MOUNTAINEERS FINISH SECOND IN EWL TOURNEY
WVU WILL SEND A SCHOOL-RECORD NINE WRESTLERS TO NCAA
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (March 10, 2003) – West Virginia and Edinboro each put five wrestlers into the finals of the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) tournament, but the Fighting Scots won four of those matches compared to WVU's two to take the title, 129.50-123.50 over the Mountaineers.
Despite finishing second, the Mountaineers will send a school-record nine wrestlers to the NCAA championships, including seven automatic qualifiers and two wild card selections.
In addition, the 123.50 points scored by the Mountaineers were the most in school-history at the EWL tournament.
After finishing second and third in his previous EWL championships, senior Billy Smith captured the title at 149 defeating Pitt's Justin Giovinco 3-1 in overtime. After trading escapes in the second and the third period, Smith was able to record the takedown in the extra session.
Sophomore Greg Jones (174) became a two-time EWL champion after defeating Pitt's Carl Fronhofer in a thrilling 6-4 decision. Fronhofer opened the match with a takedown of Jones, the first Jones has allowed since January 18. However, Jones ended the period with a reversal to tie the score at 2-2. Jones held off Fronhofer the rest of the way and scored a takedown in the third to clinch the victory.
Freshman Matt Lebe (157) finished runner-up after losing 11-5 to Bloomsburg's fifth-year senior George Carter. Tom McMath (165) lost 6-2 to Matt R. King of Edinboro to place second and Brent Miller (HWT) surrendered a takedown in the waning seconds to Clarion's John Testa to finish in second.
Seth Lisa (125) and Shane Cunanan (141) finished third to earn automatic bids to the NCAA championships.
Brandon Lauer (133) finished fourth and Ryan Wilman (184) finished fifth, but will move on to the NCAA tournament after being selected by the coaches as two of the league's eight wild card selections.
The NCAA championships will take place on March 20-22, at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.
The following is a list of the automatic NCAA qualifiers from the Eastern Wrestling League and the wild card selections from the coaches.
Here is a list of the qualifiers:
Automatic Qualifiers
125 - Rocco Mansueto (CSU), Jacob Gray (Edinboro), Seth Lisa (WVU)
133 - Shawn Bunch (Edinboro), Phil Mansueto (CSU), Rad Martinez (Clarion)
141 - Cory Ace (Edinboro), Mike Maney (Lock Haven), Shane Cunanan (WVU)
149 - Billy Smith (WVU), Justin Giovinco (Pitt), Anthony Coleman (CSU)
157 - George Carter (Bloomsburg), Matt Lebe (WVU), Justin Nestor (Pitt)
165 - Matt R. King (Edinboro), Tom McMath (WVU), Jason Gilligan (Lock Haven)
174 - Greg Jones (WVU), Carl Fronhofer (Pitt), Hunter Guenot (Bloom)
184 - Gerald Harris (CSU), Scott Justus (VT), Alex Clemsen (Edinboro)
197 - David Shunamon (Edinboro), Morgan Horner (Lock Haven), Eric Mausser (Clarion)
HWT - John Testa (Clarion), Brent Miller (WVU), Russ Davie (CSU)
Wild Cards (by weight class)
125 - Jordan Sianni (Pitt)
133 - Brandon Lauer (WVU), Justin Owens (Lock Haven)
141 - Ronald Tarquinio (Pitt), Frank Edgar (Clarion)
174 - Nate Yetzer (Edinboro)
184 - Ryan Wilman (WVU)
197 - Stipe Miocic (CSU)
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