EWL Championships Preview

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Rich Herman (Clarion Sports Information)
03/04/2004


The 2004 EWL's will be hosted by Bloomsburg University at Nelson Field House. Session 1 is set for 11am Saturday March 6th and will feature quarterfinal action. Session 2 starts at 6pm on Saturday and features semifinal matches and round 1 of consolations. Session 3 starts Sunday March 7th at 10am and will have the consolation semi's, followed immediately by the consolation finals. Session 4 will feature the championship final matches starting at 2pm. A total of 37 wrestlers will qualify for the NCAA Tournament from the EWL's including the top three finishers at each weight class and seven wild card selections.    Tickets will be available at the door. All-Session passes will be $30 at the door, while individual session prices are $8 for adults and $5 for students for the first three sessions and $15 for adults and $10 for students for the championship finals. Tickets will be available at the door.     "We're really looking forward to the challenges the EWL tournament brings," said Clarion seventh year head coach Ken Nellis. "I believe we're ready mentally and physically to have a quality tournament. The competition will be very strong, but if we wrestle to our capabilities, we can send a quality contingent to nationals, and that's our goal entering the tournament."    Clarion enters the EWL's with a 4-8 overall record and a 2-5 mark in the EWL. Clarion's EWL wins came against Virginia Tech (24-15) and Lock Haven (25-18), while losses have been to Edinboro (24-13), West Virginia (25-15), Pitt (19-13), Bloomsburg (23-12) and Cleveland State (20-14). Two additional wins came against Drexel (29-13) and Pitt-Johnstown (16-15)     The 2003 EWL Tournament, hosted by West Virginia, saw Edinboro win the team title with 129.5 points and West Virginia second with 123.5. Cleveland State finished a distant third with 80.5, Lock Haven fourth with 75.5, Pitt fifth with 75, Clarion sixth with 63.5, Virginia Tech seventh with 44.5 and Bloomsburg eighth with 44.     The 2002 EWL Tournament was won by West Virginia with 114.5 points, Edinboro second with 104.5, Lock Haven third with 104, Pitt fourth with 87.5, Cleveland State fifth with 67, Clarion sixth at 66, Virginia Tech seventh with 48.5 and Bloomsburg eighth with 41 points. The 2002 EWL's were hosted by Lock Haven.     The 2001 EWL tournament was won by Edinboro with 123.5 points, with Lock Haven finishing second at 95, Pitt third with 94.5 and Clarion fourth with 87 points.     Edinboro has won five of the last six EWL team titles including titles in 2003, and a strong of four straight from 1998-2001. West Virginia, who is expected to battle Edinboro for the team title, won a title in 2002, while Lock Haven won in 1997, West Virginia in 1996 and Clarion won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 95.     This year's favorite to win the team title? Edinboro has to be the favorite to repeat after defeating West Virginia convincingly in their dual matchup last week by a 25-13 margin.     Edinboro, who won the regular season EWL title with a 7-0 league mark, finished the year with an overall dual record of 10-3. They won their last six dual meets in a row, along with a PSAC team title under seventh year head coach Tim Flynn. He has a career dual record of 70-26-2 with the Scots.     West Virginia, under 26th year head coach Craig Turnbull, was 6-1 in the EWL and an overall record of 9-5. The Mountaineers had won the two previous EWL regular season crowns. Turnbull has a career record with WVU of 221-148-6.     Pittsburgh, with an EWL record of 5-2 and an overall slate of 8-6, could also make a challenge at the top spot. Coach Rande Stottlemyer, in his 25th season, has a career dual meet record of 215-181-10. The Panthers were third in 2001 and a team high second in 1997 and 1989.    Cleveland State and Bloomsburg both finished with 3-4 slates in the EWL. Cleveland State, under sixth year coach Jack Effner looks for another high EWL finish. Last year the Vikings were third.     Bloomsburg, under second year coach Dan Wirnsburger, led the Huskies to a 9-8 overall record. Bloomsburg has some quality young wrestlers who could make a strong showing.     Virginia Tech and Lock Haven, who were 1-6 this year in the EWL, expect to qualify some individual wrestlers to nationals. Virginia Tech is coached by 8th year mentor Keith Mourlam, while Lock Haven's Bald Eagles are directed by second year head coach Rocky Bonomo.     Clarion's 2004 EWL lineup will likely have Peter Derstine (Sr. 29-9; Coral Springs, Fl.) at 125, Louis Russo (So. 4-9; E. Hampton, N.Y.) at 133, #17 Frank Edgar (Jr. 34-5; Toms River, N.J.) at 141, T.J. McCance (Fr. 10-15; Butler) at 149, Chris Horning (So. 21-8; Syracuse, N.Y.) at 157, Jeremy Reitz (Sr. 20-15; Brookville) at 165, Aaron Wright (Sr. 17-12; Coudersport) at 174, Kyle Cathcart (Fr. 10-14; Clarion) at 184, Charlie Cilinski (So. 2-17; Gainesville,Va.) at 197 and Matt Wilcox (Fr. 9-11; Guys Mills, Pa.) at heavyweight.    Veterans returning to the EWL's looking to make a trip to the 2004 nationals are Derstine, Edgar, Horning, Reitz and Cilinski.     WEIGHT CLASS PREVIEW:  125: The first weight class looks like a contest between Pitt freshman Drew Headlee (17-5), Clarion senior Peter Derstine (29-9), Bloomsburg's Brian Sellers (16-19), Lock Haven's Jimmy Collins (15-11), WVU's Casey Brewster (14-10) and Cleveland State's DeAngelo Penn (14-11). Headlee is the favorite after going undefeated in the EWL regular season. Derstine was 4th last year, Collins 6th. Collins won the 2004 PSAC title. Headlee defeated Derstine 6-2 in the dual meet.     133: the 133-pound weight class features 12th rated Dave Hoffman (19-2) from Virginia Tech. Hoffman was 6th in 2002 and didn't compete last year. Edinboro's Jacob Gray (29-7) was the runner-up at 125 last year and third at 125 in 2001 and should challenge. West Virginia's Seth Lisa (7-6) was third at 125 last year and will battle to place high along with Lock Haven's Dave Predko (12-8), Pitt's Mike Ciotti (5-4) and Bloom's Bryan Hart (19-11). Clarion will have Louis Russo (4-9) here.     141: A talented weight class, 141-pounds appears to be a battle between Clarion's #17 ranked Frank Edgar (34-5), Pitt's #16 rated Ron Tarquinnio (22-10), WVU's #17 rated Joe Clarke (22-8), Bloomsburg's Scott Heckman (23-14), Edinboro's Ron Doppelheuer (25-13) and Cleveland State's Anthony Coleman (18-10). How close is this weight class, Edgar has dual wins this year over Tarquinnio, Clarke and Doppelheuer, but losses to Heckman and Coleman. Tarquinnio was 4th and Edgar fifth here last year. Edgar was 4th at 141 in 2001. Coleman was 3rd at 149 last year and Doppelheuer 4th. At least 1 and maybe 2 wild cards will come out of this weight class.     149: Lock Haven's 2-time All-American Mike Maney (29-5) will be the top seed. Maney, ranked 11th, was runner-up at 141 in 2001 and 2003. He could receive a challenge from VT's Reed Carpenter (23-8) who was 5th here last year. WVU's Mike Torriero (15-9), Edinboro's Deonte Penn (24-11), Pitt's Matt Kocher (27-10), Cleveland State's Matt DePolo (27-16) and Bloom's Brad Forbes (14-9) are all capable of placing high. A lot of balance here. Clarion will have T.J. McCance (10-15).     157: WVU's 8th rated Matt Lebe (26-6) will be the #1 seed at 157. Lebe placed second a year ago. Ready to challenge ate Lock Haven's Charlie Brenneman (30-7) and Clarion's Chris Horning (21-8). Lebe has defeated Brenneman and Horning by identical 6-3 scores. Brenneman was 4th at 165 in 2002. Also ready to place are Pitt's Justin Nestor (24-13), Cleveland State's Jason Effner (12-13), Edinboro's Eric Ring (11-13) and Bloom's Josh Loew (7-8). Nestor was third here last year and Ring fourth.     165: Defending champion and #3 rated Matt King (35-1) is the favorite in another talented weight class. King also finished second in 2002. Ready to challenge is VT's #18 ranked Chris Stith (28-10). King defeated Stith 6-1 in the dual. Also ready here are Pitt's Zach Doll (18-6), Clarion's Jeremy Reitz (20-15), Lock Haven's Jason Gilligan (16-8) and WVU's Zac Fryling (17-9). Stith was 5th at 157 last year, Doll was