WVU Travels to the EWL Tournament
March 02, 2007 10:28 AM | General
March 2, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University wrestling team travels to Cleveland, Ohio, to compete in the EWL tournament March 3-4 at Cleveland State’s Woodling Gym.
Session I of the tournament is slated to start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, with session II beginning at 6 p.m. The final session of wrestling in this year’s tournament will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The Mountaineers (5-5, 4-2 EWL) should be rested and ready for their conference tournament after getting 12 days off since drubbing Cleveland State, 38-6, in their dual finale on Feb. 18 in Morgantown. The win secured a tie for second place with Bloomsburg in the EWL regular season standing.
West Virginia has made a habit of finishing high at the tournament as it has finished second or higher eight out of the last 11 seasons including championship titles in 1996, 2002 and 2004. Last season, coach Craig Turnbull’s team finished in second place, but claimed the most individual titles of any school (four).
Of those four champions, three return to defend their titles. Sophomores Brandon Rader and Kurt Brenner won the 141 and 174-pound championships, respectively, while junior Jared Villers will look to defend at 197-pounds. Sophomore David Jauregui took third last season to advance to the NCAA tournament.
Junior 157-pounder Zac Fryling will also look to use the tournament as a springboard to his third NCAA tourney berth. The Lansdale, Pa., native finished third at the EWL tournament in 2005 at the 165-pound weight class.
Chance Litton will be in search of his first NCAA tournament bid at the 184-pound weight class after a much improved sophomore season. The Parkersburg, W.Va., native enters this weekend with a 17-11 overall record and a 4-2 EWL mark. Litton has won five of his last six bouts.
This year’s tournament will be unique to ones in the past as only the top two place winners in each weight class receive automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. The EWL coaches will hand out 12 wild card bids at the conclusion of Sunday’s wrestling.
