Cannon, Borshoff Acheive All-America Status at 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships

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March 20, 2009

St. Louis, Mo. - Juniors Mike Cannon and Kyle Borshoff achieved All-American status Friday night at the 2009 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo. Cannon and Borshoff will return to the mat Saturday morning and wrestle for seventh place in their respective weight classes.

In earning All-America honors Friday, Cannon and Borshoff have garnered the seventh and eighth All-America honors in AU wrestling history. Cannon becomes the second wrestler in the program's history to earn multiple All-America accolades while Borshoff is the fifth different wrestler to take home the prestigious honor. Under head coach Mark Cody, American has crowned at least two All-Americans in each of the last three years and has had at least one wrestler earn All-America each season since 2005.

Cannon guaranteed himself All-America status for the second straight year with a 4-1 decision over Oklahoma State's Newly McSpadden. Cannon and McSpadden fought through two scrambles in the first period with neither grappler scoring a takedown and took a 0-0 tie into the second period. McSpadden went ahead in the second with an escape 30 seconds into the period and led by the same 1-0 margin to begin the third. In the final frame Cannon quickly escaped from his down starting position to even the score and then pressured McSpadden with several fake shots. Midway through the period Cannon was able to use one of his fakes to get McSpadden out of position and on a reshot scored the first takedown of the match to go ahead, 3-1. Cannon remained in control for the remainder of the period and with 1:34 of riding time advantage took the decision, 4-1.

In his final match of the day, Cannon dropped a 10-6 decision to 11th seeded Quentin Wright from Penn State. Wright went on top early in the first period, countering several Cannon shots, and built a 6-2 lead. Cannon scored an escape to begin the second period but another Wright takedown off a scramble put Cannon behind by six, 9-3. The junior cut the lead to 9-6 in the third period with a takedown but could not overtake Wright and fell by a final score of 10-6.

Cannon will wrestle for seventh place in the 174 lbs. weight class Saturday morning against eighth seeded Christopher Henrich from Virginia. Cannon and Henrich have yet to meet this year.

Borshoff earned a 5-1 decision over Oklahoma's Kyle Terry to ensure himself All-America status. Borshoff scored first in the match with an ankle pick with only seven seconds remaining in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Terry, seeded ninth, escaped in the second period to narrow the score to 2-1 but would not score again. Borshoff rolled through Terry in the third period for an escape to move his advantage to 3-1 and then scored a takedown off a scramble midway through the frame to ensure the victory, 5-1.

Borshoff lost his final match of the day by a score of 4-0 to Wisconsin's Kyle Ruschell, the fifth seed. Ruschell scored a takedown early in the first period and rode Borshoff for the remainder of the period to pick up 2:38 of advantage time. Borshoff began the second period on top but gave up an escape point to move the score to 3-0. The junior chose to begin the third period neutral but could not score a takedown to overcome his deficit and with riding time advantage Ruschell took the victory, 4-0.

Borshoff, like Cannon, will now wrestle for seventh place at 149 lbs. on Saturday. Borshoff is poised to face unseeded Heinrich Barnes from Oregon State, who he has yet to wrestle this year.

American is currently tied for 31st place in the team standings with 17.5 team points following the round of 12.

Cannon was knocked from championship contention earlier in the day by way of a 6-5 loss to seventh seeded Mike Miller from Central Michigan. Cannon took an early lead over Miller, 4-1, after connecting on two low single-leg shots early in the first period. Cannon began the second period up but gave up an escape point to Miller to cut his lead to 4-3. The junior went back on top by two with an escape to begin the third period, 5-3, but Miller connected on a single-leg shot shortly after to even the score at five. As the third period neared an end Miller had built up over 1:00 of riding time, putting Cannon in a position where he needed to score. Cannon appeared to have reversed Miller near the edge of the mat as time expired but no points were awarded and the match went to Miller, 6-5.

Borshoff won two matches during the morning session on Friday, including a fall over Matthew Fittery from Lock Haven at the 5:49 mark in his second match of the session. Borshoff and Fittery took a 0-0 tie into the second period where Borshoff quickly jumped on top, 3-0. Borshoff escaped from his down starting position to take an initial 1-0 lead and then scored a takedown off a scramble to go ahead by three. The Eagle began the third period on top and after riding Fittery for approximately 30 seconds locked up a cradle. Borshoff was then able to turn Fittery and score the fall, AU's first of the competition, at the 5:49 mark.

Borshoff picked up a 3-2 decision in his first bout of the morning over Boise State's Jason Chamberlain. The two wrestlers took a 0-0 tie into the second period where Chamberlain struck first with an escape from his down starting position. Borshoff reversed Chamberlain early in the third period to take a 2-1 lead but Chamberlain evened the score back up with a second escape, 2-2. Neither was able to connect on a shot once again before time expired and with 1:20 of riding time advantage Borshoff picked up the win, 3-2.

Andrew Silber was eliminated from competition at 197 lbs. during Friday morning's session after falling to Kent State's Eric Chine. Silber looked to have connected on two low single-leg shots in the first period but Chine was able to force a scramble and earn the takedown himself each time to take a 4-2 lead into the second. Silber cut his deficit to 4-3 with an escape to begin the second period but another counter maneuver by Chine resulted in a third takedown to move the score to 6-3. Trailing 8-4 in the third period, Silber locked in a cradle and looked to be on his way to scoring a fall. Chine, however, was able to roll through for a reversal and took the match by a final score of 10-5.

Saturday's Championship Medal Round will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET and will be aired live on ESPNU. Cannon and Borshoff will both be in action during the session as they wrestle for seventh place in their respective weights.