March 4, 2001

After a season filled with ups and downs, the Viking wrestlers took to the mats at the EWL Championships and faired well. Co-captains Rocco Mansueto and Nick Boucher will be headed for the NCAA Tournament after placing second and third, respectively.

With the way things have gone for the Viking wrestlers this season, Head Coach Jack Effner did not want to make any promises concerning the EWL Championships. After all, one of his best wrestlers, Rocco Mansueto, had been out of the lineup since January. Not even Effner knew how Mansueto would fair coming off his shoulder injury. However, he soon found out. Mansueto drew a tough first round opponent in Virginia Tech's Mike Mercado. As the Championships were hosted by Virginia Tech, Mercado was the crowd favorite. But Mansueto was able to edge him out, 4-3. He then faced Bloomsburg's Brock Hite and pinned him in 3:36. However, it seemed Pittsburgh's Shawn Amistade was unstoppable in the tournament. Amistade drew a five seed and had to go through Edinboro's Jacob Gray and number one-seeded Trap McCormack from Lock Haven. Amistade did just that, winning both matches, 3-1 in overtime. In the finals Amistade battled to a 2-0 victory over Mansueto.

In the 133-pound frame, Nick Boucher drew a sixth seed. He soundly beat Clarion's Rad Martinez, 10-6 in the first round. However, Boucher lost to Lock Haven's Scott Bair in the second round. But Boucher battled hard in the consolation bracket. He beat Bloomsburg's Russ Witt, 9-4, then defeated Rad Martinez again, 9-6 to earn third place.

Other Vikings to place were Matt DePolo (141), Anthony Coleman (149) and Joe Phillips (174). All three earned sixth place.