Hofstra's Schmiesing, Seton Hall's Ilaria ECWA Wrestlers of the Week; Drexel's Jones ECWA Rookie of

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Bud Focht (ECWA)
01/16/2001


LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ--Eric Schmiesing of Hofstra University and Dave Ilaria of Seton Hall University have been named the East Coast Wrestling Association Wrestlers of the Week, and Chris Jones of Drexel University was named the ECWA Rookie of the Week, for all competition January 8-14.    Schmiesing, a senior from St. Cloud, MN (St. Cloud Tech) who is currently ranked fifth in the nation at 149 pounds, defeated a pair of top-10 wrestlers last week, Ryan Sharpert of Edinboro (3-1), and Billy Maldonado of Iowa State (7-1). Sharpert is ranked 10th by Intermat, 19th by AWN, and Maldonado is ranked eighth by Intermat, ninth by AWN. Schmiesing's only loss last week was to sixth ranked Mike Zadick of Iowa State (4-3).  Schmiesing is now 20-3 on the season.    Ilaria, a junior 133 from Belleville, NJ (St. Peter's Prep), won his first two ECWA bouts of the season by fall and by major decision. Ilaria pinned Ricky Merrit of Boston College, and defeated Bill Heverly of Drexel 8-0.  Ilaria leads the Pirates with 13 victories this season.    Jones, a freshman 197 from Easton, PA (Easton), won a pair of ECWA duals last week, defeating the third ranked wrestler in the ECWA, Fikret Darzanoff of Seton Hall 9-6, and winning by tech fall over Jared McLaughlin of Boston College.  Jones improves to 13-7 overall, 8-4 in duals and is now 3-0 against ECWA opponents.