February 18, 2003
Bald Eagles Wrap Up Dual Meet Schedule With Penn State and Clarion

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  (Lock Haven, Pa.) - Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania wrestling (11-10, 2-4 EWL) closes out its dual meet schedule with two matches this week. On Wednesday (2/19), the Bald Eagles will face off versus No. 14-ranked Penn State University (10-8, 3-5 Big Ten) at Rec Hall at 7 p.m. Lock Haven hosts Clarion University for its final Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) regular season competition on Friday (2/21) back in Thomas Fieldhouse starting at 7:30 p.m.

      Both matches will be broadcast live on WBPZ 1230 AM and online at www.redzonemedia.com.


Series Records: The Nittany Lions of Penn State have historically been a challenge for the Bald Eagles, who are on the low end of the 23-4 series record. The past two seasons, however, wins went the way of Lock Haven, 24-14 in 2002 and 24-9 in 2001. Lock Haven tallied its remaining two wins in 1995 and 1996. PSU’s most recent victory over The Haven was in 2000 by a 21-18 final margin. 
        The series history between Lock Haven and Clarion is more balanced, with the Bald Eagles holding a 20-17-2 advantage. LHU has won the last seven matches including last year’s 25-13 tussle. The squads tied (18-18) in 1995, and the Golden Eagles’ most recent victory over LHU was a lop-sided 35-6 match in 1994. 


 

James LaValle (149 lbs.)

 

 LOCK HAVEN PROBABLE LINEUP  
 

WT

LHU Lineup (Yr., Hometown/High School)   

‘02-'03 
Record

 

125

Jim Collins (Fr.-R., Jonestown, Pa./Northern Lebanon)   

12-13
 

133

Justin Owens (Sr., Morrisdale, Pa./West Branch)

18-10
 

141

 #7/#5/#6 Mike Maney (Jr., Clarence, Pa./Bald Eagle Area)

24-2
    John Holsinger (Jr., Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown) 1-7
 

149

James LaValle (Sr., East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park)

11-15
 

157

Matt Marquart (Fr., Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford)

3-7
  165 Jason Gilligan (Jr., Brookville, Pa./Brookville) 15-9
 

174

Chris Haines (Sr., Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) 

9-15
 

 

Eric O'Connor (Sr., Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown)

12-6
 

184

Mike Greenberg (Jr., Canton, Pa./Canton)

11-16
 

197

 --/#15/-- Morgan Horner (Fr.-R,Hasbrouck Hts, N.J./Hsbrk Hts)

15-8
 

HWT

Steve Itterly (Sr., Bethlehem, Pa./Nazareth)

16-13
    Tim Meyers (Fr., Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) 2-8
  InterMat/AWN/The Wrestling Mall rankings
 


Penn State... Fourth-year head coach Troy Sunderland’s Nittany Lions are currently ranked 14th in the nation, boasting a dual meet ledger of 10-8 and a Big Ten mark of 3-5. Most recently, PSU lost four straight Big Ten matches, falling 19-18 to Michigan State and 25-17 to Michigan this past weekend. Six Nittany Lion grapplers are nationally ranked, including four among the top ten. Leading the way for PSU have been No. 5-ranked Mark Becks (184 lbs./35-3), No. 8-ranked Pat Cummins (HWT/28-6), ninth-ranked 133 pounder Josh Moore (29-7) and tenth-ranked 157-pounder Nate Wachter (10-6). At 141 pounds, Scott Moore (44-8) is ranked 16th, while No. 20-ranked freshman Nathan Galloway (27-13) resides at 149 pounds.

Clarion... The Golden Eagles under the direction of sixth-year head coach Ken Nellis are 8-7 overall and 1-4 in the EWL. Clarion will be looking for the chance to rebound after a five-match skid, most recently suffering a 23-14 loss to Central Michigan this past Sunday. At 1-4 in league match-ups, Clarion’s one win was based on criteria after the final 18-18 score versus Bloomsburg. Following the Lock Haven match, CU has one remaining league match at Virginia Tech. Three Clarion wrestlers are currently nationally ranked paced by No. 9-ranked heavyweight John Testa (35-2). No. 14-ranked Rad Martinez (33-6) at 133 pounds and No. 12-ranked Eric Mausser (30-5) at 197 pounds round out the top trio.

Below is the LHU weight-by-weight preview:

125: Jim Collins (Jonestown/Northern Lebanon) scored an 11-2 major decision over Bloomsburg’s Michael Collins last week to improve to 12-13 overall. Along with Mike Maney, Collins leads LHU with six major decisions. This season, Collins was met with a loss to Clarion’s Peter Derstine at the West Virginia Open.

133: Justin Owens (Morrisdale/West Branch) is now 18-10 after his major decision victory against Justin Haupt of Bloomsburg. This season, Owens has posted a pair of majors, a team-high of four technical falls and five pins.

141: No. 7-ranked Mike Maney (Clarence/Bald Eagle Area) will be looking for his 80th career victory this week. Last Friday, Maney pinned Bloomsburg’s Mark Piermattei for the second time this season, improving his season ledger to 24-2. Maney is LHU’s falls leader with seven and shares the team high of six major decisions with 125-pounder Jim Collins. John Holsinger (Pennsburg/Quakertown) (1-7) could aid the (141-continued) Bald Eagles here in the event that Maney, who is still battling illness, is unable to wrestle.

149: James LaValle (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) utilized a late reversal to post a 7-5 decision over Bloomsburg’s Brad Forbes in last week’s action, improving to 11-15 on the season. 

157: Freshman Matt Marquart (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) has had a rough time getting his feet wet after joining the starting lineup just two weeks ago for the injured Charlie Brenneman. Last week, he lost by fall to Bloomsburg’s No. 13-ranked George Carter, bringing his overall mark to 3-7.

165: Jason Gilligan (Brookville/Brookville) won his match-up against Bloomsburg’s Ryan Garner, 6-3, to improve to 15-9 on the season. Gilligan met up earlier this season with one of this week’s probable opponents, defeating Penn State’s Doc Vecchio, 9-5, for fifth place at Mat-Town USA.

174: A loss by decision to Bloomsburg’s No. 19-ranked Hunter Guenot knocked the season record of Chris Haines (Gettysburg/Gettysburg) down to 9-15. Haines, wrestling at 165 pounds earlier in the season, scored a 7-6 win over Doc Vecchio of Penn State. At the PSAC championships, he collected an 11-2 major decision versus Clarion’s Dave Gardner to advance to the consolation championship. Eric O’Connor (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown) (12-6) may wrestle at 174 pounds in one or both of this week’s matches in place of Haines, who suffered a neck injury last week.

184: Mike Greenberg (Canton/Canton) could not get by Bloomsburg’s Chad Hoare this past weekend, losing 9-6 to move to 11-16 on the season. 

197: EWL Wrestler of the Week Morgan Horner’s (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) 56-second fall over Bloomsburg’s Andy Ludlow helped spark a five-bout run by the Bald Eagles leading to the team victory. Horner is 15-8 overall and 10-3 in dual meet bouts wrestled at 197 pounds. He met up with and defeated Clarion’s No. 12-ranked Eric Mausser, 12-6, in the PSAC semifinals.

HWT: Steve Itterly (Bethlehem/Nazareth) is now 16-13 overall following last Friday’s sudden victory, 5-3, decision against Tony Milone of Bloomsburg. Itterly faced off versus Clarion’s No. 9-ranked John Testa in the PSAC Tournament finals, losing 8-4. An ankle injury aggravated last Friday may keep Itterly out of this week’s competition. In that event, freshman Tim Meyers (Mill Hall/Central Mountain) (2-8) will be the replacement.

UP NEXT: Next up for the Bald Eagles is the Eastern Wrestling League Championship being hosted by West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The league tournament/nationals qualifier gets underway on Sat., March 8 through Sun., March 9.


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