NCAA WRESTLING PREVIEW
                    FRANK EDGAR & CHRIS HORNING READY FOR NCAA D-I NATIONALS
                    NATIONALS HOSTED AT SAVVIS CENTER (ST. LOUIS, MO) MARCH 17-19
        The 75th NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship will begin on St. Patrick’s Day (March17th). The NCAA Wrestling Pot of Gold awaits 10 NCAA Division I wrestlers at the Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri this Saturday, March 19th, where the “Rainbow” ends and the best collegiate wrestlers in the nation are crowned. Clarion will have 2 NCAA Qualifiers competing this year including Frank Edgar (141, Sr. Toms River, N.J.) and Chris Horning (157, Jr. Syracuse, N.Y.).
        The 75th NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships will get underway on Thursday, March 19th 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 6:00pm Friday night. Saturday will feature the All-America place matches starting at 9:30am, with the championship finals scheduled for 4:00pm. (All times listed here at local - Missouri times).
        Last year at St. Louis, Oklahoma State won the 74th NCAA D-I Nationals also held at the Savvis Center. OSU scored 123.5 points and ran away with the team title, while Iowa was second 82 points. Rounding out the top five were Lehigh and Ohio State tied for third with 77.5 points and Nebraska fifth with 74. Clarion was 55th with 3.5 points.
        In 2003 Oklahoma State won the 73rd NCAA D-I Nationals held at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri. OSU won the team title going away with 143 points, while two-time defending champion Minnesota finished second with 104.5 and Oklahoma was third with 78. Rounding out the top five were Lehigh in fourth place with 69 points, and Arizona State fifth with 65. Clarion finished in 26th place scoring 22 points with only four wrestlers qualifying for nationals.
        In 2002 Minnesota won the 72nd 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 41st 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 to win an NCAA title without posting a finalist. Clarion was 42nd with 4 points.
        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 at nationals by eighth year head coach Ken Nellis. The Golden Eagles posted a 3-13-1 overall record and an 0-6 mark in the EWL. Clarion finished tied for 6th at the recently completed EWL Tournament (hosted by Clarion) and qualified two wrestlers to nationals. The qualifiers include EWL Champion Frank Edgar (141) and runner-up Chris Horning (157).
        Edgar, a red-shirt senior, is making his fourth trip to nationals and is seeded #9 at nationals. His first round match will be against Iowa freshman Alex Tsirtsis (Griffith, Indiana). He was 21-10 this season and was 3-2 at the Big Ten Tournament. Tsirtsis is unseeded. If Edgar were to win, he would likely get the #8 seed in the next round, which is Pitt’s Ron Tarquinio.
Edgar won the 2005 EWL title at 141-pounds by defeating Pitt’s Ron Tarquinio 3-1 in overtime in the finals. He defeated Bloomsburg’s Brad Forbes 6-2 in the semi’s. His 2-0 record pushed his season record to 38-7 and his career record to 118-53. Thus far in 2005 Frank has won at EWL’s, PSAC’s and at East Stroudsburg, while placing third at Mat Town and 6th at Las Vegas.
        In 2004 Edgar was 0-2 at nationals after placing 5th at EWL’s. He also won at PSAC’s and was 36-9. In 2003 Edgar was 0-2 at nationals, placed 5th at EWL’s and PSAC’s and was 26-18 overall. He red-shirted 2002 and qualified as a freshman for nationals in 2001. He was 1-2 at nationals that season after finishing 4th at EWL’s and PSAC’s. He was 18-19 his freshman year.
        Last year at nationals Edgar had a tough draw and was 0-2. He lost 4-3 to #10 seed Doug McGraw (Penn) and in the wrestle backs to #9 seed Cory Cooperman (Lehigh) 12-3.
        Horning, a junior, is seeded #11 at nationals. In the first round he will wrestle unseeded Brad Cieleski, a senior at Missouri. Cieleski placed second at the Big 12 Tournament, losing in the finals to Oklahoma State’s Kevin Ward 6-4. He has a season record of 22-8 with the Tigers. Cieleski, a native of nearby Brookville, Pa., transferred to Missouri from Slippery Rock where he wrestled from 2001-2003. He sat out last year and is currently grad student at Missouri. He was a 3-time NCAA Qualifier at Missouri. If Horning were to win, he would likely get #6 seed Trent Paulson of Iowa State, who was third at the Big 12 Tournament.
        In 2005 Horning has posted a quality record of 26-5. Placing second at EWL’s, he lost in the finals to WVU’s #7 ranked Matt Lebe (3-2). In the semi’s Horning defeated Pitt’s Matt Kocher a 3-2. Thus far in 2005 Horning was 2nd at EWL’s, first at PSAC’s, third at East Stroudsburg and fourth at Las Vegas. He has a career record of 68-34 at Clarion.
        Last year Horning went to the NCAA’s as the EWL Champion having defeated Lebe 7-4 in the finals. At nationals he was 2-2 defeating Paul Siemon (Hofstra) 7-2 in the opening round, then lost to eventual champion Matt Gentry of Stanford 8-4. That match was tied 4-4 in the third before Gentry gained the advantage. Chris then bounced back to defeat Minnesota’s Matt Nagel 3-2, before losing a tough 5-4 decision to Iowa State’s Travis Paulson. Horning was 26-10 at 157 last year and runner-up at PSAC’s. In 2003 he was 16-19 at 165 and third at PSAC’s.
        CLARION NOTES: Clarion had two All-Americans in 2003 when Rad Martinez finished fifth at 133-pounds and John Testa was eighth at heavyweight... 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 42 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 27th place finish with 16 points in 1999 and a 24th place finish in 1998 with 25 points... Bob Bubb who coached Clarion from 1967-92 led Clarion to top team finishes of 4th in 1973, 6th in 1972 and 1987 and 8th 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 12th place finish in 1996, 14th in 1997 and 15th in 1994 and 95 .... Clarion has an NCAA match record of 304-263.