March 15, 2007

DETROIT, MI - Senior heavyweight Payam Zarrinpour (Shiraz, Iran) won his first two matches at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships on Thursday. His wins put him in the quarter-final round on Friday.

In his first bout, Zarrinpour won a 12-3 major decision over Cody Parker of Cal Poly. Zarrinpour threw his man early in the match and cruised home after that.

In his second match, the senior took on 7th seeded Matt Fields of Iowa. Zarrinpour won that bout 4-0.

He will face the #2 seed Aaron Anspach of Penn State in the quaterfinals tomorrow in the early afternoon.

"We came here to win the whole tournament," said SHU head coach Andy Seras. "I could see him coming up the mountain this year leading up to this point. He's been wrestling very well since February."