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2000-2001 Press Release Index
EDINBORO, PA - The Edinboro University wrestling team seeks its fourth straight Eastern Wrestling League tournament title on Saturday and Sunday, March 3 and 4 at Virginia Tech's Cassell Coliseum.
On the line are 39 berths to the NCAA Championships in Iowa City on March 15-17. The top three placewinners, along with nine "wild cards" will advance. Edinboro finished the regular season 11-3-1, ranked 10th by InterMat and 12th by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The Fighting Scots defeated West Virginia, 38-6, in the season finale, clinching their third straight EWL regular season dual meet crown.
Standing in the way of Edinboro's four-peat are the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven. In January, the Fighting Scots watched the Eagles end their reign at the top of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference by crowning five individual champions and posting a perfect 10-0 record in matches on the final day. Lock Haven amassed 153.5 team points to Edinboro's 126, stopping the Fighting Scots' streak at three straight.
"Our PSAC loss doesn't change anything," says head coach Tim Flynn. "Each individual still has to work on the little things to make strides in their wrestling, but individual improvement also does great things in advancing the team."
Although the competition increases with the addition of Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, Cleveland State, and West Virginia in the EWL Tournament, and Edinboro avenged its PSAC loss with a 23-12 dual match victory over Lock Haven, according to Flynn, Lock Haven is still the team to beat.
"Lock Haven is still the favorite this year," surmised Flynn. "They are a great tournament team and have been wrestling very well all season."
A year ago the Fighting Scots were in a similar position, picked to finish behind West Virginia in the team standings, despite a 25-9 dual match victory over the Mountaineers. Edinboro trailed West Virginia the entire tournament, and by 4.5 points entering the final four matches. Three Fighting Scots captured individual titles in the final four weight classes, led by EWL Co-Wrestler of the Year Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg, PA/ Waynesburg), departed Fighting Scot A.J. Johnson at 197 pounds, and heavyweight Josh Pearce (Greenville, PA/Commodore Perry), who each claimed their first individual crowns.
Pearce's dramatic come-from-behind, double-overtime victory over Cleveland State's Russ Davie in the final match clinched Edinboro's third straight team title, and third consecutive over West Virginia. Edinboro tallied 116.5 team points, edging the Mountaineers by a mere 3.5 points.
Flynn thinks that this year's team is no different from last season's squad that pulled out the tournament victory. "Our goal is always to perform their best at the EWL Tournament, and win the conference title. This year is just like any other. We're hungry for the championship and to earn the right to advance to Nationals."
Eight Edinboro wrestlers earned the right to compete at Nationals last season, led by All-American Koscheck. This season, Flynn is optimistic about his wrestlers' chances at qualifying for the final tournament.
"I'd like to get all ten to qualify. We have a couple guys who have to give their best performance of the season," says Flynn. "The weight classes are open this year. If these guys wrestle to the their capabilities, there isn't one member of this team who can't do it."
Of last season's qualifiers, Koscheck earned the highest finish at the National tournament a year ago, finishing as the runner-up at 174 pounds. Senior Shaun Shapert (Glenshaw, PA/Shaler) and former Fighting Scot Kevin Welsh also earned All-American honors.
The Scots won their first EWL title in 1998, the same season Edinboro first hosted the event. Head coach Tim Flynn, then in his first season, sent a school-record nine grapplers to the National Tournament, scoring 132.5 team points to defeat runner-up West Virginia (122). Prior to the '98 tournament, the Scots' highest finish at the league tournament was second in 1994.
Edinboro successfully defended the tournament title in 1999, again outdistancing West Virginia, 148.5 team points to WVU's 113. Four Scots took home tournament titles, led by All-American Mark Samples, who earned Outstanding Wrestler Honors for the event.
Edinboro has won six of the past eight EWL dual meet titles, posting undefeated records each of the past three seasons. The Scots held 7-0 conference records in 1998-99 and 1999-00, and 6-0 marks in 1993-94, 1994-95, and 1996-97.
Since Edinboro joined the league in 1987, former EWL participant Penn State leads the league with six tournament titles, won consecutively from 1987-92. The Nittany Lions also lead the league with overall title-winners, crowning 59 champions during their stint in the conference. Edinboro has 17 champions in its 14 tournament appearances.
Competition will begin on Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the second session starting at 6 p.m. The tournament resumes Sunday morning at 10 a.m. with the finals scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Here's a weight-by-weight breakdown of the tournament:
125: Last year's champion, Trap McCormack of Lock Haven, returns to defend his title. McCormack captured the PSAC title earlier this season and has run his season record to 26-2, earning an 11th place national ranking. He enters the tournament on a 17-match streak that includes two wins over Edinboro freshman Jacob Gray (Essex, VT/Essex). Gray has won four of his last five matches, the lone loss coming in a 5-4 decision to McCormack. Gray scored a takedown after McCormack got deep on a double leg, then turned McCormack to his back, but a stalemate was called for a potentially dangerous situation. Gray is 14-16 in his first season with a 4-3 record against EWL opponents. He lost a 2-0 decision to Bloomsburg's entrant, Brock Hite (21-9), and a 10-5 decision to Rocco Mansueto of Cleveland State (9-8). Gray's last three victories have come in EWL duals, shutting out each of his opponents. He defeated Peter Derstine of Clarion (15-13) by a 3-0 score, Shawn Amistade of Pittsburgh (11-11) in a 1-0 decision, and Greg White of West Virginia (4-13) by a 3-0 count. Virginia Tech's entry, David Thurston has a 0-3 record.
133: Returning from an injury as the favorite is Pittsburgh's two-time All-American Rob Loper. The Cathedral Prep graduate finished in third place at the EWL Tournament a year ago, losing to Edinboro's Chad Caros (Franklinville, NY/Suffern) in the semifinals. Caros finished in second place behind Mountaineer Bob Patnesky, losing by a 6-4 count in overtime. Caros has since moved up a weight class to 141 pounds, while Patnesky graduated. Loper started this year with a 9-2 record and a top-five national ranking before being sidelined. Currently ranked sixth, one of his victories came in a 14-0 major decision against Lock Haven's Scott Bair, the PSAC champion, and fourth-place finisher in last season's EWL's. Bair, ranked 13th, has a 24-3 record and has won 21 of his last 22 matches. He will battle Loper for the title. Looking to get into the title hunt is Edinboro's Charlie Soto (El Paso, TX/J.M. Hanks). Soto finished in third place at the PSAC's, behind Bair and Rad Martinez of Clarion, and has a 10-15 record. Martinez, who has a 27-6 record, defeated Soto in the PSAC semifinals by a narrow 4-3 score, then in a 4-2 decision in their dual match. He is ranked 14th. Bloomsburg's Russ Witt has a 22-8 record that includes two losses to Soto. Nick Boucher of Cleveland State is 12-6 and Jeremy Gaysek of Virginia Tech has a 14-10 record. West Virginia's Brian Floyd is 9-17.
141: Returning champion Sean Gray of Virginia Tech looks for his second straight title. Gray, ranked fourth, has a 24-2 record, his only two losses coming against top-ranked Doug Schwab of Iowa, 12-7, and third-ranked Eric Larkin of Arizona State, 11-3. He owns a 6-1 dual match victory against 19th-ranked Cory Ace (Franklin, PA/Franklin) in December. Ace, who finished in fourth place in last year's tournament, will provide the top competition for Gray. He is 19-6 with wins in eight of his last nine matches. His lone loss came in the finals of the PSAC Tournament to Lock Haven's 15th-ranked Mike Maney by a 4-3 score. Ace avenged that loss with a 2-0 victory in Edinboro's dual win over the Bald Eagles, riding Maney the entire third period. Maney has a 24-3 record. Clarion's Frank Edgar (15-15) and Pittsburgh's Joe Crecca (15-9) will also look to place. Crecca has shown flashes of brilliance with an 11-0 shutout against Bair and a 3-0 victory against Penn State's Marat Tomaev, but then lost to Soto by a 13-7 score and to Martinez, 10-5. Matt DePolo of Cleveland State has a 12-16 record, Bloomsburg's Adam Castner is 2-9, and Gary Rute of Bloomsburg is 5-10. West Virginia's Joe Finch has a 4-18 record.
149: Bloomsburg's George Carter is the defending champion and the only returning placewinner from last year's tournament. Carter, ranked 14th with a 24-6 record, has two losses to Lock Haven's sixth-ranked Jamarr Billman and a 4-3 loss to Edinboro's Ryan Shapert (Glenshaw, PA/Shaler). Billman rounded out the Bald Eagles' quartet of PSAC champions by taking the crown with a 9-8 victory over Shapert. Billman is 17-1, his only loss coming in the NWCA All-Star Classic to Lehigh's fourth-ranked Dave Esposito by a 6-4 score. Shapert, who is 20-8 and ranked tenth, lost the rematch with Billman in their dual meeting in overtime, 6-4. The EWL runner-up in 1999, Shapert has defeated each of the other competitors this season, except West Virginia's Anthony Regalbuto. Regalbuto, who is 6-6, defeated Caros by a 7-5 score in overtime when Caros replaced Shapert in the lineup for the West Virginia dual match. Clarion's Dominic Surra (19-11) and Cleveland State's Anthony Coleman (24-13) will also look to place. Virginia Tech sends Brent Rider (8-15) to the tournament, while Pittsburgh counters with Matt Kaus (5-11).
157: Another returning champion in West Virginia's Joe Carr will defend his title at this year's championships. Carr is 19-5 and ranked 13th. He has won 11 of his last 12 matches with victories over Shaun Shapert (Glenshaw, PA/Shaler), 4-2, and Ed Hockenberry of Bloomsburg, 8-7. Carr defeated Hockenberry in the finals of last season's tournament, while Shapert finished in third place. Hockenberry, the eighth-ranked PSAC champion, is 29-2, with two victories over Shapert, including a 9-3 decision in the PSAC finals. Shapert, an All-American a year ago, has a 20-9 record but has lost his last two matches. Zach Doll of Pittsburgh upset the Fighting Scot by fall at 6:31, then a 4-2 loss to Carr in the season finale. Shapert and Carr have an interesting history, meeting twice last season. Shapert made his dual match debut against Carr, upsetting the Mountaineer in a 10-0 major decision. Carr returned the favor in the semifinals of the EWL's with an 8-1 victory. Clarion's Shane McChesney (13-10) is also in the hunt, winning his last three EWL matches. He defeated Lock Haven's Jason Gilligan, who is 12-5, Zach Doll of Pittsburgh (13-6), and Brian Wilson of Virginia Tech (2-13). Cleveland State's Jason Effner has a 13-21 record.
165: Virginia Tech's fourth-ranked Chris Martin is the defending champion, defeating Bloomsburg's Hunter Guenot in the finals. Pittsburgh's Carl Fronhofer finished in fifth place a year ago, but is the favorite to win the title this season. Fronhofer has a 21-5 record and is the eighth-ranked wrestler in the weight class. He has won his last nine matches, including victories over fourth-ranked Martin, 4-2, and Edinboro's Ben Boozer (Cochranton, PA/Cochranton) by a 7-5 score. Martin is 23-2, while Boozer is 13-1 this season. He has a 4-1 record since entering the starting lineup. He nearly pinned Fronhofer in the first period, earning three backpoints, but was outscored by a 7-0 score in the rest of the match. Boozer, the EWL runner-up in 1999, has two technical falls, a fall, and a major decision in his last four wins. He replaces senior Yanni Diamond (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley) in the lineup. Diamond is out of action with a neck injury. Guenot, ranked 20th, finished in fourth place in the PSAC Tournament and has a 23-8 season record, including three losses to Diamond. Lock Haven's Brian Olenek, the fourth-place finisher at 157 pounds a year ago, has a 21-10 record. Clarion's Pete Kroshefskie (7-17), Aaron Warnock of Cleveland State (6-15), and West Virginia's Orlando Ricci (3-8) will also compete.
174: Two-time All-American Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg, PA/Waynesburg) is the clear favorite to retain the 174-pound title he captured for the first time a year ago. The NCAA runner-up has a perfect 34-0 record and has won 43 of his last 44 matches. He captured his third straight PSAC championship this season, defeating Bloomsburg's 13th-ranked Cassidy Shults in the finals, 11-2. Koscheck is the unanimous top-ranked wrestler in the weight class, defeating 11 nationally ranked grapplers this season. He has the chance to enter the NCAA Tournament undefeated, a feat only accomplished previously by Jason Robison in the 1997-98 season. Koscheck finished in second place at Nationals a year ago and in fourth place as a freshman in 1999. He also has the chance to match the accomplishments of former Fighting Scot Sean O'Day. O'Day is the only Edinboro wrestler to win the Division I National Championship, capturing the title at 134 pounds in 1989. O'Day finished with 116 career victories, seventh place on Edinboro's career wins list and one more than Koscheck's 115. Challenging Koscheck is Shults, who is 23-5, and Virginia Tech's seventh-ranked Eric Hall. Hall and Shults finished in third and fourth, respectively, in the tournament last season. Hall has a 20-6 record with two losses to Koscheck already this season. The Hokie has won his last seven matches since his dual match loss to Koscheck at the National Duals, while Shults has won eight straight since his PSAC finals loss to the Fighting Scot. Eddie Pawlak of Lock Haven has a 19-10 record. Clarion's Aaron Mitchell is 19-16, Jason Ward of West Virginia (3-12), and Rob Black of Pittsburgh is 2-10. Cleveland State will send either Devin Pethtel (3-16) or Joe Phillips (13-20) into the title hunt.
184: Last season, Vertus Jones of West Virginia earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after capturing his fourth tournament crown. Jones became only the third four-time EWL champion. He defeated Edinboro's Kevin Welsh in the finals in overtime by a 6-4 score. The weight class is wide open with Virginia Tech's Scott Justus, last season's fourth-place finisher, as the only remaining placewinner from last season's tournament. The favorite should be Clarion's Bob Topper, the PSAC champion, who has a 20-9 record. Topper has lost his last two matches, though, including a 6-3 loss to Justus in their dual match. Pittsburgh's Dan Stine has won 16 of his last 17 matches to run his record to 19-4, losing to Topper by a 4-3 score in a dual. Justus is 16-6, splitting a pair of matches with Edinboro freshman Justin Millard (Laceyville, PA/ Wyalusing). In their first dual match Justus scored a 22-11 major decision over Millard, but Millard returned the favor with a two-minute fall in their second meeting. Millard has a 17-12 record in his freshman season, finishing in fourth place at the PSAC Tournament. He mutually forfeited the third-place match with his older brother Josh of Lock Haven. Josh Millard has a 17-11 record with wins over Stine and Justus. Bloomsburg's Chad Eckert has a 10-7 record with two wins over Justin Millard but suffered a fall at the hands of older sibling Josh. Cleveland State's Brian Hasenohrl (5-15), and either Mountaineer Jeremy Chapman (4-5) or Jon Foster (9-17) will compete.
197: Two-time EWL champion A.J. Johnson has departed the Fighting Scot lineup this season, replaced by redshirt sophomore Dave Shunamon (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury). Shunamon has filled his shoes well, posting a 27-3 record. He finished as the runner-up at the PSAC Tourney with a 5-4 tiebreaker loss to Lock Haven's Avery Zerkle in the finals. Shunamon, ranked 16th, avenged that loss with a 5-3 victory in their dual match. Zerkle, ranked 18th with a 23-6 record, will challenge Shunamon for the title. Clarion's Eric Mausser, Pitt's David Sandberg, and last season's runner-up Todd Hockenbroch of Bloomsburg are also in the title hunt. Mausser finished in fourth at the PSAC's with a 6-5 loss to Hockenbroch in the consolation finals. Mausser has a 24-8 record, while Hockenbroch is 16-7. Sandberg handed Shunamon one of his three losses this season, a 7-6 decision in the first round of the Las Vegas Invitational. The Panther has a 16-9 record. Virginia Tech will send either Wes Cummings (10-12) or Damian Hamlin (3-5) to the mat.
HWT: Redshirt junior Josh Pearce (Greenville, PA/Commodore Perry) is the defending champion entering the tournament, but probably isn't the favorite. West Virginia's Ryan Kehler, ranked 12th, and Clarion's John Testa, ranked tenth, are the main competitors for Pearce's title. Pearce is 20-8, upsetting Kehler by a 5-3 score in the regular season finale, avenging a 5-1 sudden victory loss to Kehler in the Las Vegas Invitational. Kehler has a 26-5 record. Pearce, ranked 17th, has not had great success against Testa, losing all three meetings this season. Testa is 26-4 and has won his last 16 matches since a 5-2 dual loss to Kehler. Lock Haven's Craig Tefft owns a 4-3 tiebreaker victory against Pearce in Edinboro's dual match victory in his 11-8 season record. Pittsburgh's Jacob Lininger ended his regular season at 19-10, suffering a fall to Pearce at 6:59. Bloomsburg's Pat Spirelli is 6-18. Virginia Tech's Nathan Schneider is 1-5, his only win coming by forfeit to Cleveland State.
~ Fighting Scots ~
Created on ... February 27, 2001