November 18, 2000

The Cleveland State freshman earned some experience over the weekend at the annual Slippery Rock Open. Eight of Head Coach Jack Effner's ten freshmen wrestled in the tournament. Among them Joe Phillips finished fourth at 174 lbs. while Anthony Coleman won five matches at 149 lbs.

Phillips, a true freshman from Maple Heights High, went 4-2 on his way to the fourth-place finish. Coleman, a redshirt freshman, took a 3-0 loss in the first round. However, he quickly got on track and won the next five consecutive matches. Effner pulled him after that. "It's tough to wrestle six matches in one day," commented Effner. "He would have had to wrestle two more matches to earn third place." Also showing strong effort was redshirt freshman Jeff Polk at 165 lbs. Polk went 3-2 in the open. Current redshirt and NCAA qualifier Phil Mansueto took third place at 133 lbs. as an unattached wrestler. "We certainly accomplished what we wanted here, which was to gain experience and mat time," said Effner. "The Slippery Rock Open gives us quality competition and a chance to learn our weaknesses and strengths."

In other wrestling news Co-Captain Nick Boucher (133 lbs.) won two matches at the Michigan State Open and pulled out afterwards. Redshirt Gerald Harris III (184 lbs.) went back to his home state and wrestled in the Oklahoma Open unattached. He upset Oklahoma's Josh Lambrecht 11-4, in the semifinals. In the final round Harris lost to Oklahoma State's Dan Cormier, the nation's 8th ranked wrestler.