March 19, 1998

CELEVELAND, OH -- Senior Jeff Grant (Albany, OR/South Albany HS) and sophomore Zach Zimmerer (Billings, MT/Billings Central HS) both won evening consolation matches to stay alive at the 1998 NCAA Wrestling Championships at Cleveland State University. The meet began today and runs through Saturday.

Zimmerer, wrestling in the 126-pound class, was edged by fifth-seeded Pat McNamara of Michigan State 9-8 in the first round. He then rebounded to beat Ryan Egan of Northern Illinois 13-9 in the consolation bracket to set up second-round consolation match with 11th-seeded Shawn Ford of Arizona State on Friday morning. Zimmerer defeated Ford 13-4 at the Pac-10 Championships in Fullerton, California on March 1.

Grant, a 167-pounder, opened up with a 9-7 loss to sixth-seeded Mark Bybee of Northwestern. He followed that up with a 5-0 win over Cleveland State's Josh Didion, and will next face Ben Perkins of Iowa State on Friday morning.

The third Stanford wrestler in Celeveland - 118-pounder Rudy Ruiz (South Milwaukee, WI/Thomas More HS) opened competition with a 9-5 victory over Brent Thompson of Kent State, before being pinned by eighth-seeded Tim Dernlan of Purdue (2:37) and Northern Iowa's Eric Keller (2:36) to be eliminated.

NCAA Wrestling Championships (at Cleveland, Ohio) Stanford Results

Match by Match

Rudy Ruiz (118 pounds) -
defeated Brent Thompson (Kent State), 9-5;
pinned by #8 (seed) Tim Dernlan (Purdue), 2:47;
pinned by Eric Keller (Northern Iowa), 2:36.
ELIMINATED with 1-2 record.

Zach Zimmerer (126 pounds) -
lost to #5 Pat McNamara (Michigan State), 9-8;
defeated Ryan Egan (Northern Illinois), 13-9.
NEXT MATCH: vs. #11 Shawn Ford (Arizona State) on Friday.

Jeff Grant (167 pounds) -
lost to #6 Mark Bybee (Northwestern), 9-7;
defeated Josh Didion (Cleveland State), 5-0.
NEXT MATCH: vs. Ben Perkins (Iowa State) on Friday.