West Virginia captures EWL team title
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Danielle Barney (Lock Haven)
03/12/2002
Mountaineers Crown Three Individual Winners En Route To Victory (Lock Haven, Pa.) - The West Virginia University Mountaineers captured the 27th Annual Eastern Wrestling League Tournament team championship, crowing three individual champions en-route to their second tournament title and first since the 1996 season. WVU's Greg Jones (174 lbs.) was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler. West Virginia posted 114.50 team points for the win. Only a half point separated second and third place, as Edinboro University (104.50) edged out Lock Haven University (104.00) for the runner-up position. Finishing fourth was the University of Pittsburgh (87.00), followed by Cleveland State University (67.00), Clarion University (66.00), Virginia Tech (48.50), and Bloomsburg University (41.00). The Mountaineers claimed three individual champions, while Virginia Tech and Clarion each crowned two individual titlists. Edinboro's Shawn Bunch (Leavenworth, Kan./Leavenworth) opened up championship competition with a win by injury default (5:53) over Lock Haven's Trap McCormack (Loganton/Bald Eagle Nittany). McCormack was ahead at the time, 8-3, before a knee injury put the senior Bald Eagle out of commission. The 133-pound championship match-up between Cleveland State's Phil Mansueto (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) and Clarion's Rad Martinez (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan) went into the tie-breaker at 1-1. Mansueto choose to take the offensive position, and rode out Martinez over the 30-second overtime for his first EWL title. Virginia Tech's Sean Gray (Flemington, N.J./Blair Academy) joined the annals of EWL history as a three-time winner, surviving a late surge by West Virginia's Shane Cunanan (Spokane, Wash./Central Valley) for the 7-5 victory in the finals at 141 pounds. At 149 pounds, Lock Haven's JaMarr Billman (Easton/Easton Area) won his second straight crown, taking the medical forfeit for victory over West Virginia's Billy Smith (New Alexandria/ Greensburg-Salem). West Virginia's Joe Carr (Lexington, Ky./Woodford) made the return to the top spot on the awards stand after finishing first in 2000, winning this year's 157 pound weight class with a 7-3 decision over Edinboro's Ryan Yates (Lower Burrell/Burrell). The Mountaineers' Tom McMath (Sharpsville/Sharpsville Area) followed up with another West Virginia win, this time at 165 pounds with a 6-4 decision over Edinboro's Matt R. King (Connellsville/Connellsville). McMath held a 2-1 lead after two periods, then scored two escapes and a takedown with 35 seconds remaining to secure the win. West Virginia freshman Greg Jones (Slickville/Greensburg-Salem) posted a 3-2 rideout victory over two-time defending EWL champion Josh Koscheck (Waynesburg/Waynesburg) of Edinboro to capture his first league title at 174 pounds. Jones had the 2-1 advantage over Koscheck after two periods, but an escape by Koscheck in the third knotted the match at 2-2. After scoring the first takedown of the bout, Jones earned the choice in the tiebreaker and took the defensive position, escaping just three seconds into the overtime period for the win. After finishing as the runner-up one year ago, Virginia Tech's Scott Justus (Grundy, Va./Grundy) tasted victory with a 14-5 handling of Bloomsburg's Justin Johnson (Wyalusing/ Wyalusing) in the 184-pound bracket. Justus piled on three takedowns in the third period to add to his cushion after jumping out to the 7-2 lead in the first two periods. At 197 pounds, Clarion's Eric Mausser (Sharon/Sharon) used a late takedown in the second period and another in the third to seal the win over Edinboro's David Shunamon (Tewksbury, Mass./Tewksbury). At heavyweight, Clarion's John Testa (Newark, Del./St. Mark's) earned his second-straight EWL title after runner-up Jacob Lininger (Hummelstown/Lower Dauphin) of Pittsburgh was forced to use a medical forfeit.