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2000-2001 Press Release Index
BROCKPORT, NY - Behind six finalists and three individual champions, the Edinboro University wrestling team finished in second place at the Oklahoma Gold Wrestling Classic on the campus of SUNY-Brockport on Sunday, November 12.
The Oklahoma Sooners, the seventh-ranked team in the nation, captured the team championship with 161.5 points. Edinboro totaled 133.0, followed by Bloomsburg with 125.5. Perennial Division II power Pitt-Johnstown (102.0) and Rutgers (81.5) rounded out the top five. Oklahoma had 11 placewinners, with five Sooners claiming individual gold. Seven Fighting Scots placed for head coach Tim Flynn, led by individual champions Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg, PA/Waynesburg), Dave Shunamon (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury), and Josh Pearce (Greeville, PA/Commodore Perry).
Koscheck, a two-time All-American, claimed the title at 174 pounds with a 9-2 decision over Oklahoma's Michael Barger. Shunamon returned to the starting lineup after redshirting a year ago, upsetting the top two seeds en route to the championship at 197 lbs. He entered the tournament unseeded, then upended nationally-ranked Waymon May of Oklahoma (9th) and Todd Hockenbroch of Bloomsburg (16th). Josh Pearce (Greenville, PA/Commodore Perry) defeated Oklahoma's Leonce Crump by a 2-1 score to capture the heavyweight title.
Three other Fighting Scots advanced to the final match. Returning All-American Shaun Shapert (Glenshaw, PA/Shaler) was the top-seed at 157 pounds, but lost in the final match to Shad Benton of Pitt-Johnstown by a 2-1 score. Yanni Diamond (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley) defeated EWL runner-up and ninth-ranked Hunter Guenot in the semifinals to meet Oklahoma's seventh-ranked Robbie Waller, losing to the Sooner by a 6-0 count. In his return to the starting lineup, redshirt sophomore Justin Wilcox (Greentownship, OH/Oak Hills) faced Oklahoma's ninth-ranked Witt Durden in the final match, dropping a 5-2 decision.
Cory Ace (Franklin, PA/Franklin) and Matthew King (Connellsville, PA/Connellsville) were the other placewinners for the Fighting Scots, each claiming fourth place in their respective weight classes. Ace finished in fourth place at 141 pounds, while King finished in fourth place at 165 pounds.
Up next for the Fighting Scots is the Slippery Rock Open on Saturday, November 18, before traveling to the Las Vegas Invitational in Primm, NV on Friday and Saturday, December 1 and 2.
Here's a look at the tournament weight-by-weight:
125 pounds - Redshirt junior Charlie Soto (El Paso, TX/J.M. Hanks) entered the Classic unseeded, drawing Seton Hall's Tom Becker in the preliminaries. Soto defeated Becker by a 9-2 score. He advanced to face second-seeded and eventual champion Bo Maynes of Oklahoma in the quarterfinals, losing a 12-1 decision to the 13th-ranked Sooner. In his consolation match, Soto upended Jason Parker of Gannon in a 13-0 major decision, but was eliminated by a 6-4 loss to Bloomsburg's Brock Hite. Freshman Jacob Gray (Essex, VT/Essex) defeated Rutgers' Alex Pal, 16-4, in the preliminaries. He lost to top-ranked Rocco Mansueto of Cleveland State in the quarterfinals, 10-5, then dropped his consolation match, 6-4, to Mike Shaw of SUNY-Brockport.
133 pounds - In his return to the starting lineup after redshirting a year ago, Justin Wilcox (Greentownship, OH/Oak Hills) advanced to the final match against Oklahoma's Witt Durden, the top-seed. Durden, the ninth-ranked wrestler in the weight class, defeated Wilcox by a 5-2 score. Wilcox, ranked 17th, defeated Ryan Coleman of Pitt-Johnstown in a 12-2 major decision in the preliminary round. He pinned Cleveland State's Paul Theodore in 6:34, then downed Russ Wilt of Bloomsburg by an 8-2 score to advance to face Durden. Wilcox finished with a 15-1 record a year ago as a redshirt, following a 20-15 record as a freshman in '98-99.
141 pounds - Cory Ace (Franklin, PA/Franklin), ranked 14th in the nation, finished in fourth place with a 15-6 loss to SUNY-Brockport's Lenny Baker in the third-place match. Ace opened the tournament with a 3-2 victory over Chris Gammons of Rutgers. After a 12-5 decision over Oklahoma's Brett Robinson in the quarterfinals, Ace faced Tom Wysocki of Rutgers. Wysocki claimed a 5-3 decision with a reversal in the tiebreaker, sending Ace to the consolation round. A 6-4 victory over Jim Hanning of Pitt-Johnstown advanced Ace to the third-place match. Top-seed Michael Lightner of Oklahoma, the second-ranked wrestler in the weight class, claimed the individual title with an 8-2 decision over Wysocki. Ace qualified for Nationals as a wild card after a fourth-place finish at the EWL Tournament last season. He compiled a 28-17 record.
149 pounds - Freshman Chris Bala (Darien, NY/Alexander Central) saw his first collegiate action at the Classic, losing a pair of 5-0 decisions. He suffered a 5-0 loss to David Fordoski of Pitt-Johnstown. In his only consolation match, he lost to Seton Hall's Anthony Fidacaro by the same 5-0 score. Oklahoma's 12th-ranked Jared Frayer won the title with a 7-3 decision over Bloomsburg's George Carter. Carter was the EWL champion a year ago and is ranked tenth this season.
157 pounds - Returning All-American Shaun Shapert (Glenshaw, PA/Shaler) finished as the runner-up, losing to Shad Benton of Pitt-Johnstown, ranked fifth in Division II, by a narrow 2-1 score. Benton, a transfer from Penn State, was a Division II All-American last season. Shapert, ranked fifth nationally, downed Seton Hall's Leet Brady in a 2-1 decision in the preliminary round before an 8-4 victory over Craig Hight of Pitt-Johnstown in the quarterfinals. He defeated fourth-seeded Shane Engel-Folks of Rutgers by a 5-4 score in the semifinals to advance to the final match. Freshman Josh Evans (Marietta, GA/McEachern) and sophomore walk-on Brad Fliflet (Lower Burrell, PA/Kiski Area) also competed for Edinboro, but came away winless. Evans lost to Greg Ilaria of Seton Hall by a narrow 5-4 score in his opening match, then lost a 9-3 decision to Cleveland State's Jason Effner in the consolation round. Fliflet opened the tournament against Gannon's Chris Oros, falling to the Golden Knight in 1:04. In the consolation round, he suffered the same fate, falling to SUNY-Brockport's seventh-ranked Brad Rowe in 4:58.
165 pounds - Senior Yanni Diamond (Wellesley, MA/Wellesley) avenged one of his most important losses of last season, upsetting ninth-ranked Hunter Guenot of Bloomsburg in the semifinals by a 3-1 score. Guenot defeated Diamond in the finals of the PSAC Championships a year ago. However, Diamond was not able to avenge his final loss of the season, a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma's Robbie Waller in the consolation round of the NCAA Tournament. Waller, ranked seventh nationally, handed Diamond a 6-0 defeat in the final match. The 16th-ranked Fighting Scot defeated Seton Hall's Larry Smashy in a 9-4 decision in the quarterfinals following a 7-3 victory over Cleveland State's Aaron Warnock in the opening round. Redshirt freshman Matthew King (Connellsville, Pa/Connellsville) finished in fourth place, losing to Pitt-Johnstown's Ryan Buterbaugh by a 5-3 score. He dropped a 7-2 decision to Waller in the quarterfinals after pinning SUNY-Brockport's Richard D'Amico at 2:30 in the opening round. King won three matches in the consolation bracket, including a 5-3 upset over Guenot to advance to the third-place match. He upended Roberto Padilla of SUNY-Brockport, ranked seventh in Division III, by a 5-1 score and Rutgers' Bryon Lauer, the fifth-seed, by a 3-1 count.
174 pounds - Two-time All-American Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg, PA/Waynesburg) continued his winning ways, capturing the title at 174 pounds with a 9-2 decision over Oklahoma's 11th-ranked Michael Barger. The runner-up at the 2000 NCAA Tournament, Koscheck was 38-4 in 1999-00 with four tournament crowns. He pinned Gannon's Derek Maynard in 1:41 in the opening round, then defeated Adam Musisko of Pitt-Johnstown by a 7-3 score. In his semifinal bout, he overpowered Everett Bell by a 3-1 count.
184 pounds - Freshmen Justin Millard (Laceyville, PA/Wyalusing) and Matthew Camino (Solon, OH/Solon) challenged collegiate competition for the first time at the Oklahoma Classic, with Millard earning his first tournament trophy, finishing in fourth place. Millard lost to Oklahoma's Josh Lambrecht, the top-seed and 12th-ranked grappler in the weight class, by a 6-1 count in the third-place match. He opened with a 9-6 victory over Gannon's Brian Meyers. Millard pinned second-seeded Tom Tanis of Rutgers in 1:07, advancing to meet Bloomsburg's Chad Eckert, the sixth seed. Eckert defeated Millard by a 9-5 score. He pinned Oklahoma's Jeff Henning in 0:59 to earn the chance to face Lambrecht. Camino lost his opening round match with Oklahoma's Jeff Henning, the fifth seed, in an 11-0 decision. He won his first consolation match with SUNY-Brockport's Brian Tartar, 5-1, but lost his second match by a 5-1 score to Tanis.
197 pounds - Dave Shunamon (Tewksbury, MA/Tewksbury) entered this season with the difficult task of filling the shoes of two-time EWL champion A.J. Johnson, after posting a 20-5 record as a redshirt a year ago. Shunamon gained his first opportunity to prove he was up to the challenge by facing Bloomsburg's 16th-ranked Todd Hockenbroch in the final match. Hockenbroch defeated Johnson in the PSAC finals, but lost the rematch in the EWL Championships. Shunamon captured his first championship of the year, defeating Hockenbroch by a 5-2 score. Shunamon pulled one of the biggest upsets of the tournament in the semifinals, scoring a 5-1 decision over top-seeded Waymon May of Oklahoma, the ninth-ranked wrestler in the weight class. In the quarterfinals, he downed Fikret Darzanoff of Seton Hall by a 9-3 score.
HWT - Sixth-ranked Josh Pearce (Greenville, PA/Commodore Perry) captured the championship with a 2-1 victory Oklahoma's Leonce Crump. Pearce pinned SUNY-Brockport's Jim Pennise (4:41) and Cleveland State's Don Caramell (4:08) in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. In the opening round, Pearce shut out Vince Torsell of Pitt-Johnstown by a 3-0 score. Kevin O'Meara (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) blanked Seton Hall's Carlos Panfili in an 8-0 decision, but lost in the quarterfinals to Crump by fall in 3:22. He lost by fall in the consolation round to Torsell in 2:29. Former General McLane High School standout Ryan Smith (McKean, PA/General McLane) was pinned twice at the Classic. He suffered a fall to Bloomsburg's Rob Chalet in 0:52 in the preliminaries and in 4:37 to Russ Keefe of Pitt-Johnstown in the consolation bracket.
~ Fighting Scots ~
Created on ... November 12, 2000