UC Davis’ Low, Abel Advance to Pac-10 Championship Finals

DAVIS, Calif. – Brandon Low earned a comeback victory at 133 while Barrett Abel won by a 5-3 decision at 149 Friday to advance to the finals of the 2010 Pac-10 Wrestling Championships at The Pavilion in Davis, Calif.

Low, the top seed at 133 pounds, advanced to the finals by way of a narrow 4-3 decision over Arizona State’s Ben Ashmore, the No. 4 seed. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the third period, Low used a takedown to go up one point on Ashmore, then held on for the final 10 seconds to seal the win and earn a place in the championship. Low will face No. 3 Boris Novachkov of Cal Poly.

In the first session Friday, Low pinned Boise State’s Ben DeMuelle at the 6:04 mark to advance to the semifinals.

At 149 pounds, Abel, the No. 2 seed, edged Arizona State’s Vicente Varela, seeded third, to move on to the finals. He will face No. 4 Nick Fisher of Cal State Fullerton who stunned the crowd by pinning Boise State’s Jason Chamberlain, ranked sixth nationally, at the 4:24 mark.

It is the first championship appearance for both Low and Abel.

Trevor Machado-Ching will compete for a place in the 157-pound consolation semifinals and will face Te Edwards of Arizona State. Machado-Ching, seeded seventh, dropped his first round matchup against Cal Poly’s Chase Pami by a 15-6 major decision, then edged Cal State Bakersfield’s Andrew Balch with a 2-1 decision to advance to Saturday.

Abe Otrambo advanced at 197 pounds after Cal State Fullerton’s Ethan Weisrock forfeited due to injury. Otrambo lost his first round bout with Oregon State’s Chad Hanke by a 9-3 decision. Otrambo will face Boise State’s Matt Casperson who is seeded fourth.

Ricky Alcala will also see action Saturday as he defeated Stanford’s Dylan Rush by an 11-3 major decision at 285 in the second round Friday. Alcala, the fourth seed, dropped to the consolation bracket after a narrow 3-1 loss to fifth-seeded Kurt Klimek of Cal State Fullerton. Alcala will take on Arizona State’s Erik Nye who is seeded second.

Saturday’s action begins at noon with the consolation semifinals and fifth- and seventh- place matches. The championship finals will begin at 4 p.m. with an awards ceremony to follow.

Courtesy of UC Davis Sports information