Although its St. Patrick’s Day today (March17th), the NCAA Wrestling Pot of Gold awaits 10 NCAA Division I wrestlers at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri this Saturday, March 22nd, where the "Rainbow" ends and the best collegiate wrestlers in the nation are crowned. Clarion will have 4 NCAA Qualifiers competing this year including John Testa (Heavyweight, Sr. Newark, De. St. Mark’s High), Eric Mausser (197, Sr. Sharon, Pa.), Rad Martinez (133, Sr. West Jordan, Utah) and Frank Edgar (141- So. Toms River, N.J., Toms River East).

The 73^nd NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships will get underway on Thursday, March 20th with Round 1 beginning at 11am. A second prelim round will start at 6:30pm, followed by a round of consolations. Friday has the quarterfinals starting at 10am, with the semi’s slated for 5:30pm Friday night. Saturday will feature the All-America place matches starting at 9am, with the championship finals scheduled for 2:30pm. Saturday’s early times are a result of ESPN 2's coverage of the event. The championship finals will be aired Saturday at 7:00pm, which is the third year in a row that the finals have been aired with "same day" coverage.

Last year Minnesota won the 72^nd NCAA Division I Nationals at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York. The Golden Gophers scored 126.5 points, besting Iowa State who was second with 104 and Oklahoma who was third with 101.5. Rounding out the top five were Iowa with 89.5 in fourth place and Oklahoma State in fifth with 82.5.

Clarion meanwhile scored 7 team points and finished in 41^st place as a team.

In 2001 Minnesota won the nationals at Iowa’s Carver - Hawkeye Arena scoring 138.5 team points, edging Iowa who finished with 125.5 in second place and Oklahoma State who was third with 115.5 points. Minnesota was the only team ever to win an NCAA title without posting a finalist. Clarion finished 42^nd with 4 points.

Iowa won the team title in 2000 with 116.0 points, edging Iowa State with 109.5 points. Rounding out the top 5 in 2000 were third place Minnesota with 80 points, fourth place Oklahoma with 69.5 and fifth place Oklahoma State with 66.5. Clarion finished 26^th with 15 points.

The team title in 2003?

This year’s title appears to be shaping up as a battle between three teams for the national championship. Oklahoma State, ranked #1 in the final poll, appears to have a slight advantage over two-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota and the always tough Iowa Hawkeyes.

The Cowboys under eleventh year head coach John Smith last won the NCAA title in 1994 and hope to return to the promised land. Oklahoma State has a rich tradition dating back to 1928 as the Cowboys have won a total of 30 national titles.

Minnesota, under J. Robinson, are the two-time defending champions and won the Big Ten Championship over Iowa by 5.5 points.

Remember, the Iowa Hawkeyes won 6 straight NCAA titles (1995-2000) before finishing second in 2001 and fourth last year. Iowa has won 20 NCAA crowns since 1975 and should be figured to be in the title mix under coach Jim Zalesky.

The closest team title in years was in 1999 at the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State, when Iowa edged Minnesota 100.5 - 98.5 points. That team title was decided in the last match of the tournament when Minnesota heavyweight Brock Lesnar (current WWE Star) lost a 3-2 decision to Cal-Bakersfield’s Stephan Neal.

Clarion will be led by sixth year head coach Ken Nellis. The Golden Eagles posted a 9-8 dual meet record and a 2-5 mark in the rugged Eastern Wrestling League. Clarion finished 6^th as a team in the recently completed EWL Tournament and qualified four wrestlers to the nationals. The qualifiers include EWL Champion John Testa at heavyweight, third place finisher Eric Mausser at 197, third place finisher Rad Martinez at 133 and wild card selection and fifth place EWL finisher Frank Edgar at 141.

Testa, a senior, defeated WVU’s Brent Miller in the EWL finals to win his third league title. In winning his third title, Testa joined elite company at Clarion. Former heavyweight Kurt Angle won 4 titles (1988, 90-92), and Charlie Heller (1980-82) won three at 177 pounds, while Sheldon Thomas won three (1994, 96, 97) at 118 pounds. Earlier this season Testa became only the 12^th wrestler in PSAC history to win four titles. His 40 wins this season ties him for fourth in single season wins with Wade Schalles (40-0-1, 1974), Bill Simpson (40-4-2, 1974), Jim Beichner (40-4, 1985) and Mark Angle (40-1, 1999). Clarion’s single season record is 48 held by Mike Cole (1989). Earlier this season Testa won his fourth straight PSAC title and became only the 12^th wrestler in PSAC history to win 4 crowns. He enters the NCAA’s with a 40-2 season record and a career mark of 131-26. He ranks as the third winningest wrestler in Clarion history behind Wade Schalles (153-5-1) and Mike Cole (150-31-2).

Testa is making his fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2003. Last year Testa posted a 2-2 record and nearly earned All-America honors. Seeded #12, he opened with a 4-3 tie breaker win over Navy’s Steven Kovach, then defeated 2001 NCAA Champion John Lockhart (Illinois) 2-1 tie breaker. He lost his quarter final match to Minnesota’s Garrett Lowney 6-2 and was defeated by Kevin Hoy of the Air Force 6-2 in the All-America round and finished with a 34-7 record.

In 2001 Testa was seeded #8 at heavyweight, opened his NCAA Tournament with a 12-3 major decision win over Adrian Thompson (Howard), but lost a 3-2 decision to Oklahoma’s Leonce Crump in round 2 and then lost a 4-2 decision to Kevin Hoy of Air Force and finished the season at 29-6.

In 2000 he was 3-2 at nationals after posting a 28-11 record. He enters the NCAA’s with a tournament record of 6-6.

Mausser, a senior, placed third at EWL’s defeating Cleveland State’s Stipe Miocic 5-2 for third place. In the semi’s he had a 2-1 lead (with riding time) over #5 ranked Dave Shunamon of Edinboro with less than ten seconds left when Shunamon hit a back roll and was credited with a pin at 6:58. Mausser currently has a season record of 34-7 and also placed third at the PSAC Tournament. The Clarion senior is also going to the NCAA’s for the fourth time and is looking to earn All-America honors.

Last year Mausser was the EWL and PSC champion, was 3-2 at nationals and lost his All-America match in the final second on a fall to Missouri’s Scott Barker, but led that match 4-3 inside the final 20 seconds before a controversial call ensued. He opened 2002 with a loss to eventual NCAA Champ Cael Sanderson (Iowa State) by fall at 3:32, then defeated Greg Enyon (Millersville) 11-0, Chris Jones (Drexel) 7-2 and Edinboro’s Shunamon 5-3 before losing to Barker.

In 2001 Eric was 2-2 at nationals. In his opening match he was pinned at 5:49 against #5 seed Owen Elzen of Minnesota, then defeated Lock Haven’s Avery Zerkle 3-2, and continued with a 7-6 win over Ty Matthews of Indiana. In his fourth match he lost a 3-1 decision to #4 seed Rusty Cook of Boise State. Mausser finished the year with a 29-11.

In 1999 Mausser posted a 25-16 overall record and qualified for the NCAA’s with a second place finish at EWL’s. He was 0-2 at the NCAA’s/. He red-shirted the 2000 season.

Mausser has a 5-6 career NCAA record and has a Clarion career record of 122-43.

Martinez, a senior, also had a strong season for the Golden Eagles posting a 37-8 overall record while placing third at the EWL Championships and winning the PSAC’s. Martinez is ranked #12 by Intermat and #14 by AWN entering the NCAA’s. He has a career record entering the NCAA’s of 94-25.

Last year Martinez was the EWL Champion entering the NCAA’s and seeded #12, but lost his first two matches. He lost his opening bout to Marat Tomaev (Penn State) 5-4, then lost to Virginia Tech’s Dave Hoffman 5-3, ending his season with a 28-7 record.

Martinez, who had an elbow injury prior to the 2001 NCAA’s, was 0-2 at nationals losing a 9-4 decision to Ben Richards of Oregon State, then in the wrestle backs he lost a 4-1 decision to Nick Boucher of Cleve.St.

Edgar, a red-shirt sophomore, is making his second trip to the NCAA’s. Frank is going to Kansas City with a season record of 26-16 after placing fifth at the EWL tournament and earing a wild card selection from the coaches. He also finished fifth this year at the PSAC Championships. In 2001 as an unseeded freshman Edgar was 1-2 at the NCAA’s in his first trip. In his opening match Frank was pinned at 2:48 by Donnie DeFilippis (#5 seed) of George Mason, then rebounded for a 5-4 win over Tom Waldron of Cornell in the wrestle backs. In his next match he lost 10-0 decision to Pat Diaz of James Madison. He finished that season with an overall record of 17-18 including a 4^th place finish at EWL’s and at PSAC’s.

CLARION NOTES: The heavyweight class at NCAA’s is extremely talented with returning champion Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) and runner-up Steve Mocco (Iowa) leading the field... Garrett Lowney (5^th - Minnesota), Paul Hynek (6^th - Northern Iowa) and Kevin Hoy (8^th - Air Force) are also returning All-Americans... Add to that #4 ranked Kellan Fluckinger (Arizona State), #5 Matt Feast (Penn), #6 Pat Cummins (Penn State) & #7 Boe Rushton (Boise State) and you see how talented heavyweight will be ... 6 All-Americans return at 197 including last year’s runner-up Jon Trenge (Lehigh), while 6 All-Americans are back at 133 includnig winner Johnny Thompson (Ok. St.) and runner-up Ryan Lewis (Minnesota) ... Clarion has had tremendous success at the NCAA’s over the years ... 8 individual titles have been won including two by Kurt Angle (1990, 92), two by Wade Schalles (1972, 73), and one each by Sheldon Thomas (1996), Garry Barton (1972), Don Rohn (1973) and Bill Simpson (1973) ... Clarion also has 40 NCAA Div.I All-Americans ... Bryan Stout was Clarion’s only 4-time A-A (1994-97) ... 3-time All-Americans include Kurt Angle (1990-92), Sheldon Thomas (1995-97), Don Rohn (1973, 74, 76) and Charlie Heller (1980-82)... Nellis also led Clarion to a 27^th place finish with 16 points in 1999 and a 24^th place finish in 1998 with 25 points... Bob Bubb who coached Clarion from 1967-92 led Clarion to top team finishes of 4^th in 1973, 6^th in 1972 and 1987 and 8^th in 1992 ... Under Bubb Clarion had 16, top 25 finishes at the NCAA’s and 12, top 20 endings ... Jack Davis (1993-97) led Clarion to a 12^th place finish in 1996, 14^th in 1997 and 15^th in 1994 and 95 .... Clarion has an NCAA match record of 289-244.