Freshman Billy Ashnault finished second at the EWL Championships qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.

PITTSBURGH – The Lock Haven University wrestling team at the 33rd edition of the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships at Pitt’s Fitzgerald Field House.

Freshman Billy Ashnault (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) and redshirt-junior Ben Hepburn (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock) led the Bald Eagles as both place second earning a trip the NCAA Division I National Championships.

Lock Haven took fifth overall. Edinboro University won the team title followed by host Pittsburgh.

LHU head coach Rocky Bonomo was pleased with the effort of this team today particularly that of Ashnault and Hepburn.

“It was a great effort from Billy (Ashnault),” Bonomo said. “He knocked off the top seed, the fourth seed and fought hard in the finals.”

“I was very proud of him,” added Bonomo who said that Ashnualt has gotten better and better as the season has progressed.

Bonomo was also pleased with the effort of Hepburn who knocked off some wrestlers he hadn’t beaten before.

“He showed he’s capable of wrestling and competing with national caliber wrestlers,” said Bonomo.

Sophomore Jeremie Cook (Venice, Fla./Venice) finished third while Matt Fittery (Denver, Pa./Cocalico) and Tom Kocher both took fourth for the Haven.

Freshman John Trumbetti (Montvale, N.J./Montvale) was fifth after going 2-2.

Clint Shirk (Julian, Pa./Bald Eagle) and Derek Caldwell (Curwensville, Pa./Curwensville) both placed sixth for the Haven.

The Bald Eagles got off a solid start after advancing seven wrestlers into the semifinals after round one.

The biggest surprise to anyone not wearing crimson and white was Ashnault’s win at 133 as he topped the tournaments No. 1 seed.

Ashnault trailed Edinboro’s Rick Deubel 4-2 after two periods, but an exciting third period saw the match end 6-6 sending the two in the sudden victory period. Ashnault used a high single and spun around earning the exciting victory in LHU’s second bout of the day.

Ashnault wasn’t done there and avenged an earlier season loss to Clarion’s Rob LaBrake. Ashnault continued his aggressive wrestling and downed LaBrake 13-6.

It was 3-3 after one and Ashnault went to the work in the second. Midway through the second period Ashanult worked back-to-back cradles that allowed him to rack up six back points, putting him well in control leading 9-3 after two periods.

Ashnault’s 2-0 start put him the finals, where he looked to avenge another loss from mid-season dual meet action. His opponent Jimmy Conroy of Pitt had taken their earlier meeting 6-1 on these same mats.

Conroy pushed the action early in the first, but Ashnault did a good job to counter and the first period ended 0-0. Starting the second period down, Conroy scored an early reversal, but Ashanult quickly responded earning the escape. Conroy however was able to ride out the third period on top and took home the title 3-1.

At 197 Hepburn qualified for the finals after going 2-0 to the open the tournament.

He started things with a dominating 6-0 win over Benny Balogh of Cleveland State.

Hepburn’s first round win set up a face off with Edinboro’s Pat Bradshaw, who was 3-0 lifetime against Hepburn having beaten him twice this season and once back in high school.

The 197-pound bout proved to be an exciting one despite the score of just 1-1 after seven minutes of wrestling. After four overtime periods the scored was still tied at 4-4 and Hepburn won with 0:01 second of riding time based on the third tiebreaker.

Hepburn took on Jared Villers of West Virginia in the championship and lost 1-0. Earlier in the year in their EWL regular season dual Villers beat Hepburn 17-0.

Fittery was fourth after going 2-2. He opened his EWL tournament with an 18-8 major decision over Cleveland’s Ryan Hurley, but fell in his second match to West Virginia’s David Jauregui in close 5-4 battle.

Fittery bounced back and picked up his second major decision of the tournament after downing Bloomsburg’s George Hickman putting in the third-place bout where he would meet Hadley Harrison of Clarion.

Harrison beat Fittery 6-5.

Cook, a 2007 national qualifier at 197 took third at 184 after going 2-1 in today’s tournament.

After opening the tournament with a loss Cook bounced back with two straight wins. He beat Pitt’s Dave Sullivan 4-0 and followed that with a 5-4 win over Bloom’s Jesse Hasseman for third place.

The Bald Eagles went 9-8 overall and 2-4 in the EWL during their regular season dual meet schedule and placed fourth at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships in early December.

Lock Haven is back in action on Thursday March 20 at the NCAA Division I National Championships in St. Louis, MO. The National Championships run from March 20-22.

Competing at the NCAA Championships will be Ashnault and Hepburn, with the possibility of several athletes earning wild card bids to be determined later tonight.

LHU Individual results:

Round I

125: John Trumbetti (LHU) dec. Ryan Bosso (Pitt) 9-6

133: Billy Ashnault (LHH) dec. Rick Deubel (Edinboro) 9-8 OT

141: Clint Shirk (LHU) BYE

149: Matt Fittery (LHU) major dec. Ryan Hurley (Cleveland St.) 18-8

157: Gergor Cillespie (Edinboro) tech fall. John Mangini (LHU) 17-0, 3:49

165: Marcus Effner (Cleveland St.) major dec. Derek Caldwell (LHU) 15-5

174: Tom Kocher (LHU) major dec. JT Miller (Cleveland State) 10-1

184: Jeremie Cook (LHU) BYE

197: Ben Hepburn (LHU) dec. Benny Balogh (Cleveland St.) 6-0

HWT: Zach Sheaffer (Pitt) pinned Dan Craig (LHU) 3:00

Round II: Semifinals

125: Eric Morrill (Edinboro) dec. John Trumbetti (LHU) 7-2

133: Billy Ashnault (LHU) dec. Rob LaBrake (Clarion) 13-6

141: Drew Headlee (Pitt) dec. Clint Shirk (LHU) 2-0

149: David Jauregui (WVU) dec. Matt Fittery (LHU) 8-4

157: Travis Uncapher (Clarion) dec. John Mangini (LHU) 8-3

165: Derek Caldwell (LHU) BYE

174: Keith Gavin (Pitt) maj dec. Tom Kocher (LHU) 12-4

184: Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) dec. Jeremie Cook (LHU) 6-1

197: Ben Hepburn (LHU) dec. Pat Bradshaw (Edinboro) 4-4 – Hepburn wins riding time tiebreaker three (riding time 0:01 second)

HWT: Joey Fendone (Edinboro) dec. Dan Craig (LHU) 6-0

Round III: Consi-Semifinals

125: Jay Ivanco (Clarion) dec. John Trumbetti (LHU) 6-4 OT

141: Darren Kern (Bloomsburg) dec. Clint Shirk (LHU) 2-0

149: Matt Fittery (LHU) dec. George Hickman (Bloomsburg) 11-2

165: Ethan Headlee (Pitt) pinned Derek Caldwell (LHU) 1:07

174: Tom Kocher (LHU) dec. Mario Morelli (Clarion) 2-0

184: Jeremie Cook (LHU) dec. Dave Sullivan (Pitt) 4-0

Round IV:

Fifth Place Bouts

125: John Trumbetti (LHU) won by medical forfeit Kyle Turnull (WVU)

141: Mike Hurley (Cleveland State) pinned Clint Shirk (LHU) 5:21

165: Marcus Effner (Cleveland State) major dec. Derek Caldwell (LHU) 13-5

Third Place Bouts

149: Hadley Harrison (Clarion) dec. Matt Fittery (LHU) 6-5

174: Phil Moricone (Edinboro) major dec. Tom Kocher (LHU) 8-0

184: Jeremie Cook (LHU) dec. Jesse Hasseman (Bloomsburg) 5-4

FINALS:

133: Jimmy Conroy (Pitt) dec. Billy Ashnault (LHU) 3-1

197: Jared Villers (WVU) dec. Ben Hepburn (LHU) 1-0

Team Scores:

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1. Edinboro 133.00

2. Pittsburgh 111.50

3. West Virginia 103.50

4. Bloomsburg 86.00

5. Lock Haven 70.50

6. Clarion 55.00

7. Cleveland State 53.00

After Round I:

1. Edinboro 45.00

West Virginia 45.00

3. Lock Haven 39.00

4. Pittsburgh 38

5. Bloomsburg 33

6. Cleveland State 30

7. Clarion 24

After Round II/Semifinals:

1. Edinboro 102.00

2. West Virginia 84.00

3. Pittsburgh 78.00

4. Bloomsburg 69.00

5. Lock Haven 53.00

6. Clarion 38.50

7. Cleveland State 34.50

After Round III:

1. Edinboro 117.00

2. Pittsburgh 94.50

3. West Virginia 93.50

4. Bloomsburg 80.00

5. Lock Haven 64.50

6. Clarion 49.00

7. Cleveland State 42.00

For full results from the 2008 EWL Championships click on the link listed below.