March 17, 2004

St. Louis, MO - Five members of 2004 Southern Conference Championship The Citadel Bulldog wrestling team will take to the mats at the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championship Tournament Thursday morning in St. Louis. Bulldog grapplers Ryan McClester, Sean Markey, Dan Thompson, Keith Clifton and Billy Linane will all represent The Citadel in the Savvis Center as the NCAA Tournament begins at 11 am.

McClester, a 125-pound junior, will be the first Citadel wrestler to see action as the 125-pound bracket will kick-off the championship Thursday morning. McClester, the 2004 Southern Conference Wrestler of the Year, earned his ticket to the nationals by winning the 125-pound SoCon title and posting a perfect regular season conference record of 5-0 with an overall record of 37-5. He will face Northwestern's John Velez, a sophomore who recorded a 26-11 mark, in the second round as both participants received first round byes. Fellow junior Sean Markey, the SoCon 133-pound runner-up, received a wildcard bid to the championships and will face the 12th seeded Jordan Webster of Central Michigan. Markey, who like McClester will receive a first round bye, won 32 of 39 matches will face the 133-pound Mid-American champ who was 26-3 in 2004.

With his first appearance at the NCAA Tournament, 157-pound Dan Thompson will match-up against no. 11 Derek Zinck of Lehigh. Thompson, a sophomore with a 26-10 mark, won the SoCon title at 157-pounds with a record of 26-10. He was 5-0 in SoCon regular season action and will take on the Zinck, who is EIWA champ, in the first round.

Clifton, who won the 174-pound SoCon title, will take on Northern Iowa's Eric Hauan in the first round of the 174-pound bracket. Clifton posted a 32-10 record as a junior, while Hauan, the five seed, won 27 of 30 bouts as a third-year grappler.

At heavyweight, junior Billy Linane, found his way to St. Louis with the automatic bid as the 2004 Southern Conference heavyweight champion. He will be matched up in the first round against Wisconsin's heavyweight Jareck Horton, who only won eight contests in 2004 in limited action. Linane comes into the tournament with 24 wins.

Clifton, Linane, Markey and McClester are all participating in their second NCAA Wrestling Championship, while Thompson is getting his first glance at the national tournament.

With five grapplers qualifying this season, the 2004 SoCon Coach of the Year Rob Hjerling has now had 13 Citadel wrestlers reach the NCAA Tournament.

The first round will begin at 11 am tomorrow, while the Quarterfinals will be at 10 am on Friday. March 19. The Semifinals will be held Friday afternoon, while Saturday, March 20 will see the Medal Rounds begin at 10 am. The Championship matches will be starting at 5 pm, with the awards ceremony immediately follow the final session Saturday night at approximately 8 pm. All matches will be held at the Savvis Center in downtown St. Louis.