LHU HOME

	March 5, 2002 LHU Wrestlers Ready To Vie For Eastern Wrestling League Crown

	(Lock Haven, Pa.) - The #14 Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania wrestling team will contest for the 2002 Eastern Wrestling League Championship title this weekend, Sat. through Sun., March 9-10. This year’s tournament is being hosted by Lock Haven, giving the Bald Eagles’ home mat advantage in Thomas Fieldhouse. EWL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE *Saturday, March 9* Quarterfinals 11 am - 2 pm Semis, Consolation Quarterfinals 6 pm - 10 pm *Sunday, March 10* Consolation Semis 10 am - 12 pm Consolation Finals 12 pm - 2 pm Championship Finals 2 pm 2002 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: The favorite entering into this weekend is 2002 EWL dual meet champion West Virginia University (12-2, 7-0 EWL). The #11 Mountaineers have won the regular season title four times, but have only collected one tournament title. WVU’s single team crown came in 1996, a year in which they did not capture the regular season title. The Bald Eagles along with #15 Edinboro University are also strong favorites to come away with the team trophy. The Haven (17-4, 6-1 EWL) finished as last year’s runner-up and returns three 2001 individual champions looking to defend their crown. Edinboro (10-4, 5-2 EWL) has won the last four league titles, and has shown no signs of slowing down this season, adding a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crown to its repetoire in late January. Other strong contenders include the University of Pittsburgh (12-6, 4-3), who finished third last season, Clarion University (6-11, 3-4 EWL), and Cleveland State University (5-8, 2-5 EWL). Also looking for the hardware will be Virginia Tech (5-10, 1-6 EWL) and Bloomsburg University (1-13, 0-7 EWL).	LHU returns three reigning EWL champions into action this weekend, (top to bottom): JaMarr Billman (149 lbs.), Josh Millard (184 lbs.), and Avery Zerkle (197 lbs.)
	LHU in 2001 EWL Tournament: The Bald Eagles finished as the runners-up at last season’s EWL Championship, crowing three individual champions along the way. All but one of LHU’s placewinners from last season return to action this weekend, including 2001 champions JaMarr Billman (149 lbs.), Josh Millard (184 lbs.), and Avery Zerkle (197 lbs.). Mike Maney finished second last season at 141 pounds, Trap McCormack (125 lbs.) and Ed Pawlak (174 lbs.) both were fourth, while Jason Gilligan (157 lbs.) was fifth. LHU in the EWL: Lock Haven has captured the EWL Tournament crown on only one occasion, a 1997 championship which was highlighted by the Outstanding Wrestler performance of LHU’s current assistant coach Cary Kolat. The Bald Eagles have seven runner-up performances on their record. Individually, LHU has crowned 31 champions over the past 26 years. Under head coach Carl Poff, the Bald Eagles have finished among the top two on six occasions, and have sent no less than four wrestlers to the NCAA Division I Tournament on any occasion. Below is a weight-by-weight preview: 125: #18 Trap McCormack (Loganton/Bald Eagle Nittany) is one of two Lock Haven wrestlers to go undefeated in EWL dual meet match-ups this season and enters competition with a 22-3 overall mark. The 2000 league champion, the senior Bald Eagle will look to better last season’s performance after having to default to fourth place due to injury. Three of the top six finishers from last season return (2001 champion Shawn Amistade is now wrestling at 133 lbs.), including runner-up Rocco Mansueto of Cleveland State, McCormack, and sixth-place finisher Brock Hite of Bloomsburg. Another possible contender is Edinboro’s #19 Shawn Bunch, who did not wrestle in the dual meet but whom McCormack beat, 10-7, for the PSAC title. 133: Chris Spealler (Paoli/Great Valley) will compete in his first EWL Championship, bringing in a 13-6 overall ledger. The Bald Eagle senior is 1-3 versus league opponents, his sole victory coming against Mark Piermattei of Bloomsburg, a 19-7 major decision. Spealler’s road to a place-finish and possible NCAA tournament bid will be tough, as four EWL wrestlers are ranked at this weight, headlined by Clarion’s #10 Rad Martinez. 141: Mike Maney (Clarence/Bald Eagle Area) came within inches of the EWL title last season, and after already pocketing two PSAC crowns in his two seasons, the Bald Eagle sophomore is anxious to add to his collection. Maney, ranked #12, is 21-4 overall and 4-3 in EWL dual meet action. He finished as the 2001 runner-up to Virginia Tech’s second-ranked Sean Gray, who defeated the Haven grappler, 7-3, in this season’s dual meet. Maney will also be looking to avenge regular season losses to Edinboro’s Cory Ace and West Virginia’s seventh-ranked Shane Cunanan. 149: Third-ranked Bald Eagle JaMarr Billman (Easton/Easton Area) will take the mat attempting to make it two-in-a-row after capturing the gold medal at the 2001 tournament. Sitting at 29-2 on the season, Billman is 7-0 in EWL competition and was this year’s EWL dual meet points leader with 33 points scored. The only league opponent Billman did not earn bonus points against was West Virginia’s #19 Billy Smith, a 7-4 decision. 157: Jason Gilligan (Brookville/Brookville) will look to take on step further this season after finishing fifth and earning a wild card bid to the NCAA tourney last season. Gilligan is currently 10-10 overall, and has built a 4-2 ledger versus EWL opponents. He will have to get past West Virginia’s seventh-ranked Joe Carr, last year’s runner-up and this year’s favorite, for the title. Gilligan, unranked, wrestled tough against Carr in the dual meet, falling by a 4-1 margin. 165: Charlie Brenneman (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) gets his first look at the EWL championships and his first shot at a national bid this weekend. Brenneman is 10-11 overall and was 4-1 against league wrestlers this season. The LHU sophomore did not meet up with leading candidate and fifth-ranked Tom McMath of West Virginia yet this year, but does have an 8-6 win against last year’s champion and another title hopeful, #19 Carl Fronhofer of Pittsburgh, under his belt. 174: Competing in his second league tourney is sophomore Ed Pawlak (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern). Pawlak, now 10-13 overall, finished fourth at the EWL championship last season. The Bald Eagle was competitive in EWL dual meets, winning four of seven. A runner-up performance in the PSAC Championship tilt to front-runner and second-ranked Josh Koscheck of Edinboro was one highlight of the season. Despite his few losses, Pawlak was in matches against other favored wrestlers at this weight, third-ranked Greg Jones of West Virginia (Dec. 5-10) and Gerald Harris of Cleveland State (Dec. 3-4). 184: #13 Josh Millard (Mill Hall/Bald Eagle Area) will be on the prowl for back-to-back titles after capturing the 2001 individual title along with his first-ever trip to the NCAA tournament. Millard is 18-5 on the season and is 5-1 against league opponents, his one loss coming against second-ranked Scott Justus of Virginia Tech, last year’s runner-up, by a nail-biting 6-5 decision. Millard is close to matching his 2000-2001 win total of 20, his best career effort, and along with Justus, remains one of the favorites at 184 pounds this weekend. 197: Another Haven senior hoping to duplicate last season’s EWL performance is #16 Avery Zerkle (Urbana, Ohio/Graham), the returning 197 pound champion. Zerkle has constructed a 13-6 overall mark after an early season hindered by knee injuries. He is 4-1 in EWL dual meet action, losing only to Edinboro’s #10 David Shunamon by a 5-2 decision. The top four placewinners from last year’s tournament return -- Shunamon (2nd), Clarion’s #14 Eric Mausser (3rd), and Pittsburgh’s #17 David Sandberg (4th) -- and will all be strong contenders in the hunt for the title again this season. HWT: Taking the mats for the Bald Eagles at heavyweight will be a newcomer to the lineup, sophomore Steve Itterly (Bethlehem/Nazareth). Itterly is 1-1 overall, certifying late in the season. In his only two matches, he defeated Bucknell’s Andrew Herbert by technical fall but lost by fall to another EWL Championship candidate, Cleveland State’s #19 Russ Davie. UP NEXT: The LHU wrestlers will vie for the 39 available slots to advance to the NCAA Division I National Wrestling Championships being held March 21-23 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y. The top three finishers at each weight class plus nine coaches’ wild card selections will make up this year’s EWL contingent at the NCAA tournament.
	###LHU###