Photo Courtesy of Tony Rotundo/tech-fall.com

ST. LOUIS – Senior Matt Fittery (Denver, Pa./Cocalico) of the Lock Haven University wrestling team went 1-1 today at the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

Fittery, the 2009 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Champion opened his second straight NCAA Championships with one of the biggest wins in his career, as he took down Penn State’s Bubba Jenkins 12-6.

Jenkins was the number-two seed and only had one loss on the year prior. His lone loss came in the Big Ten finals, where he fell to No. 1 Brent Metcaff of Iowa.

When Fittery and Jenkins met earlier this season in dual-meet action Jenkins, the 2008 national runner-up pinned Fittery.

Jenkins held a 4-1 lead after the first period, thanks to two first-period takedowns.

Early in the second Jenkins scored two points on a reverse, but Fittery quickly countered with a reverse of his own and he quickly tacked on two near fall points.

Fittery still trailed after two periods 6-5, setting things up for a thrilling third.

Fittery chose the bottom to start the third and quickly earned the escape to the tie the match, but then he went to work on Jenkins. Fittery took him down and put him on this back, scoring three near fall points. A riding time point helped Fittery down Penn State’s junior All-American 12-6.

Fittery dropped his second match of the day, as he fell to Hofstra’s Paul Gillespie 9-4 tonight.

The NCAA Championships kicked off this morning at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo. Action runs until Saturday night’s finals.

Fittery is back in action tomorrow (Friday, March 20) morning.

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