Wrestling: WVU Leads EWL Tourney Through Day One
March 04, 2006 09:18 PM | General
March 4, 2006
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EDINBORO, Pa. - Five West Virginia University wrestlers earned spots in the finals and the team tallied 89.5 team points to lead all schools through the first day of the Eastern Wrestling League tournament at McComb Fieldhouse in Edinboro, Pa., on March 4.
The Mountaineers lead second-place Edinboro by 2.5 points and third-place Pitt by 15.5 points.
The five WVU wrestlers earning spots in championship bouts include: Brandon Rader (141), Matt Lebe (157), Larry Hall (165), Kurt Brenner (174) and Jared Villers (196).
“I think we have wrestled well so far,” said head coach Craig Turnbull. “We have wrestled with good intensity. Even in the losses everyone looked very intense and seemed very prepared for the tournament.”
Hall pulled off the biggest upset of the day as he won a thrilling 10-6 decision in the final seconds against Edinboro’s No. 1-seeded Deonte Penn. The Jeannette, Pa., native jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but Penn fought back to take a 5-4 edge through the first period.
Trailing 6-4 in the waning seconds of the third period, Hall recorded a takedown and then turned Penn over to get a three-point near fall. A point for riding time gave the Mountaineer his 10th point.
“Larry wrestled a very exceptional match,” said Turnbull. “That Edinboro wrestler seems to score in bunches, but Larry stayed composed in the scrambles and held his ground.”
Penn was the only No. 1 seed to fall on the first day of the tournament. Hall will face Pitt’s Justin Nestor in Sunday’s championship match. Nestor won a close 6-4 decision when the two met during the regular season on February 3.
Rader and Lebe punched their tickets to the finals earlier in the evening, while Villers and Brenner did so shortly after Hall.
Rader earned a convincing 10-5 decision against Edinboro’s Rick McLaughlin to set up the 141-pound championship bout against Pitt’s Ron Tarquinio. The two grapplers have faced each other twice this season, splitting the matches.
Lebe needed a sudden victory period to garner an 8-6 win against Aric Fuhrman of Bloomsburg. Fuhrman scored a late escape to push the score to 6-6 at the final buzzer of regulation. In the sudden victory period Lebe drove his Husky counterpart to the mat for a takedown to move to the finals.
“Wins like that for Lebe are very critical as he will have some of those matches in the NCAA tournament,” said Turnbull.
Lebe will face Lock Haven’s Seth Martin to defend his 2005 EWL championship. The Jeannette, Pa., native won a close 10-9 decision against Martin on Feb. 12 earlier this season.
Brenner came out firing in his semifinal bout against Jim Bertulis and made sure that the Bloomsburg wrestler would not win another EWL title in 2006. The Freedom, Pa., native jumped out to an 8-4 lead on four takedowns in the first period against the 2005 165-pound conference champion and held on for a 10-6 decision.
Brenner will face off against Edinboro’s Eric Ring on Sunday in the championship. The two split a pair of matches during the regular season.
Villers turned in his second win of the tournament by way of a 9-0 major against Lock Haven’s Tom Kocher. The Akron, Ohio, native assured his second NCAA tournament berth of his Mountaineer career and will face Edinboro’s Joe Fendone in the championship. Fendone pinned Villers on Feb. 18, this season in their dual meet bout.
Seth Lisa and David Jauregui both dropped tough semifinal matches in the second session. Lisa fell 8-1 to Pitt’s Mike Ciotti, while Jauregui lost 13-6 to Lock Haven’s Joshua Medina. Both wrestlers will try to earn third-place honors, and a spot in the NCAA tournament, on Sunday morning.
Through the first session of wrestling Edinboro and WVU started to pull away from the rest of the pack with the teams posting scores of 50 and 48.50, respectively. The Mountaineers got off to a hot start individually as seven of the 10 competing wrestlers won their opening match.
Lisa and Rader got West Virginia rolling with a pair of early pins. After a 0-0 first period Lisa, seeded third in his weight class, fell behind 3-2 early in the second before pinning Cleveland State’s David Armstrong at the 4:44 mark. The pin was the fourth of the season for the Northampton, Pa., native.
No. 1-seeded Rader cruised through the first period of his bout against Lock Haven’s Brian Ellis as he led 13-1. The Parkersburg, W.Va., native added a reversal at the beginning of the second period before ending the match with a pin four minutes in.
No. 3-seeded Jauregui scored three points on an escape and a takedown to earn a 5-3 decision over George Hickman of Bloomsburg. Hall took a 6-3 decision from Bloomsburg’s Frank Beasley, while Brenner scored an 11-3 major over Pitt’s Nick Padezan.
Villers claimed the final Mountaineer win of the morning session as he dominated Cleveland State’s Ismal Williams with a 17-2 technical fall at the 5:10 mark in the match.
Wrestling gets underway Sunday morning at 10 a.m. Session three at McComb Fieldhouse will feature the consolation semifinals and the consolation finals. The championship finals will follow in fourth session at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s EWL Team Results
1. West Virginia- 89.5
2. Edinboro- 87.0
3. Pitt- 74.0
4. Bloomsburg- 67.0
5. Lock Haven- 57.0
6. Cleveland State- 56.0
7. Clarion- 26.0
WVU Session I Results:
125: Joe Wornoff (CSU) MAJOR Scott Stuart (WVU), 13-4
133: Seth Lisa (WVU) FALL David Armstrong (CSU), 4:44
141: Brandon Rader (WVU) FALL Brian Ellis (LHU), 4:00
149: David Jauregui (WVU) DEC George Hickman (BU), 5-3
157: Matt Lebe (WVU) BYE
165: Larry Hall (WVU) DEC Frank Beasley (BU), 6-3
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) MAJOR Nick Padezan (UP), 11-3
184: Alex Clemsen (EUP) DEC Chance Litton (WVU), 4-0
197: Jared Villers (WVU) TECH Ismal Williams (CSU), 17-2 5:10
HWT: Rashard Goff (CSU) DEC Matt Holsopple (WVU), 8-3
WVU Session II Results:
125: Scott Stuart (WVU) BYE*
133: Mike Ciotti (UP) DEC Seth Lisa (WVU), 8-1
141: Brandon Rader (WVU) DEC Rick McLaughlin (EUP), 10-5
149: Joshua Medina (LHU) DEC David Jauregui (WVU), 13-6
157: Matt Lebe (WVU) DEC Aric Fuhrman (BU), 8-6 sv1
165: Larry Hall (WVU) DEC Deonte Penn (EUP), 10-6
174: Kurt Brenner (WVU) DEC Jim Bertulis (BU), 10-6
184: Chance Litton (WVU) BYE*
197: Jared Villers (WVU) MAJOR Tom Kocher (LHU), 9-0
HWT: Matt Holsopple (WVU) BYE*
* Consolation bracket
