Jan. 13, 2008

Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Four Vikings won matches against Eastern Michigan, but that was not enough as the team dropped a 22-12 decision against the Eagles in a dual meet at home Saturday at Woodling Gymnasium.

"I'm very disappointed with our performance today," head coach Jack Effner said, "We looked flat - we had a perfect opportunity to do something good today and we just didn't get the job done."

Cleveland State won three of the first four bouts on the day, but a four bout win streak by EMU all but sealed the Vikings' fate in sending the home squad to its second consecutive dual meet loss.

The meet began with the 184-pound class featuring freshman DJ Cummins opposing EMU's Charlie Pienaar. Cummins had a difficult time with his older, more experienced opponent, and despite a hard fought match he fell by major decision 12-4, giving the Eagles an early 4-0 lead.

The Vikings then came right back, winning the next three matches. Alek Hughes got things going at 197 pounds with a very exciting and hard-hitting bout that resulted in a 5-3 win for the freshman. The victory was earned largely on the sheer relentlessness Hughes displayed from start to finish in the matchup. He had his opponent in position for a pin just as time expired in the first period, and executed at least four takedown slams to the mat during the match.

Rashard Goff was next at 285, and made his dual meet debut for the Vikings this season a respectable one with a 3-0 win by decison. Ryan Riggs followed Goff with a victory at 125 by scoring three quick points late in the third period to break a 6-6 tie and record a 9-6 decision over EMU's Andrew Novak.

At this point, the meet rapidly went downhill for the Vikings. Josh Palivoda was next at 133 and appeared to have a very difficult time with his opponent in EMU's Sean Clair. Despite his trouble with his opponent, Palivoda fought the whole match through, eventually losing by major decision 11-0.

The next two matches came at weight classes that CSU usually can count on victories from in the 141 and 149 pound classes, but victory was not the result that came on the evening as both Antonio Nicholson (141) and Ryan Hurley (149) lost very close decisions to put the Vikings behind in the meet by a score of 14-9.

"I keep telling these guys that in college wrestling there is a very close difference between winning and losing," Effner said, "Today was a perfect example of that. It hurts to lose when you work so hard all week in practice, but when you get to the competition you just have to go out and get the job done, and we didn't do that today."

The Vikings certainly could have used Robbie Michaels on a day like today, but the team's win leader at 23-4 fell ill only days before the meet and was unable to wrestle Saturday. In his place at 157 pounds was Dan Castillo, who never was able to get comfortable in his matchup with EMU's Cory Mancuso, falling by major decision 17-4.

The meet was rounded out by a win at 165 by Marcus Effner who turned around a back and forth match with a near fall on his opponent in the third period to secure a 8-6 win. JT Miller lost the final match of the day for CSU, falling to EMU's Derek Foore by major decision 8-0.

"A loss like this stings, but we are learning valuable lessons," Coach Effner said, "We will keep working hard, and hopefully a couple of these guys will start breaking out."

The Vikings return to action on Sunday, Jan. 20 as they travel to Ashland, Ohio for the Ashland Duals. The event will feature dual meets against three schools and is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. EST.

Eastern Michigan 25, Cleveland State 6

184: Charlie Pienaar (EMU) maj. dec. DJ Cummins, 12-4            0-4
197: Alek Hughes dec. John McClure (EMU), 5-3                    3-4
285: Rashard Goff dec. David Wade (EMU), 6-2                     6-4
125: Ryan Riggs dec. Andrew Novak (EMU), 9-6                     9-4
133: Sean Clair (EMU) maj. dec. Josh Palivoda, 11-0              9-8
141: Zach Donofrio (EMU) dec. Antonio Nicholson, 5-4             9-11
149: David Pienaar (EMU) dec. Ryan Hurley, 3-1                   9-14
157: Cory Mancuso (EMU) maj. dec. Dan Castillo, 17-4             9-18
165: Marcus Effner dec. Justin Brandel (EMU) 8-6                12-18
174: Derek Foore (EMU) maj. dec. JT Miller, 8-0                 12-22 EMU