Ten Place-Winners, Six
Qualifiers, Two Champs and One Heckuva Team
CLARION, Pa. –
The Lock Haven University wrestling team stole the show on
day two of the 30th Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships,
placing all 10 wrestlers, with six earning automatic trips to the NCAA
Championships May 17-19 in St. Louis. The team made a push up to second from
fifth place after sessions one and two on Saturday, and also crowned two EWL
Champions.
Edinboro University took the team title
at 113 points, LHU finished second with 104 points. Third place went to the
University of Pittsburgh with 98 points, followed by West Virginia
University with 93, Bloomsburg University with 81, Clarion University and
Cleveland State University tied with 62 points.
“I’m amazed at how these guys responded
today,” said LHU head coach Rocky Bonomo.
“My assistant (coaches) Mike Rogers, Mike Maney and Joe Eaton
really helped get these guys ready for the war. We out-fought, out-hustled
and out-wrestled our opponents today.”
Earning a trip to St. Louis for LHU were
EWL titleholders Joshua A.
Medina (Las Vegas/Pima C.C.) at 149 and
Morgan Horner (Hasbrouck
Heights, N.J./Hasbrouck Heights) at 197. Joining
the champions are 125-pounder
Obe Blanc (Naples, Fla./Lely),
Matt Fittery (Denver, Pa./Cocalico)
at 141, Seth Martin
(Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) at 157 and
Carlos Ponce (Hialeah,
Fla./Hialeah Miami Lakes) at 174.
Junior 149-pounder Medina controlled
much of his title bout with Edinboro’s Ron Doppleheuer. Medina scored a
first-minute takedown from which Doppleheuer would earn an escape. Medina
then got a big takedown with four seconds left in the first for a 4-1 lead
after one. Doppleheuer earned the match’s only second-period points with an
escape to cut the lead to 4-2. Medina answered with an escape of his own,
and nabbed a late takedown to cinch his first EWL title in his first
attempt. Medina is the first EWL Champion for the Bald Eagles at 149 since
All-American JaMarr Billman in 2002.
Horner controlled his bout with Chad
Hoare, getting revenge for his two losses this season to the Bloomsburg
197-pounder. Horner scored a big takedown in the second minute, adding a
nearfall shortly thereafter. Horner would finish the first with a 7-3 lead.
Horner would add a takedown in the waning seconds of the second period for a
9-4 advantage. Up 11-5 in the third with 26 seconds left, Horner and Hoare
butted heads, with Horner on the losing end sporting a gash on his forehead.
Horner would return after assistance from the LHU athletic training staff,
scoring another takedown for the 14-5 bonus points. Horner is the first
champion for LHU at 197 since Avery Zerkle
did it in 2001.
125-pounder Blanc bounced back from
yesterday’s defeat to control Edinboro’s Greg Sill 11-4. Blanc dropped a
bout yesterday as he was battling the flu, but appeared to be in much better
health in session three and four.
Blanc topped Cleveland State’s Zach
Wornoff to take third place and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
At 133, junior
Jim Collins (Jonestown,
Pa./Northern Lebanon) scored a last-second
takedown on Bloomsburg’s Tony Curto to pick up the 9-7 win. Curto took a
shot to avoid sudden death, Collins sidestepped and dropped on top of Curto
for the deciding two points.
Collins failed to score any points in
the third period of the third-place bout, dropping to Pitt’s Drew Headlee
8-4.
Freshman Fittery also took his first
wrestleback bout, pinning Edinboro’s Rick McLaughlin with two seconds left
in the first period. McLaughlin took a shot and appeared to nearly have
control for a takedown, but Fittery circled around to score the two points,
getting just enough leverage to roll McLaughlin over for the fall before the
first period expired.
Fittery joined Blanc at nationals with a
convincing 12-4 win over WVU’s Vince Gioiella. Fittery scored six unanswered
points in the final period to seal the third-place win, his second over
Gioiella in under a month.
At 157, sophomore Martin continued LHU’s
roll, topping Pitt’s Matt Kocher 3-1. Martin entered the third period with a
slim 2-1 lead and Kocher chose the down position with hopes of scoring an
escape to tie it up. Martin wouldn’t allow that, and topped it off with a
riding-time point for the victory.
Martin followed that up with a 5-0
shutout of Edinboro’s Matt Hill in the third-place bout, earning a spot on
the plane to St. Louis.
165-pounder
B.J. Mikeska (Derry,
Pa./Bloomsburg University) dropped the first LHU
bout of the day, slipping to West Virgina’s Zac Fryling 8-4. Mikeska
rebounded with an 8-7 win over Marcus Surin of Clarion, getting an escape in
the final period to steal the win.
Sophomore Ponce picked up his second win
of the wrestlebacks with a hard-fought 9-5 win over Zachariah Doll of Pitt.
Tied at three after one period, Doll got a quick escape to get the advantage
in the second. Ponce scored a takedown in the last 30 seconds of the period
to have the 5-4 lead at the end of three. Ponce took over in the third
stanza, earning a pair of takedowns for the 9-5 victory.
Ponce added his third-place win with a
7-2 decision over host Clarion’s Chris Goings. Ponce scored the final five
points to nab the come-from-behind win and earn a trip to the NCAAs.
At 184, sophomore
Mike Metzger
(Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) was overpowered by
CSU’s Ron Howard in a 14-4 loss. Metzger would rebound with a smart 3-2 win
over Jesse Hasseman of Bloomsburg. Metzger had a final-period escape hold up
for the fifth-place victory.
Heavyweight
Jamie Nagel (Shade Gap, Pa./Mount
Union Area) lost to Edinboro’s Joe Hennis by
second-period fall and couldn’t rebound against the Huskies’ Mike Spaid,
settling for sixth place with a 8-0 loss.
LHU earned their highest team finish
since 2001, when the Bald Eagles were runners-up with 95 points.
Blanc, Fittery, Medina, Martin, Ponce
and Horner will return to action May 17-19 at the NCAA Championships in St.
Louis.
