Clarion’s NCAA Division I Wrestling team will travel to the University of Pittsburgh on Tuesday, February 12^th, to battle the 21^st rated Panthers. Match time is set for 7:30pm at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.

The match can be heard on WWCH-AM 1300 in Clarion and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com.

Clarion, led by fifth year head coach Ken Nellis, enters the match with a 4-10 overall record and an EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) mark of 1-3. The Golden Eagles have posted an EWL win over Bloomsburg (28-13), and non-league wins over Buffalo (26-15), Findlay (25-15) and the Citadel (32-8). EWL losses have come against #10 West Virginia (23-12), #14 Lock Haven (25-13) and #15 Edinboro (23-15). Wrestling a very grueling schedule, Clarion also has losses to #3 ranked Ohio State (45-0), #17 Michigan State (34-7), #17 Central Michigan (34-9), and #24 Penn State (26-9).

Pittsburgh, led by 23^rd year coach Rande Stottlemyer, enters the match with an 11-4 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the EWL. The Panthers have notched EWL wins against Bloomsburg (35-9), Cleveland State (19-16) and Virginia Tech (26-16). Their fist EWL loss came on Saturday against Lock Haven (27-6). Key wins have been logged against Penn State (18-12) and Indiana (25-12).

"There should be a lot of good matchups on Tuesday night," said Clarion’s coach Nellis. "The fans at Fitzgerald should anticipate a lot of tight matches. The team that wins those close matches is the team that is likely to win the meet."

Clarion features three ranked wrestlers in #7 Rad Martinez (24-3) at 133, #8 John Testa (26-5) at heavyweight and #15 Eric Mausser (25-7) at 197. Also ready to wrestle will be Peter Derstine (15-10) at 125, Stephen Stremple (4-9) at 141, Dominic Surra (13-12) at 149, Jeremy Reitz (14-9) at 157, Jim Perry (4-14) at 165, Todd Schuchert (12-4) at 174 and Marcus Surin (2-21) at 184.

The Panthers also have three ranked wrestlers including #10 Carl Fronhofer (20-5) at 165, #16 David Sandberg (24-7) at 197 and #16 Blaise Mucci (15-11) at 141. The Panthers also have a very balanced lineup of quality wrestlers including James Thornton (6-7) at 125, Shawn Amistade (18-7) at 133, Justin Giovinco (17-5) at 149, Zach Doll (13-5) at 157, Matt Catullo (9-16) or Rob Black (5-13) at 174, Gregg Osbeck (1-2) at 184 and Jacob Lininger (30-7) at heavyweight.

CLARION NOTES: Clarion leads the EWL and overall series between the two schools by a 16-7-2 margin ... Clarion defeated Pitt 32-5 in last year’s match at Tippin Gym ... In the only repeat head-to-head match Clarion’s Mausser defeated Sandberg 4-1 in a very close match ... In 2000 Pitt defeated Clarion 33-6 at Fitzgerald ... 1996 Clarion tied Pitt 18-18 at Fitzgerald ... Clarion’s last win on the road at Pitt was in 1994 as Clarion won 26-9... Clarion’s coach Nellis has a 5-year record at Clarion of 29-42-2 ... He is a 1981 graduate of Pittsburgh - Shaler High School and was a 2-time PIAA State Champion for the Titans ... His shaler record was 124-3 ... Nellis went on to post a 113-28-5 record at Clarion from 1982-86 ... Pitt’s Rande Stottlemyer has a 23-year record of 196-170-9 entering Tuesday’s match ... The Golden Eagles have two home matches to finish the regular season... Clarion hosts Virginia Tech at 1pm on Saturday (Feb. 16), then hosts Cleveland State on Thursday (Feb. 21) at 7:30pm.