Omaha, NE - Sophomore P.J. Gillespie remains alive in Friday's third round of consolations at the 2010 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Qwest Center.

Gillespie (Long Beach, NY) split his two 165-pound matches Thursday, losing to 11th-seeded Rick Schmelyun from Bloomsburg University in the opening round, 4-0, before posting a 9-2 victory over Virginia Tech's Matt Epperly in the consolations late Thursday night. In his first match against Schmelyun, the match went into the third period scorless before the Bloomsburg wrestler recorded a three-point nearfall and got the riding time point for the 4-0 victory. In the nightcap, the match was scoreless after two periods before Gillespie exploded for nine points in an action-packed third period.

Gillespie (31-14) will advance to Friday's third round of the consolations where he will face Cornell's Justin Kerber. The two wrestlers faced each other twice this season with Kerber winning both times, 5-2 at the Southern Scuffle in December, and 3-1 in sudden victory at Cornell in February.

Sophomore Ben Clymer (Germansville, PA) was knocked out of the tournament after suffering a 3-2 loss to Michigan State's Nick Palmieri in the 184-pound opening round of the Championships, and a 3-1 loss to Cornell's Steve Bosak in the second round of the consolations late Thursday night. In Clymer's first match, Palmieri posted a takedown early in the first period. Clymer cut the deficit in half with an escape later in the period and tied the contest in the second with an escape. But Palmieri tallied a late escape in the third for the 3-2 win. In the consolations against Bosak, Clymer took a 1-0 lead into the finals period on an escape in the second period. But Bosak escaped in the third and then recorded a double-leg takedown in the waning seconds for the victory. Clymer, who placed second at the CAA Championships earlier this month, ends his season with a 24-9 record.

Senior Jonny Bonilla-Bowman, Hofstra's third NCAA Championship qualifier, had a injury withdrawal from the tournament. The four-time NCAA qualifier and three-time conference champion, who placed third at the CAA Championships earlier this month, ends his season with a 19-5 record and his Hofstra career with a 62-28 mark in three seasons with the Pride after transferring from Virginia Tech.

Friday's Session III of the NCAA Championships begin at 10:30 a.m (EDT).

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