NINE MOUNTAINEERS PLACE AT WVU OPEN

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (November 16, 2002) – Nine West Virginia University wrestlers placed in the top four at the WVU Open Saturday afternoon in the Shell Building. Seth Lisa (125) and Billy Smith (149) swept their brackets en route to the title. West Virginia had a pair championship matches that featured just Mountaineers at 141 and 174, but WVU opted not to wrestle those matches.

Lisa, a redshirt freshman, defeated Ryan McClester from The Citadel 8-6 in the finals. Smith, a senior, won 9-3 in the finals over A.J. Monseau.

Lauer, who is scheduled to move to 133 for the majority of the season, breezed through his half of the 141 bracket picking up two pins and a major decision. Cunanan was similarly impressive with a pin and victories of seven and 12 points.

Jones recorded three pins and a 13-5 victory before ending his day while Regalbuto picked up four wins on the day.

Sophomore Brent Miller finished second at heavyweight, losing a tough, 8-4 battle to John Testa of Clarion. Ryan Wilman also finished second after dropping a tightly-contested 8-6 match. Mike Torriero added a fourth place finish for the Mountaineers.

"I thought this was a good beginning to the season," head coach Craig Turnbull said. "I always have middle of the road expectations for this event, but I think our guys competed hard against outside competition."

The Mountaineers will return to action Saturday, November 23, at the Navy Classic in Anapolis, Md.


The following are the top four finishers from each weight class:

Finals:
125 - Seth Lisa def. Ryan McClester, 8-6
133 -Marat Tomoev def. Sean Markey, 14-9
141 - Co-champs, Brandon Lauer and Shane Cunanan
149 - Billy Smith def. A.J. Monseau, 9-3
157 - Chris Stith won by default over Adam Britt
165 - Troy Letterrs def. Jeremy Hart, 13-1
174 - Co-Champions, Greg Jones and Anthony Regalbuto
184 - Scott Justus def. Ryan Wilman, 8-6
197 - Eric Mauseer def. Sal Aquia, 4-3
HWT - John Testa def. Brent Miller, 8-4

Consolation Finals:
125 - Richard Cass def. Taylor Graham, 1-0
133 - Rad Martinez def. Andy Madison, 6-1
141 - Scott Moore def. Mike Keefe, 18-9
149 - Dan Thompson def. Jim Hartey, 6-4
157 - Teddy Dufresne def. Mike Torriero, 11-8
165 - Mike Mitchell def. Will Durkee, 4-3
174 - Jake Herbert def. Ben Summers, Fall (3:40)
184 -Matt Erwin def. Jake Stark, 3-2
197 - Jeff Rusack def. C.J. Wonsettler, Fall (1:45)
HWT - Josh Walker won by default over Cornelius George.


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