EWL Tournament Preview
March 05, 2003 01:33 PM | General
March 5, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Believe it or not, one of the toughest tickets to come by is the NCAA wrestling championships.
 |
||
| West Virginia's Greg Jones is looking for a repeat title at 174 pounds. (All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks) |
Last season, 14,000 people packed into the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., an area not known for wrestling fanaticism like other Midwestern sites, for the other "March Madness."
So if you can't get to Kansas City for this year's NCAA championships, the next best thing is this weekend in Morgantown for the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) tournament, where 80 wrestlers representing Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinboro, Lock Haven, Pitt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia will be vying for 38 spots in the NCAA tournament.
Before the wrestlers entertain dreams of national championships and All-America honors, they must first earn their tickets to Kansas City this weekend.
The doors open for the first session on Saturday, March 8, at 6 p.m. Session II will begin at 10:30 a.m., Session III starts at 2:30 p.m., and Session IV will get underway at 6 p.m. Wrestlers qualify for NCAAs by finishing among the top three in their weight class or by receiving one of the eight "wild card" selections decided by the conference coaches.
West Virginia finished the EWL regular season unbeaten and is the defending tournament champion.
Last year the Mountaineers edged runner-up Edinboro, 114.50-104.50, aided by three victories over Fighting Scot wrestlers in the finals. Lock Haven just missed finishing second, racking up 104 points. WVU and Edinboro are again expected to compete for the crown with Cleveland State being a capable dark horse.
Seven wrestlers that won individual weight classes return to this year's tournament. Shawn Bunch of Edinboro won at 125 last season but is competing at 133 this year, where Cleveland State's Phil Mansueto returns to defend his title. Tom McMath (165) and Greg Jones (174) of WVU, Virginia Tech's Scott Justus (184), and Eric Mausser (197) and John Testa (HWT) of Clarion all won titles in their weight classes a season ago.
125 Pounds
At 125, four wrestlers have a legitimate opportunity to run the table. Seth Lisa from WVU was unbeaten in EWL action, but did not wrestle the EWL's dual points champion Jordan Sianni from Pitt because of the flu. Sianni has only one EWL defeat, a loss to Edinboro's Jacob Gray. Rocco Mansueto, a senior from Cleveland State, has placed high in his three appearances at the EWLs, including a runner-up finish in 2001. A dark horse in this class could be Clarion's Peter Derstine, who has the potential to pull the upset at any time.
133 Pounds
The 133 weight class is one of the EWL's deepest, with four wrestlers ranked among the top 15 in the nation. Phil Mansueto is the favorite to repeat as champion, but Shawn Bunch (Edinboro), Rad Martinez (Clarion) and Brandon Lauer (WVU) are certainly capable of the upset. Mansueto defeated Martinez 1-1 in the finals last year, winning in a rideout and owns regular season wins over all of the other contenders this year.
141 Pounds
There is no clear-cut favorite in the 141-pound weight class. Lock Haven's Mike Maney and Edinboro's Cory Ace were All-Americans last year (Ace earning the honors at 133) and will compete for the title, along with WVU's Shane Cunanan, who finished runner-up a season ago. Maney missed portions of the season due to injury and did not wrestle against Ace or Cunanan in EWL action. However, Maney eliminated Cunanan at NCAAs last year on his way to earning All-America honors and defeated Ace at the PSAC championships. Ace edged Cunanan in their only matchup of the season, winning 2-1 in a tiebreaker.
149 Pounds
At 149, WVU's Billy Smith and Pitt's Justin Giovinco are the most likely to meet in the finals. Last season, Smith finished second and Giovinco finished third, with Smith defeating Giovinco 6-4 in overtime to get into the finals. However, Giovinco defeated Smith, 4-3, in the most recent matchup between the two. Cleveland State's Anthony Coleman could also sneak into the finals as he shows a 2-1 tiebreaker win over Giovinco in the regular season.
157 Pounds
At 157, Bloomsburg's George Carter looks to earn his second EWL individual crown. Carter won the title as a sophomore at 149 pounds and finished second as a junior before taking a redshirt last season. Carter has just one EWL loss this year, a narrow 7-6 decision to WVU's redshirt freshman Matt Lebe. Virginia Tech's Chris Stith and Clarion's Jeremy Reitz are two tough wrestlers who could also make it into the finals.
165 Pounds
Edinboro's Matt R. King and West Virginia's Tom McMath, the EWL finalists a season ago, are the most likely suspects to be in the finals at 165. McMath defeated King in last year's finals, but King defeated McMath in their regular season bout this year. Pitt's Francis Iorfido and Cleveland State's Jason Effner are gritty competitors and will look for high finishes and trips to nationals. Lock Haven's Jason Gilligan and Clarion's Chris Horning will also be pushing for a top finish in this weight class.
174 Pounds
Returning NCAA champion Greg Jones from WVU is the favorite to repeat as EWL champion at 174. Jones, the 2002 EWL tournament's outstanding wrestler, had his breakout match in the finals last year defeating Edinboro's Josh Koscheck 3-2 in a rideout. Despite the graduation of Koscheck, the EWL will not be a walk in the park for Jones. Two of his closest matches this season have come against Bloomsburg's Hunter Guenot and Pitt's Carl Fronhofer. Guenot and Fronhofer are each ranked and look to pull the major upset against Jones.
 |
||
| Cleveland State's Gerald Harris is a favorite to capture the 184-pound title. (Cleveland State photo) |
184 Pounds
At 184, Cleveland State's Gerald Harris will look to capture his first EWL crown. Standing in his way will be 2002 EWL champion Scott Justus of Virginia Tech. Harris defeated Justus 6-4 in their regular season meeting. WVU's Ryan Wilman and Edinboro's Alex Clemsen will battle to get into the upper tier of this weight class and will fight for a trip to nationals.
197 Pounds
The 197-pound weight class could end up a number of different ways. Edinboro's David Shunamon, who enters the tournament ranked fifth in the country, has finished the season strong and is one of the favorites. However, he will be pushed by several other top wrestlers. Clarion's Eric Mausser, who defeated Shunamon in the finals last year, could also be considered a front-runner. Cleveland State's Stipe Miocic registered the only EWL win over Shunamon, which shows he could be one of the finalists. Lock Haven's Morgan Horner has been wrestling strong as of late and could make a run for a spot in the national tournament. WVU's Adrian Thompson, a two-time NCAA qualifier as a heavyweight at Howard, will need to put together a tremendous performance in this tough weight class to get to Kansas City.
Heavweight
Clarion's John Testa is the prohibitive favorite to win his third EWL title at heavyweight. Testa is unbeaten in EWL action this year and is ranked ninth in the country. Cleveland State's Russ Davie and WVU's Brent Miller, both of whom hold national rankings, stand in Testa's way. Joe Hennis of Edinboro and Bloomsburg's Tony Milone will also make a push to earn a ticket to the NCAAs.
While perhaps nothing can match the drama of the NCAA tournament, the EWL tournament is the next best thing with some of the country's top wrestlers doing battle in a similar type of atmosphere. And although NCAA titles won't be handed out this weekend in Morgantown, NCAA title runs will begin.
Allen Brown contributed to this story.
