Wrestling: EWL Play Begins at Bloomsburg, Clarion
January 20, 2011 12:41 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – After starting the season with a 4-4 record in dual meets, the West Virginia University wrestling team will begin its quest for an Eastern Wrestling League championship this weekend as it travels to Bloomsburg and Clarion on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Both matchups will begin at 7 p.m. as the Mountaineers face the Huskies Friday night at the Nelson Field House in Bloomsburg, Pa., and the Golden Eagles on Saturday night at the W.S. Tippin Gym in Clarion, Pa.
“We haven’t observed either of them at any of the tournaments we’ve been to, but we know that Bloomsburg has seven straight wins coming into this match,” says WVU coach Craig Turnbull. “Clarion is also having a good year and will present a big challenge for us.”
The Huskies own an 11-2 record on the year and enter the match ranked near the Top 25 in the latest NWCA/USA Today poll after upsetting No. 23-ranked Pennsylvania on Jan. 9 by a 25-23 score. Their only losses on the year are to ranked schools Penn State and American.
They are led by 157-pound sophomore No. 22 Frank Hickman and No. 19 Nate Graham at 184 pounds. Hickman owns a 18-6 record for the year while Graham stands at 18-5. At 165 pounds, WVU’s redshirt senior Donnie Jones will be presented with the challenge of facing Husky sophomore Josh Veltre, who owns a 15-6 mark on the season.
“They are wrestling with a lot of confidence and they usually get really excited to wrestle us at their place,” Turnbull says. “We’ll take their best shot, but they are wrestling with a tremendous level of confidence. They wrestle with strong intensity and seem to rise up to their opponents.”
Last year at the WVU Coliseum, the Mountaineers defeated Bloomsburg by a Brandon Williamson pin in the final bout to lift the team to a 21-18 victory.
“We’re going to have to be prepared to take their best shot,” Turnbull says. “They have a very balanced team, so it should be a good battle at every class.”
West Virginia begins this weekend’s matchups with four ranked wrestlers in No. 19 sophomore Shane Young (125 pounds), No. 13 redshirt freshman Nathan Pennesi (133), No. 31 redshirt senior Brandon Rader (149) and No. 18 redshirt junior Matt Ryan (184).
The Clarion Golden Eagles have a 3-2 dual meet record on the year having recently lost to North Carolina and No. 3 Virginia Tech, but registered a big win over Edinboro on Dec. 21 by a 25-21 score.
The Mountaineers lost a close 14-20 battle to Clarion last year at the Coliseum. The Golden Eagles boast three ranked grapplers in No. 8 James Fleming (157), No. 29 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (165) and No. 30 Alex Thomas (197).
“Clarion is having a tremendous amount of success and recently beat Edinboro, which is traditionally one of the stronger programs in the league,” Turnbull says. “They also enter the match with a high level of confidence and excitement to compete with us in their own gym and we’ll need to be ready to go hard having just wrestled the night before.”
Results from the matches can be viewed at www.MSNsportsNET.com
WVU (4-4, 0-0) vs. Bloomsburg (11-2, 0-0)
125: No. 19 Shane Young (So., 20-6) vs. Sean Boylan (Fr., 13-9)
133: No. 13 Nathan Pennesi (r-Fr., 17-4) vs. Nick Wilcox (Fr., 15-9)
141: Michael Morales (Fr., 11-7) vs. Derek Shingara (Fr., 16-11)
149: No. 31 Brandon Rader (r-Sr., 6-7) vs. Josh Roosa (Jr., 10-6)
or Matt Hicks (Fr., 10-13)
157: Ryan Goodman (r-Jr., 9-11) vs. No. 22 Frank Hickman (So., 18-6)
165: Donnie Jones (r-Sr., 10-3) vs. Josh Veltre (So., 15-6)
174: Alex Meade (r-So., 0-1) vs. Mike Dessinio (So., 17-5)
184: No. 18 Matt Ryan (r-Jr., 13-3) vs. No. 19 Nate Graham (Sr., 18-5)
197: Kyle Rooney (Sr., 9-7) vs. Richard Perry (r-Fr., 8-5)
or Jacob Dabashinky (So., 5-6)
HWT: Philip Mandzik (7-13) vs. Zac Walsh (Jr., 13-9)
WVU (4-4, 0-0) vs. Clarion (3-2, 1-0)
125: No. 19 Shane Young (So., 20-6) vs. Thomas Gowing (Jr., 2-8)
or Trey Hicks (So., 1-7)
133: No. 13 Nathan Pennesi (r-Fr., 17-4) vs. Joe Waltko (So., 18-4)
or Devin Cook (Fr., 7-8)
141: Michael Morales (Fr., 11-7) vs. Cameron Moran (Jr., 10-6)
or Colby Pisani (Jr., 1-6)
149: No. 31 Brandon Rader (r-Sr., 6-7) vs. Anthony White (Fr., 16-7)
157: Ryan Goodman (r-Jr., 9-11) vs. No. 8 James Fleming (So., 20-2)
or Kyle Braddock (Fr., 1-9)
165: Donnie Jones (r-Sr., 10-3) vs. No. 29 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr., 17-5)
174: Alex Meade (r-So., 0-1) vs. Scott Joseph (Sr., 8-13)
184: No. 18 Matt Ryan (r-Jr., 13-3) vs. Steven Cressley (So., 11-10)
197: Kyle Rooney (Sr., 9-7) vs. No. 30 Alex Thomas (So., 12-7)
or Clint Podish (Jr., 13-5)
HWT: Philip Mandzik (7-13) vs. Quintas McCorkle (Jr., 17-8)
Both matchups will begin at 7 p.m. as the Mountaineers face the Huskies Friday night at the Nelson Field House in Bloomsburg, Pa., and the Golden Eagles on Saturday night at the W.S. Tippin Gym in Clarion, Pa.
“We haven’t observed either of them at any of the tournaments we’ve been to, but we know that Bloomsburg has seven straight wins coming into this match,” says WVU coach Craig Turnbull. “Clarion is also having a good year and will present a big challenge for us.”
The Huskies own an 11-2 record on the year and enter the match ranked near the Top 25 in the latest NWCA/USA Today poll after upsetting No. 23-ranked Pennsylvania on Jan. 9 by a 25-23 score. Their only losses on the year are to ranked schools Penn State and American.
They are led by 157-pound sophomore No. 22 Frank Hickman and No. 19 Nate Graham at 184 pounds. Hickman owns a 18-6 record for the year while Graham stands at 18-5. At 165 pounds, WVU’s redshirt senior Donnie Jones will be presented with the challenge of facing Husky sophomore Josh Veltre, who owns a 15-6 mark on the season.
“They are wrestling with a lot of confidence and they usually get really excited to wrestle us at their place,” Turnbull says. “We’ll take their best shot, but they are wrestling with a tremendous level of confidence. They wrestle with strong intensity and seem to rise up to their opponents.”
Last year at the WVU Coliseum, the Mountaineers defeated Bloomsburg by a Brandon Williamson pin in the final bout to lift the team to a 21-18 victory.
“We’re going to have to be prepared to take their best shot,” Turnbull says. “They have a very balanced team, so it should be a good battle at every class.”
West Virginia begins this weekend’s matchups with four ranked wrestlers in No. 19 sophomore Shane Young (125 pounds), No. 13 redshirt freshman Nathan Pennesi (133), No. 31 redshirt senior Brandon Rader (149) and No. 18 redshirt junior Matt Ryan (184).
The Clarion Golden Eagles have a 3-2 dual meet record on the year having recently lost to North Carolina and No. 3 Virginia Tech, but registered a big win over Edinboro on Dec. 21 by a 25-21 score.
The Mountaineers lost a close 14-20 battle to Clarion last year at the Coliseum. The Golden Eagles boast three ranked grapplers in No. 8 James Fleming (157), No. 29 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (165) and No. 30 Alex Thomas (197).
“Clarion is having a tremendous amount of success and recently beat Edinboro, which is traditionally one of the stronger programs in the league,” Turnbull says. “They also enter the match with a high level of confidence and excitement to compete with us in their own gym and we’ll need to be ready to go hard having just wrestled the night before.”
Results from the matches can be viewed at www.MSNsportsNET.com
WVU (4-4, 0-0) vs. Bloomsburg (11-2, 0-0)
125: No. 19 Shane Young (So., 20-6) vs. Sean Boylan (Fr., 13-9)
133: No. 13 Nathan Pennesi (r-Fr., 17-4) vs. Nick Wilcox (Fr., 15-9)
141: Michael Morales (Fr., 11-7) vs. Derek Shingara (Fr., 16-11)
149: No. 31 Brandon Rader (r-Sr., 6-7) vs. Josh Roosa (Jr., 10-6)
or Matt Hicks (Fr., 10-13)
157: Ryan Goodman (r-Jr., 9-11) vs. No. 22 Frank Hickman (So., 18-6)
165: Donnie Jones (r-Sr., 10-3) vs. Josh Veltre (So., 15-6)
174: Alex Meade (r-So., 0-1) vs. Mike Dessinio (So., 17-5)
184: No. 18 Matt Ryan (r-Jr., 13-3) vs. No. 19 Nate Graham (Sr., 18-5)
197: Kyle Rooney (Sr., 9-7) vs. Richard Perry (r-Fr., 8-5)
or Jacob Dabashinky (So., 5-6)
HWT: Philip Mandzik (7-13) vs. Zac Walsh (Jr., 13-9)
WVU (4-4, 0-0) vs. Clarion (3-2, 1-0)
125: No. 19 Shane Young (So., 20-6) vs. Thomas Gowing (Jr., 2-8)
or Trey Hicks (So., 1-7)
133: No. 13 Nathan Pennesi (r-Fr., 17-4) vs. Joe Waltko (So., 18-4)
or Devin Cook (Fr., 7-8)
141: Michael Morales (Fr., 11-7) vs. Cameron Moran (Jr., 10-6)
or Colby Pisani (Jr., 1-6)
149: No. 31 Brandon Rader (r-Sr., 6-7) vs. Anthony White (Fr., 16-7)
157: Ryan Goodman (r-Jr., 9-11) vs. No. 8 James Fleming (So., 20-2)
or Kyle Braddock (Fr., 1-9)
165: Donnie Jones (r-Sr., 10-3) vs. No. 29 Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr., 17-5)
174: Alex Meade (r-So., 0-1) vs. Scott Joseph (Sr., 8-13)
184: No. 18 Matt Ryan (r-Jr., 13-3) vs. Steven Cressley (So., 11-10)
197: Kyle Rooney (Sr., 9-7) vs. No. 30 Alex Thomas (So., 12-7)
or Clint Podish (Jr., 13-5)
HWT: Philip Mandzik (7-13) vs. Quintas McCorkle (Jr., 17-8)
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