March 6, 2004
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Senior Russ Davie scored a pair of pins on his way to the championship match at 285 pounds on Saturday at the Eastern Wrestling League Championships. Davie will face Edinboro's Joe Hennis in the championship match, though both wrestlers have clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships on March 16-18.
The Vikings stand in sixth place after the first day of competition, four points behind Clarion for fifth. Edinboro holds a two and a half point lead over West Virginia, followed by Pittsburgh and Bloomsburg. Virginia Tech is seventh with Lock Haven two and a half points behind the Hokies.
Davie recorded pins over Virginia Tech's Kris Wiedegreen in 2:39 and Clarion's Matt Wilcox in 1:07 to raise his career pin total to 30, one short of John Velimesis' total. Davie and Hennis will battle on Sunday afternoon, with Davie scoring a 3-0 win over Hennis when the two squared off in the season's dual on Dec. 17.
Six other Cleveland State wrestlers remain alive for a shot at the NCAA Championships in the consolation bracket. Two Vikings, freshman Matt Kallai and junior Joe Phillips, advanced to the semifinals of the championship round with a win in their opening match on Saturday, but fell in that match during the evening session. Kallai defeated Steve Borja of Virginia Tech in the opening round at 174 pounds, 4-1, on a reversal and a takedown in the final period before losing to Edinboro's Nate Yetzer in the semifinal. Phillips picked up a win over Edinboro's Mike LaBella at 197, winning 3-1 on a second-period takedown and third-period escape, but saw his title run ended by West Virginia's Matt Daddino in the semifinal.
Four Vikings rebounded from a loss in their first match to stay alive in the tournament. At 125, freshman DeAngelo Penn was pinned by West Virginia's Casey Brewster at the 2:18 mark of his opening match, but rallied to defeat Virginia Tech's Ryan Broughman in the consolation round. Penn will face Bloomsburg's Brian Sellers in the consolation semifinal on Sunday morning.
At 141, Anthony Coleman lost a hard-fought 5-1 decision to Edinboro's Ron Doppelheuer in the opening round, but came back in the evening session to defeat Lock Haven's Casey Moore by a technical fall, 15-0 in the consolation match. Coleman will take on Clarion's Frank Edgar on Sunday morning.
Jason Effner kept his wrestling career alive by picking up a 4-0 win over Virginia Tech's Tyde Prater in the consolation bracket at 157. He fell to the single elimination bracket after losing to Pittsburgh's Justin Nestor on a 2-0 decision. Effner will face Lock Haven's Charlie Brenneman to try to advance to the third-place bout.
Ron Howard also stayed alive in the consolation bracket, picking up a win over Pittsburgh's Mike Croyle on Saturday evening. Howard lost to West Virginia's Greg Jones by a technical fall in his opening match, 21-6. He moves on to face Shaun Guttridge of Virginia Tech in the consolation semifinal on Sunday.
Two Vikings, Matt DePolo and Matt Klinger, bowed out of the tournament after picking up a pair of losses on Saturday. DePolo finishes his season with 27 wins, while Klinger tallied 15 on the year.
The top three finishers in each weight class will receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships. Seven additional berths will be handed out on an at-large basis following the completion of Sunday's matches.
