NCAA D-I QUALIFIER
CLARION READY FOR 31ST EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS MARCH 4 & 5
Clarion's NCAA Division I
Wrestling team is ready for its “second season” as the Golden Eagles prepare to
compete in the 31st annual EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) Championships, which
also serves as the NCAA Division I Qualifying Tournament for its seven league
members.
EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE 4 SESSIONS
The 2006 EWL's will be hosted at
Edinboro’s McComb Fieldhouse. Session 1 is set for 11am Saturday March 4th and
will feature quarterfinal action. Session 2 starts at 6pm on Saturday and
features semifinal matches and round 1 of consolations. Session 3 starts Sunday
March 5th at 10am and will have the consolation semi's, followed immediately by
the consolation finals. Session 4 will feature the championship final matches
starting at 4pm. A total of 35 wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Tournament
from the EWL's including the top three finishers at each weight class and five
wild card selections.
Tickets will be available at the door. All-Session passes will be $30 at the
door for adults and $20 for students. Individual session tickets will also be
available at the door.
“We’re looking forward to the
challenges the EWL tournament brings,” said Clarion ninth year head coach Ken
Nellis. “We have a very young team, but this tournament will give each of our
wrestlers a barometer of how much they have improved during the season. The
competition will be very strong, but our goal is to qualify as many wrestlers as
we can to NCAA Division I National Tournament.”
Clarion enters the EWL’s with an 0-17
dual record, but that record does not reflect the number of injuries the Golden
Eagles have had to sidestep this season. Clarion had six starters out for most
or all of the dual meet season.
PREVIOUS EWL TOURNAMENT RESULTS
The 2005 EWL’s were hosted at
Clarion’s W.S. Tippin Gym. Edinboro won the team title with 113 points, with
Lock Haven second at 104 and Pittsburgh third with 98. Rounding out the field
were fourth place West Virginia with 93, Bloomsburg fifth with 81 and Clarion
and Cleveland State tied for sixth with 62 points.
The 2004 EWL Tournament,
hosted at Bloomsburg, saw the most closely contended title race in league
history. When the dust settled, West Virginia and Edinboro tied for first place
with 99.5 points, while Pittsburgh was third with 97 points, Cleveland State
fourth with 80.5, Bloomsburg fifth with 79, Clarion sixth with 70, Lock Haven
seventh with 57.5 and Virginia Tech eighth with 44.5.
The 2003 EWL Tournament,
hosted by West Virginia, saw Edinboro win the team title with 129.5 points and
West Virginia second with 123.5. Cleveland State finished a distant third with
80.5, Lock Haven fourth with 75.5, Pitt fifth with 75, Clarion sixth with 63.5,
Virginia Tech seventh with 44.5 and Bloomsburg eighth with 44.
The 2002 EWL Tournament was
won by West Virginia with 114.5 points, Edinboro second with 104.5, Lock Haven
third with 104, Pitt fourth with 87.5, Cleveland State fifth with 67, Clarion
sixth at 66, Virginia Tech seventh with 48.5 and Bloomsburg eighth with 41
points. The 2002 EWL’s were hosted by Lock Haven.
The 2001 EWL tournament was
won by Edinboro with 123.5 points, with Lock Haven finishing second at 95, Pitt
third with 94.5 and Clarion fourth with 87 points.
Edinboro has won or tied for first in
six of the last seven EWL Tournaments including titles the tie in 2004, a win in
2003, and a string of four straight from 1998-2001. West Virginia, who is the
pre-tournament favorite, tied last year and won the title in 2002, while Lock
Haven won in 1997, West Virginia in 1996 and Clarion won back-to-back titles in
1994 and 95.
LOOK AT THE 2006 EWL TEAMS
This year’s favorite to win the team
title? Edinboro is the heavy favorite to win the team title this year. The Scots
have won or tied for first in 7 of the last 8 EWL tournaments. The battle for
second seems to be between West Virginia and Bloomsburg.
Edinboro, under ninth year coach Tim
Flynn, put together an overall record of 12-0 to go with their perfect 6-0 EWL
record. The Fighting Scots defeated West Virginia (40-5) and defeated Bloomsburg
(30-9) in EWL duals. He has a career dual record of 94-31-3 with the Scots.
West Virginia, under 28th year head
coach Craig Turnbull, was 5-1 in the EWL and 6-6 overall. The Mountaineers won
the EWL regular season title in 2002 and 2003 and the EWL Tournament title most
recently in 2004 (tie) and 2002. Turnbull has a career record with WVU of
232-160-7
Pittsburgh and coach Rande
Stottlemyer are in their 27th season together. The Panthers finished 2006 with a
2-4 EWL and 4-9 dual meet record. The Panthers had some injuries during the
season and hope to get healthy for EWL’s. Coach Stottlemyer has a career dual
meet record of 227-197-10. The Panthers were third in2005, 2004 and 2001 and a
team high second in 1997 and 1989.
Bloomsburg, under first year head
coach John Stutzman, put together a 4-2 EWL dual slate and an overall record of
11-9 in 2006. The Huskies have a very balanced lineup and finished fifth at
EWL’s last year.
Lock Haven, under fourth year head
coach Rocky Bonomo, posted a 2-4 EWL league record and a 6-13 dual meet mark
this season. The Bald Eagles were a surprising second last year. Cleveland
State, under ninth year head coach Jack Effner, was 2-4 in the league and 6-8
overall.
Clarion’s lineup for the EWL’s
will likely have Toby Seger (11-10; So. Glenshaw/Shaler) at 125;
Robert LaBrake (9-18; Fr. N. Bennington, Vt.) at 133; Greg Lewis
(14-10; Fr. New Providence) at 141; Derrick Smith (2-13; Fr. Mexico,
N.Y.) at 149; Lucas Christopher (6-16; Fr. McMurray) at 157; Chris
Goings (0-3; So. Centerville, Va.) at 165; Dave Gardner (14-14; Jr.
N. Huntingdon/Norwin) at 174; Dominic Ross (2-19; Fr. Sharon) at 184; Logan Downes (5-20; Fr. New
Kensington/Valley) at 197 and A.J. Brooks (12-16; Fr. Lewes, De.) at
heavyweight.
Only Clarion’s Goings and Gardner
have competed at the EWL’s in previous years. Goings last year was fourth at 174
going 1-2 at the tournament. Gardner was 0-2 at 184 last year.
CLARION NOTES: The Golden Eagles are getting 125-pounder Toby Seger back after missing the last two months with a knee injury... Clarion has been without 6 starters this year with injury... Three important vets have been out since the Clarion duals... Captain T.J. McCance (Jr. Butler) at 149 wrestled in only 1 tournament and missed the entire season ... 197-pounder Matt Wilcox (So. Guys Mills), who qualified for the D-I Nationals in 2004, hasn’t wrestled since mid-December with a shoulder injury and 184-pounder Charlie Cilinski (Jr. Gainesville, Va.), suffered a back injury and also missed most of the season... With Seger out, and also starter Nick Billups (Fr. Princeton, Iowa), along with Chris Goings who only returned to the lineup a couple weeks ago from a bout with mono, the Eagles have had to do battle this year without six starters... Clarion has crowned 51 EWL champions since the league started in 1976... The Golden Eagles have crowned at least one individual champion in every year except 1983, 1989 and 2000 ... Clarion has three team titles including 1980, 94 and 95 ... Kurt Angle won 4 titles (1988. 1990-92) ... Charlie Heller (1980-82), Sheldon Thomas (1994, 96, 97) and John Testa (2001-2003) are the only other Clarion wrestlers to win three EWL individual titles since the league began in 1976... The NCAA's are in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from March 16-18.... TV Coverage of the EWL Championship finals — Fox Sports Pittsburgh Sunday March 12th 1pm and Friday March 17th at 1pm... Fox Sports Ohio Sunday March 18th at 1pm... and CSTV Monday March 13th at 8pm, Tuesday March 14th at 2:30am and 8pm.
WEIGHT CLASS PREVIEW: (Courtesy of Bob Shreve - Edinboro SID):
125 lbs. – Bloomsburg’s Mike Sees, the defending champion, figures as the
favorite The sophomore has a 23-3 record and enters the EWL’s with a nine-match
winning streak. He is ranked eighth by Amateur Wrestling News and 14th by
InterMat. Lock Haven sophomore Obenson Blanc and Edinboro’s Ricky Deubel, a
redshirt freshman, figure to pose a stiff challenge. Blanc is ranked 13th by
Amateur Wrestling News and 16th by InterMat with a 23-8 record, and was third a
year ago. Deubel, meanwhile is 22-10 with seven falls, and is ranked 18th by
Amateur Wrestling News and 20th by InterMat. Sees has defeated Blanc twice, 8-5
and 5-2, and is also 2-0 against Deubel, winning a pair of closes matches, 7-5
in overtime and 2-1. Deubel and Blanc have split two matches this year, with
Deubel a 16-0 winner by technical fall at the Southern Scuffle, but Blanc coming
back for a 12-6 win in the dual meet. Cleveland State’s Joe Wornoff will look to
crack the top three. The junior placed fourth a year ago, and has a 10-7 record.
Three more youngsters make this a very promising weight class for the future.
Sophomore Toby Seger of Clarion is 11-10, while Pittsburgh’s Brad Gentzle (7-14)
and Scott Stuart (2-14) of West Virginia are freshmen with an eye on the future.
133 lbs. – Shawn Bunch of Edinboro seeks his fourth EWL crown, and third
at 133 lbs. A year ago Bunch finished with a 40-2 record, reaching the national
finals before finishing as the runner-up. The senior has been just as dominant
this year, going 32-1 and currently riding a 16-match winning streak. Bunch is
ranked first in both the InterMat and Amateur Wrestling News’ polls. A year ago
Bunch was pushed to the limit before claiming a 4-3 decision over West
Virginia’s Seth Lisa. Lisa returns in hopes of pulling the upset. The senior has
a 12-9 record, with a recent 14-6 loss to Bunch. Pittsburgh’s Mike Ciotti is
another senior in hopes of a trip to Nationals. He has a 15-8 record, with a 4-1
EWL dual meet ledger, losing only to Bunch. He placed fourth at 149 lbs. a year
ago. Cleveland State’ David Armstrong, a sophomore, shows a 16-11 ledger,
although he was unable to crack the threesome of Bunch, Lisa and Ciotti.
Bloomsburg freshman Rick Donald also has 16 wins, with a 16-11 record. Lock
Haven junior Casey Moore (10-21) and freshman Robert LaBrake (9-18) of Clarion
round out the field.
141 lbs. – Nationally-ranked Ron Tarquinio of Pittsburgh and West
Virginia’s Brandon Rader figure to have a spirited battle for the 141 lb. title.
Tarquinio looks for his third straight trip to the finals after winning the
crown in 2004 and dropping a 3-1 overtime decision to Clarion’s Frank Edgar a
year ago. The senior comes in with an 18-8 record and is ranked seventh by
InterMat and ninth by Amateur Wrestling News. Rader is a talented freshman who
has compiled a 23-3 record with eleven extra-point wins. He has split a pair of
matches with Tarquinio, losing 3-1 in the Las Vegas Invitational, but then
coming back for an 8-2 win a month ago. Rader is ranked seventh by Amateur
Wrestling News and 15th by InterMat. Bloomsburg’s Brad Forbes looks to elbow his
way in between this duo. The senior owns a 23-6 record, including a narrow 2-1
loss to Tarquinio. Edinboro junior Rick McLaughlin has a 17-14 record, with a
pair of narrow losses to Forbes. Clarion freshman Greg Lewis is 14-10, with Mike
Hurley of Cleveland State, a junior, showing an 11-14 record, and Brian Ellis of
Lock Haven, a sophomore, coming in at 4-11.
149 lbs. – Lock Haven’s Joshua Medina is the returning champion, but he
does not enter the tournament as the favorite. That designation would have to go
to Edinboro’s Gregor Gillespie, a freshman who comes in with a 34-2 ledger. Both
wrestlers are nationally-ranked, with Gillespie ranked seventh by InterMat and
eighth by Amateur Wrestling News, and Medina 18th and 20th, respectively.
Gillespie has won 13 matches by technical fall, including 15-0 against Medina in
the dual meet. He also handed Medina a 9-4 defeat in the PSAC Championships
title match. Gillespie has won 11 straight bouts. Medina, a senior who is a
former junior college All-American, owns a 22-7 record. The big question is
whether someone else can crack the top two. It is a young and talented field,
with David Jaureguit a third ranked competitor, standing 11th in the Amateur
Wrestling News rankings. The Mountaineer freshman owns a 19-5 record, but has
wrestled just twice since January 22. Another freshman to watch is three-time
PIAA champion Joey Ecklof, now a freshman at Pittsburgh. Ecklof has a 17-10
record, but has lost three of his last four matches. However, they’ve been to
Jauregui (3-1), Medina (5-4, and Gillespie (6-0). The rest of the field includes
Bloomsburg sophomore George Hickman (13-18), Cleveland State junior Ryan Hurley
(8-14), who placed third a year ago, and Derrick Smith of Clarion, a freshman
with a 2-13 record.
157 lbs. – Like the 149 lbs. weight class, the field at 157 lbs. features
three nationally-ranked wrestlers, led by West Virginia’s Matt Lebe. The senior
is the defending champion, and brings a glossy 30-3 record into the EWL’s He had
won 11 straight matches before suffering a 6-4 overtime loss to Edinboro’s Matt
Hill, but he rebounded against one the league’s impressive newcomers, claiming a
10-2 major decision against Victer Crenshaw of Cleveland State. His other two
losses came by decision to top-ranked Alex Tirapelle of Illinois. Lebe fell from
second to fifth in InterMat’s rankings after the Hill loss, while remaining
third in the Amateur Wrestling News poll. A year ago he earned All-American
honors with a seventh place finish at Nationals. Lock Haven’s Seth Martin is
ranked 14th by Amateur Wrestling News and 17th by InterMat. The senior has a
32-9 record with 11 falls. Lebe edged Martin, 10-9, in mid-February, but Martin
owns a pair of wins against Hill. The Edinboro junior vaulted to 19th in the
InterMat rankings with the win over Lebe, and has a 21-7 record despite missing
time due to several injuries. A year ago Martin prevailed 5-0 over Hill in the
third place match, although Hill earned a trip to Nationals as a wild card
selection. Keep an eye on freshmen Aric Furhman of Bloomsburg and Crenshaw.
Furhman is 21-13, with a pair of two-point losses to Martin. Crenshaw owns a
19-13 record. Pittsburgh sophomore Sean Richmond (10-16) and Clarion freshman
Lucas Christopher (6-16) round out the field.
165 lbs. – Edinboro’s Deonte Penn and Justin Nestor of Pittsburgh figure
to be the two favorites. The two have split a pair of matches this year, with
Nestor winning by fall at 5:40 in the Southern Scuffle, and Penn rebounding with
a 3-1 decision. That is part of an 11-match winning streak for the junior, who
is 26-9 with 11 falls. The victory over Nestor boosted Penn to 20th in the
InterMat rankings. Penn redshirted a year ago, but in 2004 he won the 149 lb.
EWL title. Nestor had occupied the 20th spot in the rankings before the loss to
Penn, and left the senior with a 23-8 record. The Panther placed fourth a year
ago. Larry Hall will represent West Virginia. The freshman has a 9-5 record.
Cleveland State junior Tim Scarl brings a 10-5 record into EWL’s, while while
Bloomsburg senior Frank Beasley is 15-21. Rory McCoy, a sophomore from Lock
Haven with a 4-10 record, and Clarion’s Chris Goings, who is 0-3 after just
returning in February, complete the weight class. Goings was fourth at 174 lbs.
a year ago.
174 lbs. – In one of the more wide-open weight classes, no fewer than
four grapplers could challenge for the crown. Jim Bertulis of Bloomsburg seeks
his second straight EWL crown after moving up from 165 lbs. The senior has
missed considerable time due to injury, but has a 14-3 record with five falls.
Edinboro senior Eric Ring comes in with a 28-10 record, including a recent 2-0
decision over Bertulis. He also handed WVU’s impressive redshirt freshman, Kurt
Brenner, a 7-1 defeat in his last match, but has split with Lock Haven’s Carlos
Ponce. Ring placed second a year ago. Brenner is 20-6 and actually the only
ranked wrestler of the group, standing 15th in the Amateur Wrestling News poll.
Ponce captured third place a year ago, and comes in with an 18-13 record. The
senior split a pair of 4-2 decisions with Ring. Clarion’s Dave Gardner, a
junior, comes in with a 14-14 record, while Pittsburgh sophomore Nick Padezan is
11-16 and Cleveland State senior Anthony Mestek is 10-14. Sophomore David Gilkey
(9-13) is also a possible competitor for the Vikings. Padezan owns an 8-5 win
over Ponce.
184 lbs. – For the first time in four years the 184 lb. class won’t be
dominated by Greg Jones. The former West Virginia national champion has taken
his four EWL crowns to the WVY bench as an assistant coach, likely leaving
Cleveland State’s Ron Howard and Alex Clemsen of Edinboro as the favorites.
Howard, a senior, is unranked but has a 10-7 win over Clemsen as part of his
25-7 record. He has won nine straight matches, going 6-0 against EWL foes during
that time. Howard placed third a year ago. Clemsen’s lone loss in EWL action
came to Howard. The junior has a 29-7 record and is ranked 17th by InterMat. He
redshirted a year ago, but took second place in 2004 and was third in 2003.
Clemsen has won 10 of his last 11 matches, interrupted by the Howard setback.
Keep an eye out for oncoming Derrick Morgan of Lock Haven and Bloomsburg’s Nate
Shirk. Morgan, a senior, is 22-11, and while he’s dropped decisions to both
Howard and Clemsen, he has a 6-1 win over Shirk. Shirk is a tough junior with a
15-10 ledger, with two losses to Clemsen and one to Howard. Chance Litton of
West Virginia is 6-13, while Clarion’s Dominick Ross is 1-17. They are both
freshman. Pittsburgh sophomore Kyle Deliere is 6-18.
197 lbs. – Edinboro’s Joe Fendone wasn’t even a starter until early
January. Now the redshirt freshman is the favorite at 197 lbs., thanks to a 26-6
record with 10 falls. He has won his last 11 matches. Fendone ended the dual
meet season with a fall over West Virginia’s Jared Villers, who is sure to look
for revenge at EWL’s. The Mountaineer sophomore has a 17-10 record, with nine
wins going for extra points. Keeping with the youthful theme in this year’s
tournament, Lock Haven freshman Tom Kocher has a 16-15 ledger. Bloomsburg
sophomore Jesse Hasseman is 15-15, with Mike Heist of Pittsburgh, a junior,
coming in at 6-16. The final two competitors are Cleveland State senior Ishmal
Williams (4-11) and Clarion freshman Logan Downes, who is 5-20 while competing
at 165 lbs.
285 lbs. – A trio of sophomores spearhead a weight class that has none of
the top four finishers back. Mike Spaid of Bloomsburg has a 20-9 record with
five falls. He placed fifth last year, and came away with the PSAC crown earlier
this year. Cleveland State’s Rashard Goff was 5-1 in EWL action and 21-15
overall with five falls. He has come on strong of late, with wins in nine of his
last ten matches. The lone loss – a 3-0 decision to Spaid. He had earlier
defeated Spaid by a 3-0 count. Edinboro’s Jeremy Mosley stepped into the
starting lineup in early February, and ended up winning four of his five EWL
bouts. The lone loss – a 4-0 decision to Goff, who also beat him 1-0 in the
Cleveland State Open. But Mosley upset Spaid, 6-3, part of his 15-9 record. Lou
Thomas of Pittsburgh moved up to heavyweight early in the year after finishing
fourth at 197 lbs. last year. The sophomore shows a 7-12 record. Clarion
freshman A.J. Brooks is 12-16. Rounding out the field is senior Tim Meyers of
Lock Haven, who is 6-21, and West Virginia junior Matt Holsopple, who has a 3-14
record