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Rutgers Quad Up Next for Wrestling

Rutgers Quad Up Next for Wrestling
Posted: Jan 13, 2011

Jan. 13, 2011

Contact: Dan Carr

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SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State wrestling team will compete in its second quad meet in seven days when the Vikings travel to New Brunswick, N.J. to take on Rutgers, Army and the US Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday (Jan. 15) starting at 1:00 p.m. CSU went 2-1 at the Indiana Quad last Sunday (Jan. 9), defeating Gardner-Webb and SIU Edwardsville while falling to Indiana.

LAST TIME ON THE MAT: Cleveland State picked up two more wins on Sunday (Jan. 9), beating Gardner-Webb (31-12) and SIU Edwardsville (31-7) at the Indiana Quad. The Vikings also wrestled host Indiana, losing 44-3. Robbie Michaels went 3-0 on the day, earning a decision, a major decision and a fall, while Ben Willeford pinned back-to-back opponents from GWU and SIUE.

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 16 wins on the year, senior Robbie Michaels has emerged as one of the top wrestlers in the EWL. Lawrence Cavello (nine wins overall) and sophomore Aric Thurn (eight wins) each have multiple dual meet victories this season. A trio of freshmen, Ben Willeford (125), Nick Flannery (133) and Matt Donohoe (157), have made an immediate impact this season. Willeford placed sixth at the Eastern Michigan Open while Flannery and Donohoe have both won 10 matches this year.

DOUBLE DIGIT VICTORIES: Four CSU wrestlers have at least 10 wins on the season, matching the number of Vikings who accomplished that feat last season. Robbie Michaels leads the team with 16 victories, while Brandon Sommers has posted 12 wins. Matt Donohoe and Nick Flannery both have exactly 10 wins. Lawrence Cavello, with nine wins on the year, could join the club with a victory this weekend.

FIRST MEETINGS: Saturday's quad meet at Rutgers will be full of new faces for the Vikings, as Cleveland State will wrestle Rutgers, Army and the US Merchant Marine Academy for the first time in program history. The last time CSU's included three schools the Vikings had never before wrestled was in 2008-09. Cleveland State defeated Cumberlands (24-19) and Wagner (46-3) but lost to Bucknell (32-15).

AMONG THE BEST IN THE EWL: Cleveland State is represented well in the current EWL individual win standings. The highest ranked Viking is Robbie Michaels (16-6 on the season), who is tied for 12th overall in the conference and second in the 165 division in wins. Brandon Sommers (12-8) has the fifth most victories in the 149 class. Aric Thurn is tied for fourth at 174 with eight wins while Chris Weber (seven 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 He is the 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.

PIN IT TO WIN IT: Last year the Vikings combined for 11 pins all year. With the season a little more than halfway completed, this year's team has already topped that mark, pinning opponents 15 times through Jan. 9. Robbie Michaels leads the team with three pins while five wrestlers have two apiece, including Lawrence Cavello, Nick Flannery, Brandon Sommers, Chris Weber and Ben Willeford. Koort Leyrer and Matt Donohoe have the team's other two pins.

TESTS AGAINST THE BEST: Cleveland State is wrestling against one of the toughest schedules in the country, with six dual meet opponents currently ranked in the top 30 of the Jan. 10 NCAA rankings. The Vikings have already faced Northwestern (23rd), Indiana (25th) and Kent State (28th) and have matches upcoming against Rutgers (11th), Pittsburgh (15th) and Edinboro (26th).

3 TIMES 2: In an unusual scheduling move, this weekend CSU will participate in its second consecutive quad meet. The Vikings wrestled 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 Ohio State and Ashland with the third meet being held at Woodling Gym.

NEXT UP: Cleveland State will return home to Woodling Gym for its conference opener against Lock Haven on Sunday (Jan. 23) at 1:00 p.m.

THE HEAD COACH
Ben Stehura (Lock Haven '00)
AT CSU: 9-34 (3rd year)
OVERALL: 35-84-1 (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.