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Vikings Travel to Bloomington for the Indiana Quad

Vikings Travel to Bloomington for the Indiana Quad
Posted: Jan 07, 2011

Jan. 7, 2011

Contact: Dan Carr

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SETTING THE SCENE: The Viking wrestling team travels to Bloomington, Ind. on Sunday (Jan. 9) for the first of two consecutive quad meets. Cleveland State will grapple against Indiana at 10:00 a.m., followed by meets against Gardner-Webb at 12:00 p.m. and SIU Edwardsville at 2:00 p.m. CSU is 1-3 in dual meets this season, having defeated John Carroll while falling to Eastern Michigan, Northwestern and Kent State.

LAST TIME ON THE MAT: Aric Thurn won his third dual meet match of the season, earning a 7-2 decision against Ethan Taylor, but Kent State won nine of the meet's 10 matches on Tuesday (Jan. 4) to defeat the Vikings, 33-3.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: A good mixture of experienced returners and talented freshmen give Cleveland State reason to believe the Vikings will make noise in the Eastern Wrestling League this season. With two open crowns and 13 wins on the year, senior Robbie Michaels has emerged as one of the top wrestlers in the EWL. Juniors Josh Palivoda (141 pounds) and Lawrence Cavello (149) each have earned dual meet victories this season. Sophomore Chris Weber (heavyweight) has become a consistent starter, going 2-1 in dual meets this season with his sole loss being a 2-1 decision against Eastern Michigan. A pair of freshmen, Ben Willeford (125) and Nick Flannery (133), have made an immediate impact this season. Willeford placed sixth at the Eastern Michigan Open while Flannery has won two of his three dual meet matches.

CSU ALL-TIME VS. INDIANA: Cleveland State and Indiana have met 11 times, with the Vikings owning a 7-4 edge in the all-time series. The Hoosiers claimed the last meeting between the schools, defeating CSU, 44-4, in Bloomington last season, with Mike Mencini's 15-4 major decision against Max Ortega being the Vikings' lone win. Indiana is 7-2 this year and is ranked 27th in the country.

CSU ALL-TIME VS. GARDNER-WEBB: This will be the first ever meeting between Cleveland State and Gardner-Webb. The Runnin' Bulldogs enter Sunday with a 2-6 record, having beaten Anderson and Belmont Abbey.

CSU ALL-TIME VS. SIU EDWARDSVILLE: Saturday will mark the third time CSU has wrestled SIU Edwardsville, with the Vikings having won both of the previous meetings. The two schools first grappled in the 1973-74 season, with the Vikings pulling out a 19-16 victory. Cleveland State's only other meet with the Cougars came in the 1988-89 campaign, when the Vikings won seven of the 10 matches to record a 32-9 win. The Cougars are 2-6 as of Jan. 6, and will wrestle at Iowa on Friday night before competing at the Indiana Quad.

IN THE EWL STANDINGS: Cleveland State is represented well in the current EWL individual standings. The highest ranked Viking is Robbie Michaels (13-6 on the season), who is fourth in the conference in wins in the 165 pound weight class. Brandon Sommers (12-8) has the fourth most victories in the 149 class while Lawrence Cavello (eight wins) is eighth. Aric Thurn is tied for fifth at 174 with seven wins while Chris Weber (six wins) ranks seventh in the heavyweight class.

ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S BEST: Robbie Michaels has broken into WrestlingReport.com's Atlantic Regional Division I rankings, coming in as the region's 20th best wrestler at 165 pounds in the most recent rankings, released Jan. 1. Michaels joins Pittsburgh's Ethan Headlee (eighth), Clarion's Bekzod Abdurakhmanov (12th), Bloomsburg's Josh Veltre (18th) and West Virginia's Donnie Jones (21st) as ranked EWL wrestlers at 165.

DOUBLE DIGIT VICTORIES: Two Vikings have won more than 10 matches this season. Robbie Michaels leads the team with 13 victories, while Brandon Sommers has posted 12 wins. Matt Donohoe and Nick Flannery are close to joining the 10-win club, owning nine and eight wins this season, respectively.

PIN IT TO WIN IT: Last year the Vikings combined for 11 pins all year. Less than halfway through the season, this year's team has already matched that mark, pinning opponents 11 times through Jan. 7. Four wrestlers have combined for eight of those pins with two apiece, including Lawrence Cavello, Robbie Michaels, Brandon Sommers and Chris Weber. Koort Leyrer, Matt Donohoe and Nick Flannery have the other three pins.

WRESTLER OF THE WEEK: Robbie Michaels was selected as the EWL Wrestler of the Week on Nov. 8 after winning the 165 pound division at the Eastern Michigan Open. Michaels was the EWL's first wrestler of the week selection of the 2010-11 season. He is also the first CSU grappler to earn the honor since Rashard Goff won it on Jan. 12, 2009.

TESTS AGAINST THE BEST: Cleveland State is wrestling against one of the toughest schedules in the country, with four dual meet opponents currently ranked in the top 25 of the NWCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, released Jan. 4. The Vikings have already faced Northwestern (21st) and Kent State (23rd) and have matches upcoming against Rutgers (19th) and Pittsburgh (20th). In addition, Indiana, who CSU will wrestle on Saturday, is 27th in the most recent NCAA rankings, which were released on Jan. 3 and based on tournament scoring.

THREE IN A ROW, TWICE IN A ROW: The Vikings begin a rare scheduling feat this weekend, as their next two meets are both quad events. CSU will wrestle three teams at Indiana on Sunday (Jan. 9) and will then wrestle three teams at Rutgers next Saturday (Jan. 15). The last time CSU wrestled in back-to-back quads was the 2004-05 season, when Cleveland State actually participated in three straight quad meets, traveling to Ohios State and Ashland with the third meet being held at Woodling Gym.

HONORING COACH BONACCI: A ceremony was held prior to the Kent State contest on Tuesday (Jan. 4) to honor the enshrinement of former CSU coach Dick Bonacci to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, Ohio Chapter. Bonacci left Cleveland State as the winningest coach in school history with 296 dual meet victories. He coached eight All-Americans and sent wrestlers to 34 consecutive NCAA championships.

ON TOP OF THE EWL: Robbie Michaels was rated as the top wrestler in the EWL at 165 in the latest conference rankings by WrestlingReport.com, posted Dec. 7. The rankings consist of the top five wrestlers in the EWL at each weight class.

GOING FOR NO. 70: Robbie Michaels will try to earn his 70th win as a Viking on Sunday. The senior, who has 69 career wins, won 23 matches as a freshman, 18 as a sophomore and 15 last season. Michaels has 13 victories this season.

NEXT UP: The Vikings will be back on the road for a quad meet with Rutgers, Army and the United States Merchant Marine Academy in New Brunswick, N.J. on Saturday (Jan. 15).

THE HEAD COACH
Ben Stehura (Lockhaven '00)
AT CSU: 7-33 (3rd year)
OVERALL: 33-83-1 (7th year)

Ben Stehura is in his third season as the head coach of the Viking wrestling program, and has recruited a talented group of young wrestlers that expects to make noise in the Eastern Wrestling League this year. He has coached an NCAA national champion, three NCAA All-Americans and six NCAA National Qualifiers in his seven seasons as a head coach.