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Dec. 18, 2008
CLARION BATTLES NORTHWESTERN AT N.A. - NOON HOSTS PITT-JOHNSTOWN AT 7PM (Clarion, Pa.): Clarion's NCAA Division I Wrestling team will host a very unique doubleheader on Saturday, December 20th. The Golden Eagles will wrestle #20/#7 Northwestern at North Allegheny High School at Noon, then return to campus to host #9 ranked Pitt-Johnstown at Tippin Gym. Match time for UPJ is 7pm. The UPJ match can be heard on WCCR-FM (92.7) and on the internet at redzonemedia.com. Clarion third year head coach Teague Moore, himself a North Allegheny graduate, saw while doing his scheduling in August that Northwestern was traveling to Pittsburgh to wrestle the Panthers on Friday night. Also knowing that Northwestern's #1 ranked 184-pounder Jake Herbert, also from N.A., was coming to town, Moore worked the situation to get the two teams together at N.A. "I am really happy that we can bring this type of match to North Allegheny High School. We're always looking to promote the sport of wrestling, and this gives us a great opportunity." Clarion enters Saturday's matchups with a 2-3 overall record. The Golden Eagles opened the season with a 21-12 win over Eastern Michigan at Tippin Gym, then traveled to Binghamton, N.Y. for the Sprawl and Brawl duals going 1-2. Clarion defeated Columbia 30-12, and lost to Rutgers 21-15 and #13 Boise State 31-6. Then on Sunday Clarion lost a 22-13 decision to #27 Kent State. Northwestern, under 19th year head coach Tim Cysewski, enters the Clarion dual with a 5-1 record. The Wildcats opened the year with a 23-13 win over Eastern Michigan, dropped Kent State 21-8 and Tennessee-Chattanooga 30-12. They also went on the road to defeat Stanford 25-15, and lost their only dual to Cal-Davis 23-15. Northwestern returned home to defeat Northern Illinois 27-12. Northwestern is ranked #7 by WIN Magazine and 20th in the Coaches Poll. Pitt-Johnstown, under veteran head coach Pat Pecora, brings his Mountain Cats to Clarion Saturday night for a very good dual meet. Pecora, in his 33rd season at UPJ, has the "Cats" ranked #9 in the latest NCAA Division II Poll and comes to Tippin Gym with a 2-0 dual meet record. UPJ has defeated West Liberty 18-16 and Findlay 21-19 in their opening dual meets of the season. Clarion's lineup will likely have Jay Ivanco (6-2, So. Monroeville/Gateway) at 125, Danny Galvan (0-3, Jr. Phoenix, Az.)at 133, Sal Lascari (5-5, Sr. Gray) at 141, Chris Lascari (4-5; So. Gray) at 149, #17 Hadley Harrison (7-2, Jr. McKean) at 157, Dominic Ross (5-4, Sr. Sharon) at 165, Scott Joseph (6-3, Jr. Export) at 174, Clint Podish (9-6, Fr. Sycamore/Waynesburg Central) at 184, Dixon Jordan (0-1, Jr., Cheverly, Md.) at 197 and Roman Husam (0-1, So. Lewisburg) at heavyweight. Northwestern will have #3 Brandon Precin (8-1) at 125, Bobby Joyce (2-7) at 133, #5 Keith Sulzer (9-0) at 141, Marty Gould (5-4) at 149, #16 Jason Welch (8-1) at 157, Kyle Berlin (3-3) or Dominic Marella (4-5) at 165, Robert Kellogg (6-3) at 174, #1 Jake Herbert (10-0) at 184, John Schoen (3-6) at 197 and either Ben Kuhar (2-5) or Paul Rands (4-3) at heavyweight. Pitt Johnstown's lineup will likely have Scott Morgan (10-3) at 125, Paul Myers (2-2) at 133, Adam Whetstone (5-4) at 141, Ryan McIntyre (2-3) at 149, Nikko Leitzel (0-2) at 157, #1 Kyle Keane (6-3) at 165, Steve Makin (6-3) at 174, Jon Moore (3-3) or Damon Majocha (3-4) at 184, Patrick Walsh (8-5) at 197 and Chris Dempsey (9-3) at heavyweight. CLARION NOTES: Northwestern's #1 ranked Jake Herbert, who won an NCAA Title at 184-pounds in 2007, sat out all of last year trying to make the Olympic team... He has a collegiate record entering this season of 101-4, was second at nationals in 2006 and third in 2005... He is the son of former Clarion wrestler Jim Herbert - Jim was a Clarion captain in the 1977-78 season and went 17-13-4 as a senior under former head coach Bob Bubb ... Clarion has a 1-0 series record against Northwestern, defeating the Wildcats 20-18 in 1998 ... Clarion is now 11-9 all-time against Pitt-Johnstown ... UPJ won last year's meeting 27-14 ... The last Clarion win came in 2004 (16-15).... Clarion travels to participate in the Midlands Open Dec. 29-30 ... then travels to the Virginia Duals on Jan. 9-10. |
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