The 2002-2003 Clarion University Wrestling team is ready to roll out the mats on a new season. The Golden Eagles will host the Clarion Duals at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium on Sunday, December 15^th to open the season.

Clarion will square off against Drexel at 1pm, then wrestle Kent State at 3pm and Findlay at 5pm. There will be three mats running at the same time for the 1pm, 3pm and 5pm matches. Also participating this year will be Lock Haven and American University and tickets will be available at the door.

The first match against Drexel can be heard on WWCH-Radio (1300AM) with Rich Herman and former Eagle mentor Bob Bubb bringing the play by play and color commentary. The match can also be heard on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com.

Head coach Ken Nellis begins his sixth season directing the program having posted a five-year dual meet record of 31-43-2. Last year the Golden Eagles posted a 6-11 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the Eastern Wrestling League. Clarion placed third at PSAC’s, sixth at the EWL Tournament and 41^st at the NCAA Division I National Championships.

In 2001 the Eagles were 11-3 overall and finished the EWL regular season in third place with a 5-2 league mark. Nellis’ Eagles went on to place 4^th at the PSAC’s, 4^th at the EWL’s and 42^nd at the NCAA Division I Nationals at Iowa.

"There are some outstanding individual wrestlers coming to Clarion for the duals and area fans will have an opportunity to see some quality individual bouts during the day," said coach Nellis. "We hope area fans will come out and see a good day of wrestling.

Clarion will be led by its captains in heavyweight John Testa (Sr. Newark, De./St. Mark’s), 197-pounder Eric Mausser (Sr. Sharon) and 133-pounder Rad Martinez (Sr. West Jordan, Utah).

Testa enters Sunday with a 13-1 record this season and a career mark at Clarion of 104-25. He has already captured the West Virginia and Penn State Open titles and is ranked as high as #7 in the nation.

Mausser, also ranked #7, has won the West Virginia and East Stroudsburg Open and enters the weekend with a 12-2 record. He has also reached the coveted 100 win plateau and has a career mark of 100-38.

Martinez, who is ranked # 19 at 133, has a 13-2 record to start the season. Martinez has a career record at Clarion of 70-19.

Also leading the lineup are veterans Peter Derstine (Jr. Coral Springs, Fla) at 125, Frank Edgar (So. Toms River, N.J.) at 141 and Jeremy Reitz (Jr. Brookville) at 157. Derstine has a season record of

141-pounder Frank Edgar (So. Toms River, N.J.) and 157-pounder Jeremy Reitz (Jr. Brookville).

Derstine enters Sunday with a quality mark of 13-4, while Edgar is 8-4 and Reitz 11-3. Also expected to see time on Sunday are Jim Perry (Sr. DuBois, 7-6) or Stephen Stremple (So. Pgh-Plum, 2-4) at 149, Chris Horning (Fr. Syracuse, N.Y., 6-4) or Jamie Durkin (So. Lawrence, Ma., 4-4) at 165, David Gardner (Fr. N. Huntingdon, 8-4) at 174 and either Charlie Cilinski (Fr. Gainesville, Va. 0-6) or Eric Spence (Fr. Colubus, Ohio, 2-6) at 184.

Drexel enters the duals with a 1-2 under 27^th year head coach Jack Childs. The Dragons defeated Slippery Rock 38-9, but lost to Lehigh (33-7) and Lock Haven (31-6). Top wrestlers include heavyweight Mike Carroll (11-2), 197-pounder Chris Jones (Rated #13; 9-2) and 125-pounder Rob Rebmann (9-3).

Kent, under sixth year coach Frank Romano, has a 3-0 dual meet record. The Golden Flashes have defeated Mercyhurst (42-3), Gardner-Webb (43-0) and Binghamton (41-3). Top wrestlers include 125-pounder Jared Opfer (12-3), Drew Opfer (13-3), 141-pounder Ryan Simmons (11-3), and 165-pounder Nick Nemeth (Ranked #9; 13-1).

Findlay is coached by Shawn Nelson who is in his 4^th year with te "Roughnecks". Findlay is 1-4 with their win coming against Princeton (25-11). Defeats have come against Edinboro (34-3) and Bloomsburg (33-7) of the Eastern Wrestling League and Slippery Rock (25-15) and Ohio U. (36-3). Freshman 197-pounder Clint Salisbury (won at the Wisconsin Open), along with 125-pounder Don Dew, 157-pounder Adam Morris, and 184- Kris Klepacz are top wrestlers.

Lock Haven comes to Clarion under first year coach Rocky Bonomo with an impressive 4-1 record. The Bald Eagles have defeated #7 ranked Iowa State (15-15 criteria), along with wins over Rider, Rutgers and Drexel. #3 ranked Mike Maney at 141 lead the Eagles.

American University is 1-2 in dual meets under first year head coach Mark Cody. 149-pounder Mark Hoffer has the career win record at American and is 125-34 overall, while Willie Harris is a sparkling 66-39 at 125.

CLARION NOTES: The Golden Eagles will participate in the Reno Open on December 19^th before heading home for the holidays... The Eagles then come back for the Ohio State Duals on January 4^th and will wrestle four duals in one day starting at 11am.