Jan. 6, 2008
Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.
BUFFALO, New York - Cleveland State took 3-0 days from four Vikings to win head to head matchups against Mercyhurst and West Liberty State while losing to host school Buffalo at the Buffalo Duals on Saturday at the Alumni Arena in Buffalo, NY.
Ryan Hurley (149 pounds), Rob Michaels (157), Marcus Effner (165), and Eric Schwartz (285) all went 3-0 on the day, but were the only Vikings who had winning records for the day, as the rest of the team went a combined 4-11 overall.
"It was a real tough day," head coach Jack Effner said, "There were certainly some positives, and it was nice to win two of our duals. We are going to be tougher because of today, but we still have a lot of work to do."
The Vikings started the day with a dual meet win over Mercyhurst, 19-17. The Lakers of Mercyhurst took an early lead in the 125 pound bout as Ryan Riggs fell to Payne Lint in a 7-3 decision to give Mercyhurst a 3-0 lead. Cleveland State took a major decision victory by Josh Palivoda to quickly regain the lead at 133 pounds and then reeled off four straight winning decisions with Mike Hurley (141), Ryan Hurley (149), Michaels (157) and Effner (165) contributing to make the score 13-3 in favor of the Vikings.
The Lakers took the lead back after winning the next three matches, with Alek Hughes' 11-4 loss by decision to Trevor Gallo making the score 17-16. At this point it was up to Eric Schwartz, and he delivered in a very close match against Nathan Sharp at heavyweight that resulted in a 6-4 win for Schwartz and a 19-17 victory over Mercyhurst.
To say that Cleveland State's next dual against West Liberty started on the wrong foot would be an understatement, as the Vikings fell behind 10-0 after losses at 125, 133, and 141. The uphill climb to victory was made very simple after CSU recorded wins from Ryan Hurley, Michaels, Effner, JT Miller, and Derek Cummins to push the score to 17-10.
With a pin over the Vikings' Alek Hughes at 197, West Liberty's Mitch Knapp nearly gave the Hilltoppers the lead in pushing the score to 17-16, before Eric Schwartz once again sealed the deal, this time with a pin which came in 3:32 to secure the 23-16 victory.
In the final dual of the day, the Vikings faced host school Buffalo in what turned out to be the toughest matchup of the afternoon, with the Bulls defeating CSU by a 16-15 score. Ryan Riggs got things going at 125 with a win by decision to give CSU the initial 3-0 lead after a 3-1 tiebreaker win. CSU followed consecutive losses at 133 and 141 to record three straight wins, with Ryan Hurley, Michaels, and Effner contributing to give the Vikings a 12-6 advantage heading into the 174 pound bout.
JT Miller's loss at 174 would prove to be the first of three straight defeats that put Buffalo back in the lead heading into the final match of the afternoon. Eric Schwartz had provided crucial wins in the first two duals at heavyweight, and the Vikings would need him to win big in his matchup against Buffalo's Jeff Parker to have a chance to pull out the win, with the team score at 16-12 in favor of Buffalo at that point.
The bout proved to be epic as both wrestlers battled each other throughout regulation. Time expired after the third and the sudden victory periods with the score tied at 2-2 going into tiebreaker, where Schwartz was able to secure a 3-2 decision that would not be enough for the Vikings to defeat the Bulls, as Buffalo sent CSU to their first dual meet loss of the season.
"A day like today is part of the process," said Coach Effner, "It will be a tough month, and we hope to turn that corner."
Buffalo went 3-0 on the day, while West Liberty and Mercyhurst both went 0-2. West Liberty and Mercyhurst did not face each other on the day due to the fact that the teams had already wrestled a dual meet against each other in late December.
The Vikings will return to action Tuesday, January 8, 2008 against Kent State in Kent, Ohio, with dual meet action set to begin at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Dual 1 - Cleveland State 19, Mercyhurst 17
125: Payne Lint (Mercy) dec. Ryan Riggs (CSU), 7-3 0-3
133: Josh Palivoda (CSU) maj dec. Lance Pitcel (Mercy), 12-4 4-3
141: Mike Hurley (CSU) dec. Braxdon Scaletta (Mercy), 10-3 7-3
149: Ryan Hurley (CSU) dec. Brian Pogel (Mercy), 6-4 10-3
157: Rob Michaels (CSU) dec. Andy Lamancusa (Mercy), 13-6 13-3
165: Marcus Effner (CSU) dec. Hudson Harrison (Mercy), 5-2 16-3
174: Josh Shields (Mercy) pinned JT Miller (CSU) at 1:10 16-9
184: Bryan Wolff (Mercy) tech fall Derek Cummins (CSU), 22-4 16-14
197: Trevor Gallo (Mercy) dec. Alek Hughes (CSU), 11-4 16-17
285: Eric Schwartz (CSU) dec. Nathan Sharp (Mercy), 6-4 19-17 CSU
Dual 2 - Cleveland State 23, West Liberty State 16
125: Lucas Huffman (WL) maj dec. Matt Reynolds (CSU), 9-0 0-4
133: Matt Mossor (WL) dec. Josh Palivoda (CSU), 8-6 0-7
141: Doug Surra (WL) dec. Mike Hurley (CSU), 10-3 0-10
149: Ryan Hurley (CSU) maj dec. William Melko (WL), 14-3 4-10
157: Rob Michaels (CSU) dec. Brian Leggett (WL), 9-4 7-10
165: Marcus Effner (CSU) maj dec. Seth Phalen (WL), 13-4 11-10
174: JT Miller (CSU) dec. Chris Gibbs (WL), 6-5 14-10
184: Derek Cummins (CSU) dec. JD Ramsey (WL), 10-5 17-10
197: Mitch Knapp (WL) pinned Alek Hughes (CSU) at 3:45 17-16
285: Eric Schwartz (CSU) pinned Kevin Staub (WL) at 3:32 23-16 CSU
Dual 3 - Buffalo 16, Cleveland State 15
125: Ryan Riggs (CSU) dec. Dylan Dabolt (UB), 3-1 tb 3-0
133: Joe Wilson (UB) dec. Josh Palivoda (CSU), 5-2 3-3
141: Andrew Stella (UB) dec. Antonio Nicholson (CSU), 7-2 3-6
149: Ryan Hurley (CSU) dec. Pat Lloyd (UB), 5-1 tb 6-6
157: Rob Michaels (CSU) dec. John Cummings (UB), 6-2 9-6
165: Marcus Effner (CSU) dec. Scott Rendos (UB), 5-3 12-6
174: Mike Ragusa (UB) maj dec. JT Miller (CSU), 16-5 12-10
184: Mickey Moran (UB) dec. Derek Cummins (CSU), 8-5 12-13
197: Jimmy Hamel (UB) dec. Alek Hughes (CSU), 8-5 12-16
285: Eric Schwartz (CSU) dec. Jeff Parker (UB), 3-2 tb 15-16 UB
