January 3, 2003
Lock Haven Wrestling Travels West For Sun Devil Duals
Bald Eagles Face Top-Level Competition in Minnesota, Arizona State and Embry-Riddle

Jim Collins (left); Morgan Horner (right)

On #3 University of Minnesota: The University of Minnesota is 2-1 in dual meets and captured the team title at the 2002 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational in its most recent action (Dec. 6-7). The Gophers open up the new year with the Ice Dual, a match-up against No. 1-ranked Oklahoma State University, on Friday, Jan. 3, before arriving in Phoenix, Ariz., for the Sun Devil Duals on Sunday, Jan. 5. Ranked third in the nation, Minnesota sports six ranked wrestlers including four among the country’s top five. The Gophers are sparked by their pair of returning national champions in 149-pounder Jared Lawrence (7-1) and 157-pounder Luke Becker (8-0). Lawrence is ranked second at 149 pounds, most recently finishing second at the Las Vegas Invite. Becker owns the top slot in the rankings at 157 pounds after an individual victory at Las Vegas. Two more returning All-Americans include No. 3-ranked Jacob Volkman at 165 pounds and No. 3-ranked Ryan Lewis at 133 pounds. Lewis, last year’s NCAA tourney runner-up, captured the individual crown at the Las Vegas Invite and is 7-1 on the season. Volkman is 8-1 on the season following a runner-up performance in Las Vegas. Others to watch for include No. 16-ranked Bob Lowe (4-4) at 125 pounds, No. 11-ranked Josh McLay (6-3) at 174 pounds, and returning All-Americans Damion Hahn (0-0) at 184 pounds and Garrett Lowney (0-1) at heavyweight.

On Embry-Riddle University: The Eagles of Embry-Riddle compete in the NAIA and most recently finished 22nd at the Reno Tournament of Champions. Currently ranked sixth among the nation’s NAIA squads, the Eagles have wrestlers ranked in five weight classes including No. 3-ranked Nathaniel Augustson at 184 pounds. At No. 4 in the 149-pound class is Joe Calavitta, while Pat Cadwallader is fifth at 165 pounds. Others to watch include Brian Love at 133 pounds and Danny Cadwallader at 141 pounds.

Below is the LHU weight-by-weight preview:

125: The Haven’s pair of red-shirt freshmen, Leslie Morrow (Canton, Ga./Sequoyah) and Jim Collins (Jonestown/Northern Lebanon), continue to hold down the responsibilities at 125 pounds. Collins, now 7-8 overall, went 1-2 in LHU’s last action. He defeated Findlay’s Donald Dew, 10-2, before falling 8-1 against Kent State’s Jared Opfer. Morrow picked up a win that same day with a 15-0 technical fall over American’s Matt Pellegrino to improve to 4-4 on the season. 

133: Senior Justin Owens (Morrisdale/West Branch) is 6-5 overall after dropping a one-point, 7-6, decision against Findlay’s Joey Simcoe. Blair Tugman (Lincroft, N.J./Middletown South) went 1-1 at the Clarion Duals, posting a 17-1 technical fall against American’s Dan Lobsenz before a 9-6 loss against his ranked Kent State opponent in Drew Opfer.

141: Junior Mike Maney (Clarence/Bald Eagle Area) maintained his No. 3-national ranking and is now 13-1 following a 3-0 performance at the Clarion Duals including a fall and a major decision. He pinned Findlay’s Von Graham in 4:43 to open, then moved on to an 8-0 major decision over American’s Tom Kniewseski. In the final dual meet of the day, Maney posted an 8-1 decision against Kent State’s Ryan Simmons.

149: Like Maney, James LaValle (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) also went 3-0 at the Clarion Duals, improving to 6-4 overall. LaValle collected the forfeit victory versus Findlay, then decisioned American’s Aviv Bercovicz, 8-3. Against Kent State, he scored an 8-3 win against Jason Bake. 

157: Junior Charlie Brenneman (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) had a strong outing as 2002 wound down, going 2-1 at the Clarion Duals. He scored two falls, wasting little time with both coming in the first-period against Findlay’s Adam Morris (2:49) and American’s Eric Fantigrossi (1:20). His only loss on the day was to No. 19-ranked Mike Tolar of Kent State, 7-2. On the season, Brenneman is now 9-4 overall.

165: Jason Gilligan (Brookville/Brookville) and Chris Haines (Gettysburg/Gettysburg) will again handle duties at 165 pounds. Gilligan improved to 8-3 overall, earned PSAC Wrestler of the Week honors and broke into the national rankings at No. 19 after his 2-0 performance at the Clarion Duals. He defeated Lucas Mackesy, 6-3, in the Findlay dual, then scored an upset victory over No. 9-ranked Nick Nemeth of Kent State with a 6-3 decision over the Golden Flash grappler. Haines is 5-3 on the season, last notching an 18-3 (4:38) technical fall over American’s Aaron Baker.

174: Two wrestlers are available at 174 pounds in junior Mike Greenberg (Canton/Canton) and senior Eric O’Connor (Elizabethtown/Elizabethtown). Greenberg crept up to 5-5 overall after going 2-0 at the Clarion Duals, capturing wins over Findlay’s Brandon Cooper (5-0) and Kent State’s Mark Lensman (F, 2:44). O’Connor is now 11-6 overall after tucking away a first-period fall (1:56) over Adam Montgomery of American.

184: Red-shirt freshman Morgan Horner (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) and sophomore Dan Riggs (Hanover/Delone Catholic) have taken over ownership of most of the action at 184 pounds for the Bald Eagles. Horner is 4-4 on the season, most recently scoring a 10-4 win over Kent State’s Ben Ring while wrestling up a weight class at 197 pounds. Riggs is 9-8, going 1-2 at the Clarion Duals. Riggs defeated American’s Kyle Mason, 13-6, and lost in battles versus Findlay’s Kris Klepacz (6-2) and Kent State’s Alex Camargo (10-4).

197: Junior Tim Boetsch (Lincolnville, Maine/Camden Rockport) is now 4-7 overall following a 7-4 loss to Clint Salisbury of Findlay. Another potential candidate for action is local standout and freshman Tim Meyers (Mill Hall/Central Mountain). Meyers picked up a win by forfeit against American in his first dual meet appearance of the season, and is currently 2-6 overall.

HWT: Bald Eagle junior Steve Itterly (Bethlehem/Nazareth) owns a 6-7 overall ledger following a 2-1 performance at the Clarion Duals. He posted back-to-back, 7-2, victories over Findlay’s Chris Weidinger and American’s Jared Hyman before giving up a fall against Kent State’s Alex Rodriguez. 

UP NEXT: Lock Haven remains on the road, next competing at the Virginia Duals on January 10-11. Included among the field of the National College Division are Brown University, Cal-State Bakersfield, Edinboro University, Hofstra University, Kent State University, Rider University, Lehigh University, Penn State University, Army, Virginia Tech, University of Illinois, University of North Carolina, Virginia Military Institute, University of Wyoming, and Lock Haven University. The Bald Eagles were the 2001 Virginia Duals team champion.

###LHU###