MOUNTAINEERS WIN EWL TOURNAMENT

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (March10, 2002) – Three Mountaineers won Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) titles and seven qualified for the NCAA Championships March 21-23, in Albany, N.Y., as West Virginia won/finished second at the EWL tournament in Lock Haven, Pa. WVU edged Edinboro, 114.50-104.50, with Lock Haven finishing third (104) and Pitt finishing in fourth (87).

This is the first time the Mountaineers have claimed the dual and the tournament titles in the same year and is only the second time WVU has won the tournament title.

Wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships by finishing in the top three in each weight class at the EWL tournament, so all wrestlers in the finals advance to compete for a national title.

The featured match of the day was at 174 between No.3 Greg Jones and No.2 Josh Koscheck of Edinboro was what most expected. After a scoreless first period, Jones scored a reversal to open the second. Koscheck scored an escape and tied the score with an escape in the third. The match ended tied and the two went to overtime. After no score in overtime, Jones was on bottom in the :30 tiebreaker because he scored the first offensive points. Jones needed only three seconds to escape and win the match. Jones was named the tournament's most outstanding wrestler.

Shane Cunanan (141) lost a narrow 7-5 decision to Virginia Tech's Sean Gray. Down 5-2, Cunanan scored a reverse to make the score 5-4. Gray escaped and was penalized one point for stalling and Cunanan could not convert a late takedown attempt. Gray also earned one point for riding time.

Joe Carr (157), who was an EWL champion in 2000 runner-up a year ago, won 7-3 over Edinboro's Ryan Yates. Carr scored two takedowns and accumulated more than two minutes of riding time in his victory. He became only the sixth WVU wrestler to qualify for the NCAA's all four years.

Tom McMath (165) won his first EWL crown by defeating Matt King of Edinboro, 6-4. McMath scored four points in the third period to win the match. McMath is currently 30-2 and has won 22 consecutive matches

Billy Smith (149) did not wrestle in the finals against Lock Haven's JaMarr Billman as he is still recovering from an MCL injury he suffered late in the year.

Brent Miller (197) and Ryan Kehler (HWT) earned trips to Albany by finishing third. Miller, who closed the season with 10 wins in his last 13 matches, defeated David Sandberg of Pitt, 3-2. After trading escapes in the second in third periods, Miller was able to get a leg and take down Sandberg with :30 left in the match. Miller lost to Sandberg, 3-1 in overtime, in the first round of the tournament.

Kehler, who qualified for the NCAA championships last season, also finished third after pinning Bloomsburg's Tony Milone in 1:56.

Ryan Wilman finished fifth at 184 and Nathan Kendjorsky finished sixth at 125. Wilman defeated Clarion's Marcus Surin 14-4 after losing to Bloomsburg's Josh Millard 4-2. Kendjorsky lost to Cleveland State's Rocco Mansueto (4-1) and Bloomsburg's Brock Hite (8-2).