March 5, 2008

Clarion's NCAA Division I Wrestling team is ready for its "second season" as the Golden Eagles prepare to compete in the 33rd annual EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) Championships, which also serves as the NCAA Division I Qualifying Tournament for its seven league members.

EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE 2 SESSIONS

The 2008 EWL's will be hosted at the University of Pittsburgh and Fitzgerald Field House on Saturday, March 8th. Session 1 is set for 10am and will feature quarterfinal action, followed by semi-finals and Round 1 consolations. Session 2 starts at 5pm and will have the consolation semi's, followed at 7pm by the championships finals and matches for third and fifth places. A total of 32 wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Tournament from the EWL=s including the top two finishers at each weight class and 10 wild card selections by vote of the head coaches.

Tickets will be available at the door. All Session passes are $15 for adults and $10 for students. Individual session tickets will also be available.

"We're looking forward to competing at the EWL's," said Clarion second year head coach Teague Moore. "Hard work, patience and steady improvement have been our main goals this season. We feel we've made steady strides forward this season, but this is where all that dedication and sacrifice are meant to pay off. The competition will be very strong, but our goal is to try and qualify wrestlers to the NCAA Division I National Tournament later in March."

CLARION'S 2008 EWL TOURNAMENT LINEUP

Clarion enters the EWL's with an 10-15-1 dual record and a 1-5 mark in the EWL. Ready to represent the Golden Eagles will be Jay Ivanco (24-12, Fr. Monroeville), at 125; Rob LaBrake (10-14, So. N. Bennington, Vt.) at 133, Sal Lascari (16-10; Jr., Gray) at 141; Hadley Harrison (21-9; So., McKean) at 149, Travis Uncapher (21-9, Fr. Grapeville) at157; Dominic Ross (5-4, Jr. Sharon) at 165, Mario Morelli (14-16; So., DuBois) at 174; Scott Joseph (11-19; So., Export) at 184; Jamie Luckett (9-6; Jr., St. Charles, Mo.) at 197 and Roman Husam (8-19, Fr. Lewisburg) at heavyweight.

PREVIOUS EWL TOURNAMENT RESULTS

The 2007 EWL's were hosted by Cleveland State and Edinboro won the team title with 113 points, West Virginia was second with 104.5 and Lock Haven was third with 98 points. Rounding out the seven team field were Pitt in fourth with 95.5 points, Bloomsburg fifth with 94.5, Cleveland State sixth with 77.5 and Clarion seventh with 35 points.

In 2006 at Edinboro, the Fighting Scots finished first with 120.5 points, West Virginia was second with 110.5, Pitt third with 97, Bloomsburg fourth with 94.5, Cleveland State fifth with 82, Lock Haven sixth at 70.5 and Clarion seventh 29.5 points.

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 nine of the last ten EWL Tournaments including titles in 2007, 2006, 2005, the tie in 2004, a win in 2003, and a string of four straight from 1998-2001. West Virginia tied for first in 2004 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.

2008 EWL TEAM RACE

Edinboro, ranked 15th as a dual meet team, is the pre-tournament favorite. Pitt is ranked #23 and could challenge on their home mats, while West Virginia or Bloomsburg could also make a bid if Edinboro falters. Edinboro was 6-0 in the league and 11-3 overall, while Pitt was 5-1 in the EWL and 13-4 overall. West Virginia was 4-2 in the EWL and 8-5 overall, while Bloomsburg was 3-3 in EWL duals. Lock Haven was 2-4 in the EWL, Clarion 1-5 and Cleveland State 0-6.

CLARION NOTES: 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, 2000, 2006 & 2007 ... 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 St. Louis March 20-22... TV Coverage of the EWL's are scheduled as follows: "SPORTSTIME OHIO - March 16 - 7am; Fox Sports Pittsburgh March 11 - Noon; March 15 - 1pm; March 22 - 1pm; Dish and Direct TV Sports Packages - March 16, 7am.

Rankings are the best between Intermat and AWN Magazines:

WEIGHT CLASS PREVIEW:

125 - Bloomsburg's (#7) Mike Sees, a two-time runner-up, is favored to win the title... A battle between the other entrees includes Edinboro's Eric Morrill, Lock Haven's John Trumbetti, Kyle Turnbull (WVU), Brad Gentzle or Ryan Bosso of Pitt, Jay Ivanco of Clarion and Ryan Riggs of Cleveland State will be interesting. Gentzle was third the last two years, Morrill fourth last season and Riggs fifth in 2007.

133 - A wide open weight class. Edinboro's Ricky Deubel, Bloom's Jason Guffy, Pitt's Jim Conroy, Clarion's Rob LaBrake, and Cleveland State's Josh Palivoda will look to challenge. Deubel was 5th at 125 in 2006 and LaBrake 6th.

141 - Pitt's (#19) Drew Headlee looks to be the top seed. Trying to get to the finals will be Bloom's Darren Kern, Clarion's Sal Lascari, Torsten Gillespie of Edinboro, Owen Wilkinson (L.H.) and Mike Hurley (Cleveland St.). Headlee was the champ at 133 last year and third in 2005. Headlee was 8th at nationals in 2005. Kern was the runner-up here last year and Clarion's Lascari defeated Kern in this year's dual 3-1. Hurley was 6th last year and 3rd in 2006 and Lascari 6th at 133 a year ago.

149 - A talented and balanced field awaits at 149 this year. WVU's Dave Jauregui was second here last year (3rd in 2006), Edinboro's Daryl Cocozzo was the champion at 141, Cleveland State's Ryan Hurley was third in 2007 and 2005 & 5th in 2006, Pitt's Joe Ciampoli was 5th at 141 and Clarion's Hadley Harrison was 6th at 149 last year. Lock Haven's Matt Fittery has some impressive wins this season and Bloom's George Hickman (6th in 2006) is also capable of placing high.

157 - The most talented weight class features 4 ranked wrestlers. 2007 NCAA Champion at 149 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro), won the EWL title in 2006 & 2007, and is the favorite. #7 Matt Kocher (Pitt), #18 Zac Fryling (WVU) and #19 Matt Moley (Bloom) all could make the finals. Kocher (All-American-5th in 2007) was second last year (6th in 2005) and Fryling 3rd last year and 3rd at 165 in 2005), while Moley was 4th at 149 last year. Also ready to challenge is Clarion's Travis Uncapher who defeated Kocher 7-6 two weeks ago. LH's John Mangini and CSU's Rob Michaels will also look to place. Should be fun here.

165 - Edinboro's #15 Jarrod King will be the favorite at 165. The battle to face King in the finals could be interesting with Marcus Effner (CS), Donnie Jones (WV), Landis Wright or Derek Caldwell (LH), Ethan Headlee (Pitt), Ricky Schmelyun (Bloom) and Dominic Ross (Clarion). Jones defeated Effner 5-4 in the dual two weeks ago. Effner was third last year (5th at 157 in 2005), Schmelyun fourth, Wright fifth at 165 and Ross 5th at 174.

174 - Pitt's #1 Keith Gavin, an NCAA runner-up last year, is a heavy favorite to repeat his 2007 EWL title. Ready to mount a challenge will be Phil Moricone (Edinboro), who was third here last year and West Virginia's Chance Litton (3rd-184 in 2007; 4th-184 in 2006). Cleveland State's J.T. Miller, Clarion's Mario Morelli, Bloomsburg's Brian Shaw and Lock Haven's Tom Kocher or Mike Metzger are all capable of placing high. Miller pinned Moricone and Morelli pinned Miller in dual results this year. Metzger was 3rd here last year and 5th at 184 in 2005 and Morelli 6th at 165.

184 - WVU's #18 ranked Kurt Brenner and Edinboro's #19 Chris Honeycutt figure to be in the finals. Brenner defeated Honeycutt 8-5 in their dual meet matchup this year. LH's Jeremie Cook, Clarion's Scott Joseph, Pitt's Dave Sullivan, Bloom's Jesse Hasseman and Cleveland State's Derek Cummins will all look to place. Joseph is 7-4 in his last 11 duals with wins over Cummins, Hasseman and Sullivan. Brenner was 2nd at 174 last year and the champion in 2006, while Hasseman was 4th at 197 in 2006. Cook placed 3rd at 197 last year.

197 - Two-time EWL Champion #14 Jared Villers of WVU is the favorite to repeat here, while Edinboro's Pat Bradshaw is expected to challenge. Villers pinned Bradshaw in the dual. Clarion's Jamie Luckett, LH's Ben Hepburn, Bloom's Eric Shaw, Pitt's Dave Crowell and Cleveland State's Ben Balogh will battle to place.

285 - Heavyweight has 5 ranked wrestlers in the top 20 in the nation. Bloom's Mike Spaid is the two-time defending champion here, while #12 Zach Sheaffer (Pitt), #12 Joe Fendone (Edinboro), #15 Dustin Rogers (WV) and #17 Rashard Goff (CS) can make the finals. Goff was 3rd last year with Fendone 4th and Rogers 5th. Sheaffer was the champ hee in 2005, while Goff was also second in 2006. Fednone was 4th at heavyweight last year and 2nd at 197 in 2006. Clarion's Roman Husam and Lock Haven's Dan Craig will compete here.