La CROSSE, WI – Junior captain Ces Antista dropped a close opening round match at 141 in the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships being hosted by the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse.
Antista, the New England Champion for the second year in a row, and ranked as high as 9th nationally this season, entered the competition unseeded and was paired against Ryan Timmerman of St. Olaf, the fifth seed.
Antista more than held his own in the bout with the decisive 6th point in his 6-5 loss coming by virtue of Timmerman earning a point for riding time. Timmerman finished third at last year's NCAA Championships and entered the match with a season record of 28-3, owning 18 pins. "Ces wrestled a great match against a very good opponent," noted Esph head coach Rich Hasenfus. "I'm confident he will come back strong in his next match."
With the loss Antita now moves to the wrestle-back side of the bracket where he will face Paul Marcello of Johns Hopkins. A win over Marcello would keep Antista's bid alive for All-America honors and put him in a placement match later this evening.
Junior Tom Foote who earned an At-Large berth in the NCAA championships by finishing second in New England in the heavyweight class was unable to participate in the NCAAs due to an injury he suffered in practice prior to the event.
