Mike Reilly 1
Mike Reilly will look to compete for a national championship when the NCAA Division III Tournament begins Friday in La Crosse, Wisconsin

King's Reilly Looking to Compete for NCAA Division III Wrestling Title, Enters National Tournament as No. 4 Seed

3/10/2011 9:36:59 AM

MARCH 9, 2011
 
KING'S REILLY MAKING RETURN TRIP TO NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIPS, CRESTWOOD GRADUATE SEEDED 4TH AT NATIONALS

Division III National Tournament Website: 
http://www.ncaa.com/championships/wrestling/d3

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La CROSSE, WI -- King's College wrestling standout Mike Reilly (Mountain Top/Crestwood) will have his sites set on winning a national championship when the Monarch junior standout competes in the 2011 NCAA Division III National Wrestling Championships March 11-12 at the La Crosse Center in La Crosse, WI.

Mike Reilly
Reilly has been seeded fourth at 174-pounds in the preliminary seeding that was announced earlier in the week. It marks the 11th straight year King's has qualified at least one wrestler for the Division III national tournament.

Reilly is hoping to become the second King's wrestler to win an NCAA Division III national crown. David Morgan won back-to-back titles for the Monarchs in 2007 and 2008. Reilly is also hoping to become the second wrestler in his family to earn all-American honors. His older brother Jason Reilly placed fourth at 197-pounds in 2007. The top-eight place-winners in each weight class are named all-Americans.
 
Winning back-to-back Metropolitan Wrestling Conference championships as a freshman and sophomore in 2008 and 2009, Reilly gained valuable experience by qualifying for the NCAA Division III national tournament both seasons. Although he went a combined 2-4 in six national tournament matches at 174-pounds, Reilly was poised for a big year during the 2009-10 season. Bumping up to 184 pounds, Reilly opened the year with a 13-0 mark before suffering a broken ankle and torn ligaments in December and would miss the rest of the season.

After receiving an NCAA medical red-shirt, thus retaining junior eligibility, Reilly came back with a vengeance and concluded the 2010-11 dual meet season with a 27-1 mark. He wrestled the majority of the year at 184 and was ranked fourth nationally at that weight by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Reilly, however, elected to drop down to 174 with two weeks left in the regular-season to increase his odds of making a deep run at a national title.

Since dropping to 174, Reilly has gone 6-0 and won a third Metropolitan Conference title on February 27. He went 3-0 at the event, pinning his first two opponents before winning in the finals by a second period injury default over Julian Meaney of Elizabethtown. After two previous appearances at the NCAA Tournament, Reilly is fully focused on winning a national championship.

“The experiences I had in the past helps a lot as I got the nerves out of the way,” Reilly stated. ”I am really excited and focused. I feel like my physical strength will be a difference. The last two times I was at nationals I was a little under weight. But having to come down in weight now I feel like I will be a little stronger than a lot of the guys at my weight.  My goals are different as well. The previous two times I was just hoping to win a match or two and maybe place, but now my main goal is to win a national championship. There has been a lot of hard work and dedication put into this and hopefully I can take that next step and become a national champion.”
 
Reilly ventures to Wisconsin with an outstanding 30-1 overall record and is expected to be among the top eight seeds at nationals. His only loss of the year came on December 1 at 184-pounds to Mike Denver of the College of New Jersey, who is ranked third nationally. Since then, Reilly has won 18 straight matches heading to the La Crosse Center. He owns a 93-13 career mark with the Monarchs.

According to the preliminary bracket, Reilly is slated to face unseeded Zachary Bates of Bridgewater (MA) State College who enters the event with a 32-7 record. Should Reilly advance, he would face the winner between the other first-round pairing between fifth-seeded Matt Pfarr (26-7) of St. John's (MN) and Kyle Roosa (28-9) of Wesleyan. If the seeds hold true, Reilly would face top-seeded Kyle Kwait (29-4) of Ohio Northern in the semi-finals.   On the other side of the bracket, Michael Schmitz (23-5) of host Wisconsin La Crosse is seeded second while Zach Militor (25-3) of Augsburg is the third seed. Reilly was eliminated by Schmitz in the 2009 national tournament during the second round of consolations.

"Mike has an excellent opportunity to go to Wisconsin and wrestle an outstanding tournament," King's head coach Ned McGinley stated. "He is healthy, in great shape, and has a world of confidence in his abilities. I think he has a shot at being seeded as high as fourth but we will have to see how that plays out. After getting injured last season, Mike has been especially motivated to return to nationals and now that he is there, the sky is the limit. He has the talent and ability to win it all. It is a tough weight class and every match is going to be a battle, but Mike has what it takes to get the job done."

Wrestling will begin Friday at 11:00 p.m. at the La Crosse Center. Day two of the competition is set to begin Saturday at 10:00 a.m.  Championship finals are slated for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.
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