Nov. 10, 2001

The Cleveland State wrestling squad kicked off their first tournament of the season with an impressive second-place finish in the Oklahoma Gold Classic in Brockport, N.Y. The Vikings totaled 103 points in the nine-team field, finishing second to second-ranked Oklahoma.

The Vikings placed in eight of the ten weight classes. Sophomore Stipe Miocic (Willowick, Ohio/Eastlake North) grabbed first place at 197 pounds while Nick Boucher (Sunfield, Mich./Lakewood), Jason Effner (Garfield Heights, Ohio/Garfield Heights), and Russ Davie (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) each finished in second place. Miocic, who was seeded third in the tournament, had to go through two tough Oklahoma wrestlers along the way. He defeated Josh Fergusen, 12-3, in the second round and downed top-seeded Tom Grossman, 9-7, in the finals.

Boucher, the 141-pound senior and co-captain, cruised through the first three rounds and into the finals. In the first round Boucher earned a technical fall, 18-3, over Brockport's Mike Stenglein. In the second he pinned Army's Kris Perrin in one minute and took a 12-2 major over Oklahoma's Nate Parker. However, Boucher ran out of steam in the finals, losing 14-5 to Oklahoma's Melvin Lofton.

At 165 pounds Effner was CSU's most surprising wrestler. The sophomore lost the starting job to e'Than Birden at the Vikes'intra-squad match last week. After making the jump from 157 pounds, where he started last season, Effner was out to prove he is big enough for the leap. Effner, unseeded at the tournament, shutout second-seeded Amir Kahn, 5-0, and downed third-seeded Ted Rakar, 5-3, in the semi-finals. But Effner fell short to Eastern Wrestling League foe Dave Guarino of Bloomsburg, 8-3, in the finals.

Davie, ninth-ranked in the nation at heavyweight, also fell just short of first-place, losing 3-2 in overtime to Oklahoma's Leon Crump. The sophomore pinned Brockport's Jim Pennise in 46 seconds in the second round and won an overtime decision, 1-1, against Oklahoma's Gary Barber.

125-pounder Rocco Mansueto (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) finished third in the tournament. The co-captain lost his only match to top-seeded Bo Maynes of Oklahoma, 3-2. However, Mansueto defeated Bloomsburg's Brock Hite, 2-1, in the championship round and 11-4 in the third-place match.

Gerald Harris (Tulsa, Oklahoma, East Central) also placed third for the Vikings. The 174-pounder grabbed two major decisions in the first two rounds, but dropped his semi-final match to Rutgers' Justin Haskins. The junior came back in the third-place match to beat Brockport's Don Favro, 9-7.

Also placing for CSU was Anthony Coleman (Bellevue, Ohio/Bellevue), who finished fourth at 149 pounds, and Joe Phillips (Maple Heights, Ohio/Maple Heights), who finished fifth at 184 pounds.

The Vikings travel to New York again next weekend to take part in the Cornell Invitational.