cruised through his first three matches of the day. He opened with a 16-2 major decision over Sheldon Coffey (unattached) before winning by fall against both Ryan Broughman of Virginia Tech and The Citadel's Brad Ragan. In the semifinals, Rodrigues, who is now 7-5 this season, defeated Curry Pickard of UNC Pembroke, 5-2. At 141 pounds, Booth also took second place for the Tar Heels. He opened the tourney with four consecutive wins, including two via fall in under a minute. In the final, Booth was defeated by 14th-ranked Andy Simmons of Michigan State, 4-0. Booth topped Donnie Ooton of Virginia Tech in 29 seconds in the first round, Nick Miles of Cumberland College in 2:56 in the second and Kevin Artis of UNC Greensboro in 56 seconds in the quarterfinals. He then defeated Campbell's Adam Bricker to earn a spot in the final. Booth is now 4-3 this season.
Canty opened with wins over Citadel's John Dickerson (12-5) and Appalachian State's Chris Toukonen (10-0 major decision) at 184 pounds. In the semifinals, he defeated Old Dominion's Adam Wright by a score of 2-1. before falling to Michigan State's Nate Mesyn, 3-1, in overtime in the final. Canty was 3-1 on the day to improve his record on the season to 8-5.
At 197 pounds, sophomore David Dashiell also reached the championship semifinal round before falling to Jeff Clemons of Michigan State, 7-4. Dashiell posted major decisions over Ohio University's Marcus Adelman (9-1) and Central Florida's Danny Fernandez (11-3) in the first two rounds of the tourney. He then lost to Eric Flinchum of Cumberland College, 7-2, in the consolation final to place fourth. The Tar Heels hosted 20 teams and roughly 300 wrestlers for the event. There were no team scores for the tournament. Following a break for exams, the Tar Heels return to action at the Beast of the East in Newark, Del., on Friday, Dec. 19.
2003 RUBBERMAID OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL RESULTS |
