Heavyweights bring heavy hitting to semifinals
By BILL HART
Sports Writer
If Sunday's quarterfinals are any indication, tonight's Bengal Bout semifinals should provide plenty of hard-hitting action. But unlike the lighter weight classes, upsets have yet to appear on the radar screen. If anything, this should lead to some of the most exciting bouts of the tournament.
175-pound division
In one of the most tightly contested brackets of the tournament, all four top seeds advanced to berths in tonight's bouts. Top seed Tom "The Tulsa Bomber" Biolchini picked up from where he left off on his last two titles, knocking down Paul "Beast of the East" Riley just more than a minute into the first round.
Biolchini will face off against fellow off-campus senior Tom "How Ya Like Me Now?" Dietrich, who knocked off Chris Viasnoras with a flurry of punches late in the third round.
"Tom's obviously an excellent boxer," Dietrich said about the upcoming match. "I've got to stay away from his punches and put in a few of my own."
The other bout of the division features two juniors, Steve "The Angry Pirate" Pfeiffer and Josh "The Sandman" Thompson, who each tallied decisive victories in their first jaunts in the ring. Pfeiffer knocked down sophomore William Pepek 20 seconds into the third round by forcing him into a corner and scoring a left-right combo. Thompson's long reach and steady pacing earned him a unanimous decision over sophomore Kurt Kurple,
180-pound division
Top seed Joey "Soda Pop" Leniski faced a major challenge in the quarterfinals, earning a split decision over upset-minded sophomore Keith Arnold.
"My first thoughts [during the bout] were that it was hard to determine the rankings," Leniski said about the bout. "Based on our sparring, all of us in our division are pretty close in our ability. Keith was a tough competitor, but I wasn't surprised by how difficult it was."
Leniski will face Morrissey senior Doug "Sauce Doggy Dogg" Bartels, who
defeated Pete Smith in a split decision by halting a comeback late in the third round.
Two high seeds meet in the other half of the bracket, as sophomore Marc Criniti faces Tom "The Hitter " DeSplinter in the alternate bout.
After earning a bye in the preliminaries, Criniti used two knockdowns to defeat Bobby "I'll make you pay Castro" Kennedy just over a minute into the second round. DeSplinter won a unanimous decision over Chris Prill with an effective combination of agility and aggressiveness.
190-pound division
After knocking off an experienced senior on Sunday night, freshman Chris "The Sweet Scientist" Pearsall will meet up with top seed Mike "Honey" Hammes in the first bout of the bracket. Hammes earned the only bye of the division, while Pearsall soundly defeated Tom "The Mad Mick" Herrity in a unanimous decision.
On the other side of the bracket, Dillon sophomore Kevin "Hardcore" Brandl will meet classmate Jason "It's not Easy Being J-Rod" Rodriguez for the right to box in Friday's finals. Brandl advanced in one of the most evenly fought bouts of the quarterfinals, defeating Patrick "The Hitman" Otlewski in a split decision.
"I expect a really good fight from Rodriguez," Brandl said about his upcoming match. "I just want to come out there strong and keep my punches straight."
Rodriguez defended his high seeding by knocking down Gavin "The Morning Glory" Hagens is convincing fashion, using multiple left jabs to stop the fight 29 seconds into the third round.
200-pound division
After watching the preliminaries and quarterfinals from the sidelines, junior captain Peter "Beat the Rap" Ryan will look to defend his top seed in a bout against sophomore Joe "It'll Take You a Month to" Healy. Ryan's absence from the quarterfinals was unexpected; a walkover was called late Tuesday evening after his opponent, Dustin Ferrel, aggravated a bicep injury he suffered earlier this year.
After watching the bouts of the past weekend, Ryan looks eager to step into the ring.
"I'm going to try to be more aggressive than usual," he said. "To try to take control of the fight early. I think I'm going to have more endurance than my opponent, so I'd like to see if I can take it the whole distance."
Healy advanced to the semifinals with a win over Zahm senior Greg Joseph, taking advantage of late-round fatigue to earn the split decision.
In the other bout of the night, graduate student Dan "Let Me" Adam will fight his first bout of the night against senior Jonathon "BGP" Pentzien.
Adam's quarterfinal opponent, senior Chris Craylor, suffered a shoulder injury which forced the second walkover of the division. Pentzien, the second seed of the bracket advanced with a victory over graduate student Steve Pratico, knocking him down early in the second round.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, February 29, 2000
