March 6, 2005
DETROIT - Sophomore Mike Merker finished fourth in men's foil to lead Cleveland State at the Midwest Regional at Wayne State on Sunday. Joining Merker with top 10 finishes were Omer Deleeuw in men's foil (7th) and Jeff Tormey in men's epee (10th). In all, nine Vikings competed over the weekend, with six earning All-Region honors.
Nursing a hip injury, Merker got off to a slow start before rallying with a 5-3 victory over defending national champion Boaz Ellis of Ohio State and a 3-1 win against Detroit's Brendan Mullane to earn first team All-Region honors. With his performance, Merker more than likely wrapped up a bid to the NCAA Championships.
"Mike had to reach deep inside to turn it around after losing his first three bouts," CSU head coach Jim Sager said. "He had worked so hard all season that it would have been a shame to see it end this way, especially after barely missing out last year as a freshman."
Deleeuw was second team All-Region and qualified as an alternate for NCAAs, while Tormey earned third team All-Region honors and is an at-large candidate for NCAAs.
"This is our best showing at Regionals in my six years at Cleveland State," Sager noted. "We started back in September, and with the help of [first-year assistant] Brian Stone, we were really able to focus on developing all of our athletes. The results are a testament to our improvement over the last six months."
The NCAA Championships are March 18-20 in Houston, Texas. The formal selections will be announced by the NCAA on Tuesday, March 8 and are based on a combination of pre-Regional seeding (40%) and Regional placing (60%).
CSU Midwest Regional Results (All-Region honors in parenthesis)
Men's Foil
Mike Merker -- 4th (first team)
Omer Deleeuw -- 7th (second team)
Tom Kotula -- 12th (third team)
Men's Epee
Jeff Tormey -- 10th (third team)
Men's Sabre
Matt Kulma -- 12th (honorable mention)
Women's Foil
Erin Mick -- 15th
Women's Epee
Shariah Pratt -- 12th (honorable mention)
Pam Marvinney -- 16th
Women's Sabre
Shilah Pratt -- 13th
