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March 5, 2009
Clarion's NCAA Division I Wrestling team is ready for its "second season" as the Golden Eagles prepare to compete in the 34th annual EWL (Eastern Wrestling League) Championships. EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS HAVE 2 SESSIONS The 2009 EWL's will be hosted at Lock Haven University's Thomas Fieldhouse on Saturday, March 7th. 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 22 wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Tournament from the EWL's via the new selection system. The new national qualifying system will then identify the next best wrestlers at each weight class who did not qualify across the country to fill out the national bracket. Tickets will be available at the door. All Session passes are $25 for adults and $20 for students. Individual session tickets will also be available. "We're looking forward to competing at the EWL's," said Clarion third 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 2009 EWL TOURNAMENT LINEUP Clarion enters the EWL's with an 8-14 dual record and a 1-5 mark in the EWL. Ready to represent the Golden Eagles will be Jay Ivanco (17-11, So. Monroeville), at 125; Cameron Moran (7-5, Fr. James City/Kane) at 133, Sal Lascari (14-13; Sr., Gray) at 141; Greg Lewis (9-11, Jr. New Providence) at 149, Hadley Harrison (19-11; Jr., McKean) at 157, Dominic Ross (10-16, Sr. Sharon) at 165, Scott Joseph (13-12; Jr., Export) at 174; Clint Podish (18-13, Fr. Sycamore/Waynesburg Central) at 184, Jamie Luckett (19-10; Sr., St. Charles, Mo.) at 197 and Roman Husam (6-12, So. Lewisburg) at heavyweight. Harrison finished third at EWL's last year at 149, qualified for the D-I Nationals and went 0-2 at nationals. Jay Ivanco finished 3rd at EWL's in 2008 and was a wild card alternate, while Jamie Luckett was 4th at 197 and Joseph was 6th at 184. PREVIOUS EWL TOURNAMENT RESULTS The 2008 EWL's were wrestled at Pittsburgh and Edinboro won the team title with 133 points, Pitt was second with 111.50, West Virginia third with 103.5, Bloomsburg fourth with 86, Lock Haven fifth with 70.5, Clarion sixth with 55 and Cleveland State seventh with 53 points. 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. Edinboro has won or tied for first in 10 of the last 11 EWL Tournaments including titles in 2008, 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. 2009 EWL TEAM RACE Edinboro, ranked 14th as a dual meet team, is the pre-tournament favorite. West Virginia was just outside the top 25, while Pitt was ranked most of the season. If anyone is to challenge Edinboro, it would be Pitt or West Virgnia. Edinboro was 5-0-1 in the league and 14-4-1 overall, while WVU was 4-0-2 in the EWL and 8-4-2 overall and Pitt finished with a 4-1EWL mark and a 4-7-1 overall record. Bloomsburg (3-3, 9-7), Lock Haven (2-4, 7-9-1), Clarion (1-5, 8-14) and Cleveland State (0-6, 4-13) are also ready to wrestle. 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, 2006-2008 ... 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 19-21... TV Coverage of the EWL's are scheduled as follows: "SPORTSTIME OHIO - March 12 - 7pm, March 15 - 5am; Fox Sports Pittsburgh March 12 - 1pm; March 15 - 12:30pm; Dish and Direct TV Sports Packages, Fox College Sports - March 12, 1pm... The new qualifying system has already established qualifiers across the country in each weight class - 165, 174, 184 and 197 have 27 automatic spots, 125, 133, 141, 149 have 28 spots and 157 and 285 have 29 spots determined by league qualifiers.... Since each bracket is limited to 33 wrestlers, the brackets will then be filled by the next best wild card entries left available via the season ranking system. Those will be determined in the days following the completion of all national qualifiers. Rankings are the best between Intermat and AWN Magazines: WEIGHT CLASS PREVIEW: 125 (Top 3 Qualify)- Edinboro's (#1) Paul Donahoe will win this weight class. He was the 2007 NCAA Champion and finished third at nationals last year in a Nebraska uniform. He transferred to Edinboro in the summer of 2008. A strong battle between Clarion's Jay Ivanco, Bloom's Ian Moser, LH's Nick Hyatt and Pitt's Chris Albright will be fierce to try and get a top 3 finish here. Ivanco was third last year. CSU's Jordan Keebler and West Virginia's Kyle Turnbull (6th in 2008) make this a very deep weight class. 133 (Top 2 Qualify) - Defending champion (#20) Jimmy Conroy of Pitt and Edinboro's #16 Ricky Deubel are favored to get to the finals. Deubel was third last year and 5th at 125 in 2006. Also looking to challenge for a finals spot will be LH's Billy Ashnault (2nd last year), Bloomsburg's Jason Guffy (5th in 2008), Cleveland State's Josh Palivoda (4th in 2008), Clarion's Cameron Moran and WVU's Tyler Oravec. 141 (1 Qualifier - Champ) - Pitt freshman #12 Tyler Nauman is favored at 141-pounds. His challengers will be Bloom's Ricky Donald (3rd at 133 - 2008), Edinboro's Steve Waite (3rd at 141 for WVU last year), Clarion's Sal Lascari (6th at 133 in 2007), LH's Zach Kell, CSU's Lawrence Cavello and WVU's Colin Johnston. 149 (Top 3 Qualify) - The title bout will likely come down to #17 David Jauregui (WV) and Edinboro's Torsten Gillespie. Jauregui was 2nd here in 2008 and 2007 and third in 2006. Gillespie was second at 141 last year. Gillespie defeated Jauregui 10-5 two weeks ago. Bloomsburg's George Hickman (6th in 2008, 2007), LH's Matt Fittery (4th in 2008), Clarion's Greg Lewis (6th at 141 - 2006), Pitt's Mark Powell and CSU's Antonio Nicholson will all look to place. 157 (Top 3 Qualify) - One of the most talented weight classes features 2007 NCAA Champion at 149 Gregor Gillespie (Edinboro), won the EWL titles in 2008, `07 and 06, and is a three time All-American. #9 Matt Moley (Bloom) was second last year and 4th at 149 in 2007, while Clarion's Hadley Harrison, also an NCAA Qualifier last year who was 3rd at 157 in 2008 and 6th at EWL's at 149 in 2007 is also ready to try and make the finals. Also looking to place will be LH's Ollie Cooperwood, Pitt's Phil Sorrentino, WV's Ryan Goodman and CSU's Corey Carlo. 165 (Top 3 Qualify) - Edinboro's #13 Jarrod King and West Virginia's #15 Donnie Jones will be the favorites at 165. The duo reached the finals last year with King winning 9-5. Jones dropped King 5-3 two weeks ago in their dual clash. Bloom's Ricky Schmelyun (4th in 2008), CSU's Rob Michaels (6th at 157 in 2008), Pitt's Ethan Headlee (3rd at 165 in 2008), Clarion's Dominic Ross (5th at 174 in 2007), and LH's Aaron Ernest will try and place high. 174 (1 Qualifier- Champ) - #11 rated Kurt Brenner (WVU), who won at 184 last year and was second at 174 in 2007, is the favorite to win here. All 2008 placewinners are gone. Clarion's Scott Joseph (6th at 184 - 2008) and Bloomsburg's Nate Graham appear likely to challenge to get to the finals. Pitt's Karl DeCiantis, CSU's Nate Kmetz, Edinboro's John Foley and LH's Travis Stem round out the weight class. 184 (1 Qualifier- Champ) - Edinboro's #10 Chris Honeycutt is favored to take the title at 184 after finishing second in 2008. The field is very balanced with Pitt's Zac Thomusseit, WVU's Lance Bryson, LH's Tom Kocher (4th-174 in 2008 and 5th- 184 in 2007) and Clarion's Clint Podish all capable of making the finals. CSU's J.T. Miller was 5th at 174 in 2008, and Bloom's Brian Shaw are all capable of placing. 197 (1 Qualifier- Champ) - This weight class has three wrestlers favored to get to the finals in Edinboro's Pat Bradshaw (3rd in 2008), Lock Haven's Ben Hepburn (2nd in 2008, 6th at hwt. In 2007) and Clarion's Jamie Luckett (4th in 2008). WVU's Matt Ryan upset Bradshaw 5-4 in the dual matchup and also could be a strong challenger. Pitt's A.J. Hunte and Bloom's Jesse Hasseman will battle to palce. HWT (Top 4 Qualify) - Heavyweight has 4 ranked wrestlers in the top 20 in the nation. #11 Dustin Rogers (WV), #12 Joey Fendone (Edinboro), #13 Zach Sheaffer (Pitt) and #15 Rashard Goff (CS) can make the finals. Sheaffer is the returning champion and also won in 2005, while Fendone was third in 2008, 4th in 2007 and 2nd at 197 in 2006. Goff was 4th last year, 3rd in 2007 and 2nd in 2006, while Rogers was 5th a year ago and 5th in 2007. Clarion's Roman Husam was 6th here last year, while LH's Gabe Murtorff and Bloom's Zac Walsh could also place. |
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