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CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State University wrestling team opens postseason action this weekend at the Eastern Wrestling League Championships.
The EWL meet is taking place Saturday, March 3, at Edinboro inside McComb Field House. The opening session begins at 10:00 a.m. while placement matches will begin at 6:15 p.m. Live video will be available through FloWrestling ($) while live results will be available through FloArena.
The champion of each weight class will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships in Cleveland later this month. The EWL also secured eight additional automatic qualifying spots, which will be earned Saturday, based on its athletes' regular-season performance. The League owns four automatic qualifying spots at 141 pounds while the League has two automatic qualifying spots at 125 pounds, 157, 165, 184 and 285.
Junior Evan Cheek and redshirt senior Nick Corba both helped qualify additional allocations for the League at 141 and 184, respectively.
Cheek, seeking his first NCAA Championship appearance, has gone 3-1 at the League Championships in each of the past two seasons to finish in third place. Cheek owns 21 wins on the season and has been especially dominant since the turn of the calendar. In 2018, he is 16-3 in matches not ending in forfeits. He was the only unseeded wrestler in his weight class to place at the Southern Scuffle and went 5-1 in EWL duals.
Corba is aiming for his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships but will be looking to lock up an automatic bid after receiving an at-large berth last year. He owns a team-leading 22 wins, including 12 bonus-point wins, seven of which were falls. Corba placed second at the EWL Championships last season before winning a pair of matches at the NCAA Championships, both of which were of the bonus-point variety.
Redshirt senior John Martin (125) is scheduled to compete for the fourth time in his career at the EWL meet. He picked up an overtime win in the event last season. Not far behind is classmate Gabe Stark (174), who is set for his third entry into the event. Stark placed second in the 2016 event and did not partake last year as he was redshirting.
Junior John Vaughn won a pair of matches at the EWL event at 165 pounds a season ago and is set to represent CSU at 157 this season. Redshirt junior Andrew Coghill (133) and sophomore Collin Kelly (285) also competed in the event last season, albeit Kelly at 197.
A pair of true freshman, Georgio Poullas (165) and John Kelbly (197), and redshirt freshman Ryan Ford (149) are all set to make their EWL Championships debuts this weekend.
Poullas and Ford both went 3-3 in EWL dual action in the regular season.
Any Vikings that automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships will have the luxury of competing just down the street from their campus, as this year's event is being hosted at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.
