PSU’s McIntosh eliminates Perry

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, March 21, 2014 – A successful collegiate wrestling career came to an end Friday night for former Middletown High wrestler Richard Perry of Bloomsburg University at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships.

Sophomore Morgan McIntosh of Penn State, the No 3 seed at 197 pounds, outlasted Perry in a third round consolation bout, 6-4 to end Perry’s season. Both wrestlers suffered one-point losses in the second round on Thursday night.

McIntosh led 3-2 after one period with a takedown and an escape. Perry had a reversal. Perry (33-3) tied the bout at 3-3 with a second period escape but McIntosh took a 5-3 lead with a takedown with 31 seconds left in the second period. A Perry escape in the final seconds cut the lead to one, 5-4. In the third period, McIntosh escaped with 1:54 left and held Perry at bay for the remainder of the bout.

Perry easily won his first consolation round match with six takedowns in a 14-6 win over Abram Ayala of Princeton. Leading by three after two periods, 6-3, Perry had three takedowns in the final two minutes to earn the win. Perry, the sixth seed at 197, went 2-2 in the tournament.

Sophomore Dominick Malone (133) of Northwestern was eliminated Friday morning in a second round consolation bout by Stanford’s Ryan Mango, 8-4. Malone, who grew up in Granby, trailed by two after two periods, 3-1.

Malone (17-17) cut the lead to one with an escape with 1:53 remaining in the match. But Mango got a takedown with 1:33 left to extend his lead to three, 5-2. A Malone reversal with 58 seconds cut the lead to one, 5-4, but Malone gave up a takedown eight seconds later. Mango got a late takedown for the four-point win. Malone, unseeded and making his first NCAA Tournament appearance, went 1-2 in the tournament.

Perry and Malone were the only two Connecticut-born wrestlers in the tournament.