Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Wrestler Eric Lapotsky Named Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week
3/19/2007 8:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 19, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell wrestler Eric Lapotsky (Mount Carmel, Pa./Mount Carmel Area) was named the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday following a solid showing at the NCAA Championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Mich., last week. Lapotsky has earned the award three times during his freshman campaign, twice in the last three weeks.
Back on Mar. 3, Lapotsky received an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish at the EIWA Championships. At NCAAs, the 197-pounder dropped his first match of the tournament, 8-3 to Nick Roy of Michigan, but rebounded by pinning James Gibson of Edinboro 1:28. The pin was his 13th of the year, which tied him for fifth in Bucknell history for pins in a season.
In the next round of wrestlebacks, Lapotsky pulled the upset shocker of the day, knocking No. 1-seed Maxwell Askren of Missouri out of the tournament with a 5-2 decision and helping to spoil the Tigers' bid for an NCAA title. Askren had entered the NCAA Championships with an overall record of 28-1. Missouri fell 16 points short of national champion Minnesota in team scoring.
Lapotsky closed out his successful rookie campaign by falling to Jared Villers of West Virginia by the score of 7-3. In 2006-07, Lapotsky tied teammate Andy Rendos (Brockway, Pa./Brockway Area) for the most wins as the pair finished with overall records of 27-6. The duo also set the school record for dual meet victories as both finished 19-2 in duals competition.
As a squad, the Bison, who sent three qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, finished tied for 42nd out of a 74-team field. Bucknell totaled eight team points in the tournament, placing ahead of EIWA opponents, Columbia (T-44th), Army (53rd), and Brown (T-65th), and just two points behind Lehigh (T-38th).
