Horner, Medina in Finals
as LHU is Fifth at EWL Championships
CLARION, Pa. –
With two Bald Eagles primed for championship competition, the
Lock Haven University wrestling team sits fifth of
seven teams after day one of the Eastern Wrestling
League (EWL) Championships, hosted by Clarion University. Edinboro
University leads the competition with 87.5 points, followed by West Virginia
University at 77, Bloomsburg University at 73, the University of Pittsburgh
at 71.5 and LHU at 66.
Juniors
Joshua A. Medina (Las
Vegas/Pima C.C.) and Morgan Horner (Hasbrouck
Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) made it to the
championship rounds at 149 and 197, respectively.
“Tonight’s effort was better than the
earlier session,” said LHU head coach Rocky
Bonomo. “I always like to beat guys that are ranked higher than you.
Medina and Horner wrestled well, and it was great to see (Seth) Martin
rebound with a tech fall.”
Obviously battling an illness, freshman
Obe Blanc
(Naples, Fla./Lely) had any chance at an EWL title
slip through his hands with a 9-0 loss to West Virginia’s Shawn Cordell.
Blanc made easy work of Cordell at their Feb. 19 dual, scoring a 15-7
victory, but Cordell had his revenge tonight. Blanc begins his wrestleback
tomorrow against Edinboro’s Greg Sill.
At 133, junior
Jim Collins (Jonestown,
Pa./Northern Lebanon) sat out a bye, and will take
on Bloomsburg’s Tony Curto tomorrow morning.
At 141, freshman
Matt Fittery
(Denver, Pa./Cocalico) also had a bye, and will
meet Edinboro’s Rick McLaughlin Sunday.
Medina then scored his fall at 149. Up
23-5 in the third period, Medina was biding time in a weak leg scissors by
Hickman, caught him off guard when he shifted his weight to score the fall
at 6:16. Medina faces Edinboro’s Ron Doppleheuer for the 149-pound title
tomorrow night.
157-pounder
Seth Martin (Selinsgrove,
Pa./Selinsgrove) avenged his earlier loss with a
17-2 domination of Bloomsburg’s Chris Tate. Martin continues tomorrow
against the University of Pittsburgh’s Matt Kocher.
At 165, junior
B.J. Mikeska (Derry,
Pa./Bloomsburg University) also sat out a bye. He
will draw WVU’s Zac Fryling tomorrow.
LHU’s most exciting bout of the night
came at 174, as sophomore Carlos
Ponce (Hialeah, Fla./Hialeah Miami Lakes) scored an escape with 20
seconds left in regulation to knot the match at 4-4. After a scoreless
minute of sudden victory, Ponce got another escape in his extra 30 second
period, and was able to hold off any escape attempts from CSU’s Matt Klinger
to get the 5-4 win. Ponce meets Pitt’s Zach Doll tomorrow.
“As a coach, you wrestle the match with
him,” Bonomo said. “Obviously the bout was stressful, it was nice to see his
effort get us a win.”
Junior Horner had his second shortened
bout of the day, following up a pin in session one with a win by injury
default over WVU’s Jared Villers. Horner battles for the EWL title tomorrow
against Bloomsburg’s Chad Hoare.
Heavyweight
Jamie Nagel (Shade Gap, Pa./Mount
Union Area) had a bye in tonight’s action, and
will face Joe Hennis of Edinboro tomorrow in the wrestlebacks.
“We rebounded well tonight,” Bonomo
added, “but tomorrow’s the day. We’ll see who shows up to play tomorrow.”
