Jan. 3, 2001
In their second Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) match of the season, the Cleveland State Vikings fell hard to rival Clarion, 37-3. "We just plain got kicked around out there tonight," a dejected Head Coach Jack Effner said. "We didn't perform, and I'll take the blame, we just have to go back to the drawing board."
The first match seemed to set the entire night for the CSU grapplers. Freshman 165-pounder Aaron Warnock battled Clarion's Pete Kroshefskie for the first two periods. Going into the third Warnock led 6-3, but the tides quickly changed. Kroshefskie turned a single-leg takedown into a pin at 6:23 into the match. Freshmen Joe Phillips and Brian Hasenohrl, both out of Maple Heights High School, had difficulty putting points on the board against Clarion. At 174 lbs. Phillips fell 6-1, while Hasenohrl lost his 184 lb. match 4-2. At 197 lbs. Dom Abato was active, earning a takedown and two reversals. However, an early near fall by Clarion's Eric Mausser proved too much for Abato in the 13-7 loss. 10th-ranked heavyweight John Testa got the Vikes' Don Caramell on his back in the first period and earned the pin in 2:32.
In perhaps the most devastating match of the night for CSU 125-pounder Rocco Mansueto was pinned by Clarion freshman Peter Derstine in 4:26. "I guess everyone has a night like tonight, but I don't know who that was out there at 125 lbs.," commented Effner. "It wasn't the Rocco Mansueto that is usually out there." It wasn't until the 141 lb. match, the eighth match of the night, that the Vikes would earn their first and only win. CSU's Ryan Guciardo used three takedowns to win 8-2.
"I wasn't even happy about the one match we did win," said Effner. "Obviously something is wrong, and we'll figure it out." The Vikings won't have too much time to dwell over their second-consecutive conference loss, as they travel to Columbus for the Ohio State duals this weekend. They will return home to host Kent State on January 9.
