CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University wrestling team will conclude Eastern Wrestling League action this weekend with a pair of matches, one on the road and one at home.
CSU will travel to nationally ranked Edinboro Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. before hosting Clarion Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2:00 p.m. in each team's final EWL dual of the season.
Friday's dual at Edinboro will have live video coverage for FloPro subscribers ($) and will also have live audio and live stats available. Prior to Sunday's dual, the Vikings will host a Senior Day ceremony to honor the four seniors set to depart the program—RJ LaBeef, Nick Montgomery, Ray Stone and Nathan Wynkoop.
Cleveland State is coming off one of its most successful weeks of the season. The Vikings took down Bloomsburg last Friday to secure their first EWL win of the season and then subsequently won the nine-team Mat-Town Open II that featured four fellow EWL schools along with Pittsburgh, Princeton, Penn and Old Dominion.
Redshirt junior Nick Corba led the way for the Vikings last week with a 5-0 record. After winning via major decision in the dual against Bloomsburg, Corba won four consecutive bouts en route to the title at 184 pounds in the Mat-Town Open. Four of his victories last week were of the bonus-point variety, as he outscored his opponents 47-4 over the quintet of matches. Corba is now 18-6 on the season and owns 13 bonus-point wins.
Sophomore Evan Cheek notched a runner-up finish at the Mat-Town Open at 141 pounds and went 4-1 last week, moving his team-leading win total to 20. Cheek is 11-0 on the season in matches ending in falls or technical falls.
Montgomery joined Cheek in contributing a 4-1 record last week and had a second-place showing at Mat-Town at 149 pounds. He collected two wins by fall in the first period and a technical fall victory among his four wins. Montgomery is now tied for the team lead in pins with six. True freshman Devon Pingel, who went 4-1 at Mat-Town and finished in third place at 174 pounds, also has six pins on the year.
Edinboro holds a 26-5 lead in the all-time series with CSU while Clarion has a 27-16 advantage against the Vikings. Cleveland State has won each of the past two meetings with the Golden Eagles but has dropped matchups against the Fighting Scots in the same years.
Montgomery has wins over both Edinboro and Clarion in dual action in his career. Corba, John Martin and John Vaughn each own wins over Clarion in their careers in a dual format.
Edinboro enters Friday with a 7-5 dual mark and a 5-0 EWL mark. All five of the Fighting Scots' setbacks have come to nationally ranked teams, with four of them coming to top-11 squads. Edinboro enters on a 22-match EWL winning streak and is seeking its fourth consecutive season with an unbeaten EWL record. The Fighting Scots finished sixth at the Southern Scuffle to begin 2017. Edinboro has six nationally ranked athletes according to Intermat's most recent rankings, all of whom are listed as probable starters for Friday's dual.
Clarion enters with a 4-9 overall mark and a 1-3 mark in the EWL. The Golden Eagles will host Bloomsburg Friday evening in their penultimate EWL dual. Clarion enters the weekend having lost three consecutive duals, including a 21-17 heartbreaker to Ohio last time out. Before that stretch, the Golden Eagles had won three straight and four of six overall. Clarion's lone EWL wins thus far was a 24-10 victory over George Mason. Sophomore Brock Zacherl sits among Intermat's top 20 at 141 pounds and owns a 19-2 record on the season.
Cleveland State will close the regular season next weekend when it hosts Gardner-Webb and Northern Illinois in a tri-dual that is slated to begin at 11:00 a.m.
After this Sunday's dual, the CSU program would like to extend an open invitation for a post match meet-and-greet with the Viking coaching staff that will be held at Cibreo Italian Kitchen (1438 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH, 44115). Anyone that attends can inform the restaurant staff that they are there for the Cleveland State wrestling event.
CSU Projected Lineup
125: John Martin
133: Spencer Dusi
141: Evan Cheek
149: Nick Montgomery
157: Grant Turnmire
165: John Vaughn
174: Devon Pingel
184: Nick Corba
197: Collin Kelly
285: Michael Furbee
Edinboro Projected Lineup
125: Sean Russell
133: Korbin Myers
141: Nate Hagan
149: Patricio Lugo
157: Chase Delande
165: Austin Matthews
174: Ty Schoffstall
184: Dakota Geer
197: Dylan Reynolds
285: Billy Miller
Clarion Projected Lineup
125: Jake Gromacki
133: Roshaun Cooley
141: Brock Zacherl
149: Jake Keller
157: Taylor Cahill
165: Evan DeLong
174: Dom Rigous
184: Scott Marmoll
197: Dustin Conti OR Terrell Fields
285: Evan Daley