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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tar Heels’ Jaworski Overshadows Iowa’s Title

Associated Press

Steve Marianetti of Illinois snapped a 57-match win streak by defending champion Lincoln McIlravy of Iowa, while North Carolina’s T.J. Jaworsky captured his third straight title Saturday at the NCAA wrestling tournament.

Marianetti, who lost to McIlravy at the Big Ten championships this year, notched five takedowns in a 13-10 win at 150 pounds to deny McIlravy his third overall NCAA championship. McIlravy was the 1993 champion at 142, beating Marianetti in the semifinals that year.

The Hawkeyes, who finished with 134 points for their fourth NCAA title in five years, crowned a champion in Jeff McGinness at 126 although defending champion Joel Sharratt was upended 8-6 at 190 by Oklahoma’s J.J. McGrew.

Oregon State was runner-up with 77.5 points, Michigan State was third with 69.5, followed by Arizona State (65.5), Penn State (60.5), Nebraska (60), Oklahoma State (55.5), North Carolina (54.5), Illinois (52.5) and Oklahoma (51.5).

Iowa coach Dan Gable, whose team actually wrapped up the championship Friday night, wasn’t happy his wrestlers lost two of three championship bouts, especially McIlravy’s match.

“He was on track to be the best of all times and all of a sudden, it’s not there anymore,” Gable said. “I wanted to be a part of his success.

“I’m still in a state of shock.”

Marianetti, a fifth-place finisher a year ago, avenged his earlier 6-4 loss to McIlravy and was one of two Illini wrestlers to win a title Saturday. Teammate Ernest Benion, the seventh seed at 158, upset No. 4 seed Dan Wirnsberger 6-5 for his first championship.

Jaworsky, meanwhile, defeated Oregon State’s Babak Mohammadi 13-6 in a rematch of last year’s title bout to win his 49th consecutive match to become a three-time winner.

Local watch

Kevin Roberts of Oregon finished eighth at 118 pounds.

Roberts, former State AAA champion for University High, bowed out with an injury default against Danny Felix of ASU.

Felix, the Pacific-10 Conference champion, finished seventh.