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Wrestling Travels To Bobcat Duals

Wrestling Travels To Bobcat Duals
Posted: Dec 02, 2009

Dec. 2, 2009

Contact: Renee Adam

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SETTING THE SCENE: Fresh off the first dual meet victory, Cleveland State will participate in the Bobcat Duals in Athens, Ohio on Friday (Dec. 4). CSU will face Ohio, Appalachian State and The Citadel beginning at 9:00 a.m.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings recorded their first dual meet victory of the season when they topped cross town rival John Carroll, 31-13 on Tuesday (Nov. 24). Zachary Zupancic, Rob Michaels and Chris Weber each posted pins in their respective weight classes, while Marcus Effner won by a major decision in the 174 weight class. Also recording victories for CSU were Mike Mencini, Dan Castillo and Corey Carlo.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: CSU is led by senior Marcus Effner, junior Rob Michaels and sophomore Jordan Keller, who have combined for 16 victories this season. Also coming on strong for the Vikings this season is sophomore Corey Carlo with five wins and junior Dan Castillo who has recorded three victories. The highlights of the season so far are the 31-13 victory over John Carroll on Nov. 24 and Keller's Michigan State Open title in the 125 pound weight class.

MICHAELS SEARCHES FOR FIFTY: Junior Rob Michaels is out for his 50th career victory this season needing only three more wins to achieve the task. Over his freshman and sophomore seasons he posted 23 and 18 victories respectively, putting 50 wins well within his reach. In limited action so far this season he has recorded six victories, quickly closing in on the 50 win mark. EFFNER EXCELS: Senior Marcus Effner is making the most of his sixth year at CSU, by posting a 6-1 record just four weeks into the 2009-10 season. Effner's lone loss came during the Eastern Michigan Open when he took home a sixth place finish. He also recorded his 80th career win on Nov. 22 when he beat TC Pendleton from Ohio State by a 5-1 decision.

VIKINGS PICK UP THE PACE: After posting just five individual victories through the first four meets, the Vikings are starting to heat up after posting seven wins in the 31-13 victory over John Carroll. The seven wins marks the highest total in the last 12 dual meets, with the Vikings notching seven victories against Ashland on January 11, 2009.

PIN TO WIN: Rob Michaels recorded the fastest pin of the season last week against John Carroll's Andrew Shafer, when he ended the match in just 29 seconds. The pin bested Michaels' previous record of 41 seconds, and is also the fastest pin in the past two seasons.

TEAM LEADERS: Rob Michaels and Jordan Keller are the lone returners that led the squad last season in statistical categories. Michaels led the Vikings with five pins, and was also fourth with 18 wins. Keller was first on the squad with 11 major decisions and second behind Rashard Goff with 23 wins. This season Michaels is tied for first in wins and pins while Keller is tied for first in major decisions and fourth in wins.

FOUR IN EWL RANKINGS: Jordan Keller (125), Mike Mencini (141), Corey Carlo (157) and Rob Michaels (165) currently respresent CSU in the EWL rankings, placing fourth in their respective weight classes. Keller, Carlo and Michaels are all in the top-five for most wins on the team, with Keller and Michaels also ranked in pins and major decisions.

CSU ALL-TIME VS. OHIO: The Bobcats hold a slight 5-4-1 advantage over the Vikings, with CSU winning the last meeting 24-12, which came during the 2006-07 season. Marcus Effner is the only Viking on the roster who competed in the meet, falling in a 6-1 decision to Jacob Ison.

...VS. APPALACHIAN STATE: This will mark just the second meeting between the Vikings and the Mountaineers, with the first coming during the 2006-07 season when CSU topped Appalachian State 25-18. Once again, Marcus Effner was the only current Viking to particpate in the dual, dropping a 3-1 decision to Tommy Hutchinson in the 165 weight class.

...VS. THE CITADEL: CSU will attempt to tip the tables in their favor when they face the Bulldogs with the all-time record tied at 1-1. This will be the first time that any of the current Vikings face off against the Citadel, with the previous meetings coming during the 2004-05 (W, 21-12) and 2003-04 (L, 13-22) seasons.

NEXT UP: The Vikings will stay close to home for a couple weeks when they host the Cleveland State Open on Sunday (Dec. 13) with action starting at 9:00 a.m. They will then host Northwestern on Thursday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m.

THE HEAD COACH
Ben Stehura (Lockhaven '00)
AT CSU: 4-13 (1 year)
OVERALL: 30-63-1 (5 years)

THE STEHURA FILE: Ben Stehura enters his second season as the head coach of the Cleveland State wrestling program. Stehura returns after leading a young Viking team to a 4-13 record during his first season at the helm. Stehura continued the trend of coaching a wrestler to the NCAA Championships last season, and for the 48th straight year a Viking wrestler advanced to the NCAA Championship with Rashard Goff representing CSU in 2009. Stehura also coached Goff to an EWL Heavyweight championship, the first league champion for CSU since the 2006 season. Stehura will use his experience with coaching a young program and lead the Vikings during the 2009-10 season, working to improve in the EWL and continuing the history and tradition of CSU wrestling.