Preview: Edinboro to be pressed by Rider and Lock Haven for Eastern Wrestling League crown
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by Gary Abbott and Viviane Fracasso, USA Wrestling
Sean Russell of Edinboro, a returning EWL champion at 125 pounds, is hoping to help the Scots win the conference team title on their home mats. Photo courtesy of GoFightingScots.com
The favorite: Edinboro is the returning EWL champion, and will host the event this year, which is always an advantage. Edinboro and Rider finished with identical 5-1 records in EWL duals to share the league dual meet title. The preseeds include five Edinboro wrestlers at No. 1, with Sean Russell (125), Korbin Myers (133), Andrew Shomers (157), Ty Schoffstall (174) and Billy Miller (285) projected to win gold. Russell, Myers and Miller hold national rankings with FloWrestling. There are three weights where Edinboro does not have a top-four pre-seed, an opportunity for other teams to gain points in the race. If Edinboro can score points in the weights where it is not strong, and gets bonus points from their hammers, the hosts could carry the day.
Other contenders: Rider, which won the EWL a few seasons ago, brings its share of top wrestlers who have legitimate title hopes. Ethan Laird (197) is the only top preseed for Rider, but has six No. 2 preseeds in JR Wert (125), Anthony Cefolo (133), Tyson Dippery (141), Gary Dinmore (149), B.J. Clagon (157) and Chad Walsh (165). Rider also boasts a 21-15 over Edinboro earlier this season. Past All-Americans Walsh and Clagon entered the season with big expectations and both won their bouts at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Walsh has been strong, but Clagon has lost a number of times and was knocked out of national rankings. It will be interesting to see which Clagon shows up for the post-season.
Lock Haven is the only EWL in the final NWCA dual rankings at No. 23. The Bald Eagles have experienced a return to success, sparked by the return of Pennsylvania high school legend Chance Marsteller, who left Oklahoma State then had to deal with personal issues last year before getting the opportunity to lead the Lock Haven resurgence. Top preseeds for Lock Haven are Marsteller at 165, Ronnie Perry at 149 and Corey Hazel at 184. A No. 2 preseed with a national ranking for Lock Haven is big man Thomas Haines. Both Rider and Lock Haven are going into the conference meet expecting to win the team title, and both could reach that goal with some clutch performances.
The teams: Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinboro, George Mason, Lock Haven, Rider
Venue: McComb Fieldhouse, Edinboro, Pa.
What’s new:
• There are a number of new head coaches in the EWL, led by Rider’s John Hangey, a longtime assistant coach for the legendary Gary Taylor. Also new at the helm at George Mason is Frank Beasley, who took on the job after Joe Russell joined USA Wrestling’s freestyle coaching staff. Also leading Bloomsburg for his first EWL Tournament is Marcus Gordon.
Best weight class: Hands down, the 141 weight class has the quality and quantity. The NCAA has given four automatic berths to the NCAA Championships at this weight class, the most within the EWL. Top seed Brock Zacherl of Clarion boasts one of the highest national rankings in the conference at No. 6 by FloWrestling. The next three preseeds are ranked in either the NCAA Coaches Ranking or the RPI (or both), Tyson Dippery of Rider, Evan Cheek of Cleveland State and Kyle Shoop of Lock Haven. We should expect a strong semifinal round here and the finals could be dynamite.
Notes:
• The EWL is among the four conferences which will be broadcast live by FloWrestling, and will get its share of additional publicity on FloZone, where Willie Saylor and Ben Askren will bring the best matches from the events for fans to enjoy. The EWL will be featured alongside the Big Ten, Big 12 and EIWA Championships.
• Edinboro has won 15 EWL titles under coach Tim Flynn and four of the last five titles.
• Lock Haven’s first and only EWL title came in 1997. The Bald Eagles won 12 duals this year, the most in a season for 15 years.
• In the NWCA Mid-Major Rankings, published after the end of the dual meet season, Lock Haven is No. 7, Rider is No. 9, Edinboro is No. 15 and Clarion is No. 19.
Nationally ranked wrestlers, preseeds and returning placers
(FloWrestling Rankings of Feb. 26)
125 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 14 Sean Russell (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Sean Russell, Edinboro; 2. JR Wert, Rider; 3. Willy Girard, Bloomsburg; 4. Luke Werner, Lock Haven; 5. Ibrahim Banduka, George Mason
Coaches Ranking - No. 11 Russell, No. 24 Wert
RPI - No. 11 Russell, No. 18 Wert
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Russell (1st), Bunduka (3rd), Wert (4th)
133 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 20 Korbin Myers (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Korbin Myers, Edinboro; 2. Anthony Cefolo, Rider; 3. Andy Schutz, Bloomsburg; 4. DJ Fehlman, Lock Haven
Coaches Ranking - No. 16 Myers, No. 24 Cefelo
RPI - No. 13 Myers, No. 31 Cefelo, No. 33 Schultz
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Myers (1st), Fehlman (2nd), Cefolo (3rd)
141 pounds (4 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 6 Brock Zacherl (Clarion)
Preseeds - 1. Brock Zacherl, Clarion; 2. Tyson Dippery, Rider; 3. Evan Cheek, Cleveland State; 4. Kyle Shoop, Lock Haven; 5. Tejon Anthony, George Mason
Coaches Ranking - No. 6 Zacherl, No. 23 Dippery, No. 26 Shoop, No. 30 Cheek
RPI - No. 17 Zacherl, No. 21 Cheek, No. 27 Shoop
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Zacherl (2nd), Cheek (3rd)
149 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 16 Ronnie Perry (Lock Haven)
Preseeds: 1. Ronnie Perry, Lock Haven; 2. Gary Dinmore, Rider; 3. Taylor Ortz, Clarion; 4. Ryan Ford, Cleveland State
Coaches Ranking - No. 15 Perry
RPI - No. 19 Perry, No. 26 Dinmore
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Perry (1st at 141), Shoop (3rd)
157 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 157
Preseeds: 1. Andrew Shomers, Edinboro; 2. BJ Clagon, Rider; 3. Alex Klucker, Lock Haven; 4. Avery Shay, Clarion
Coaches Ranking – No. 25 Shomers, No. 26 Clagon, No. 33 Klucker
RPI - No. 18 Shomers, No. 30 Klucker
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Clagon (1st)
165 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 8 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
No. 9 Chad Walsh (Rider)
Preseeds: 1. Chance Marsteller, Lock Haven; 2. Chad Walsh, Rider; 3. Nate Newberry, Bloomsburg; 4. Georgio Poullas, Cleveland State
Coaches Ranking – No. 5 Marsteller, No. 6 Walsh
RPI - No. 4 Marsteller, No. 14 Walsh
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Walsh (1st)
174 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 174
Preseeds: 1. Ty Schoffstall, Edinboro; 2. Dom Rigous, Clarion; 3. Dean Sherry, Rider; 4. Jared Siegrist, Lock Haven
Coaches Ranking – No. 21 Schoffstall
RPI - No. 16 Schoffstall
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Schoffstall (1st), Sherry (3rd), Rigous (4th)
184 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 19 Corey Hazel (Lock Haven)
Preseeds: 1. Corey Hazel, Lock Haven; 2. Nick Corba, Cleveland State; 3. Greg Bulsak, Clarion; 4. Trevor Allard, Bloomsburg
Coaches Ranking – No. 22 Hazel, No. 31 Bulsak
RPI - No. 24 Hazel, No. 27 Corba, No. 28 Bulsak
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Corba (2nd)
197 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 197
Preseeds: 1. Ethan Laird, Rider; 2. Dustin Conti, Clarion; 3. Tristan Sponseller, Lock Haven; 4. Dylan Reynolds, Edinboro
Note: There are no athletes from the EWL in the Coaches Ranking or the RPI
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Conti (2nd), Sponseller (3rd), Reynolds (4th)
285 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 14 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven)
No. 19 Billy Miller (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Billy Miller, Edinboro; 2. Thomas Haines, Lock Haven; 3. Matt Voss, George Mason; 4. Toby Cahill, Clarion
Coaches Ranking – No. 13 Haines, No. 16 Miller, No. 30 Voss
RPI – No. 15 Haines, No. 26 Voss
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Miller (1st), Haines (2nd), Voss (4th)
2017 Eastern Wrestling League Champions
125-pounds - Sean Russell (Edinboro)
133-pounds - Korbin Myers (Edinboro)
141-pounds - Ronald Perry (Lock Haven)
149-pounds - Patricio Lugo (Edinboro)
157-pounds - Bryant Clagon (Rider)
165-pounds - Chad Walsh (Rider)
174 -pounds - Ty Schoffstall (Edinboro)
184- pounds - Dakota Geer (Edinboro)
197 –pounds - Ryan Wolfe (Rider)
285 pounds – Billy Miller (Edinboro)
2017 Team Standings: 1. Edinboro 122.5; 2. Rider 75.0; 3. Lock Haven 71.5; 4. Clarion 48.5; 5. George Mason 27.5; 6. Cleveland State 21.0; 7. Bloomsburg 5.5
Ranked Teams (final NWCA Rankings)
No. 23 Lock Haven
EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
(Eastern time)
Saturday, March 3
10:00 a.m. - First session
6:00 p.m. - Placement matches
Broadcast: Flowrestling
The favorite: Edinboro is the returning EWL champion, and will host the event this year, which is always an advantage. Edinboro and Rider finished with identical 5-1 records in EWL duals to share the league dual meet title. The preseeds include five Edinboro wrestlers at No. 1, with Sean Russell (125), Korbin Myers (133), Andrew Shomers (157), Ty Schoffstall (174) and Billy Miller (285) projected to win gold. Russell, Myers and Miller hold national rankings with FloWrestling. There are three weights where Edinboro does not have a top-four pre-seed, an opportunity for other teams to gain points in the race. If Edinboro can score points in the weights where it is not strong, and gets bonus points from their hammers, the hosts could carry the day.
Other contenders: Rider, which won the EWL a few seasons ago, brings its share of top wrestlers who have legitimate title hopes. Ethan Laird (197) is the only top preseed for Rider, but has six No. 2 preseeds in JR Wert (125), Anthony Cefolo (133), Tyson Dippery (141), Gary Dinmore (149), B.J. Clagon (157) and Chad Walsh (165). Rider also boasts a 21-15 over Edinboro earlier this season. Past All-Americans Walsh and Clagon entered the season with big expectations and both won their bouts at the NWCA All-Star Classic. Walsh has been strong, but Clagon has lost a number of times and was knocked out of national rankings. It will be interesting to see which Clagon shows up for the post-season.
Lock Haven is the only EWL in the final NWCA dual rankings at No. 23. The Bald Eagles have experienced a return to success, sparked by the return of Pennsylvania high school legend Chance Marsteller, who left Oklahoma State then had to deal with personal issues last year before getting the opportunity to lead the Lock Haven resurgence. Top preseeds for Lock Haven are Marsteller at 165, Ronnie Perry at 149 and Corey Hazel at 184. A No. 2 preseed with a national ranking for Lock Haven is big man Thomas Haines. Both Rider and Lock Haven are going into the conference meet expecting to win the team title, and both could reach that goal with some clutch performances.
The teams: Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinboro, George Mason, Lock Haven, Rider
Venue: McComb Fieldhouse, Edinboro, Pa.
What’s new:
• There are a number of new head coaches in the EWL, led by Rider’s John Hangey, a longtime assistant coach for the legendary Gary Taylor. Also new at the helm at George Mason is Frank Beasley, who took on the job after Joe Russell joined USA Wrestling’s freestyle coaching staff. Also leading Bloomsburg for his first EWL Tournament is Marcus Gordon.
Best weight class: Hands down, the 141 weight class has the quality and quantity. The NCAA has given four automatic berths to the NCAA Championships at this weight class, the most within the EWL. Top seed Brock Zacherl of Clarion boasts one of the highest national rankings in the conference at No. 6 by FloWrestling. The next three preseeds are ranked in either the NCAA Coaches Ranking or the RPI (or both), Tyson Dippery of Rider, Evan Cheek of Cleveland State and Kyle Shoop of Lock Haven. We should expect a strong semifinal round here and the finals could be dynamite.
Notes:
• The EWL is among the four conferences which will be broadcast live by FloWrestling, and will get its share of additional publicity on FloZone, where Willie Saylor and Ben Askren will bring the best matches from the events for fans to enjoy. The EWL will be featured alongside the Big Ten, Big 12 and EIWA Championships.
• Edinboro has won 15 EWL titles under coach Tim Flynn and four of the last five titles.
• Lock Haven’s first and only EWL title came in 1997. The Bald Eagles won 12 duals this year, the most in a season for 15 years.
• In the NWCA Mid-Major Rankings, published after the end of the dual meet season, Lock Haven is No. 7, Rider is No. 9, Edinboro is No. 15 and Clarion is No. 19.
Nationally ranked wrestlers, preseeds and returning placers
(FloWrestling Rankings of Feb. 26)
125 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 14 Sean Russell (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Sean Russell, Edinboro; 2. JR Wert, Rider; 3. Willy Girard, Bloomsburg; 4. Luke Werner, Lock Haven; 5. Ibrahim Banduka, George Mason
Coaches Ranking - No. 11 Russell, No. 24 Wert
RPI - No. 11 Russell, No. 18 Wert
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Russell (1st), Bunduka (3rd), Wert (4th)
133 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 20 Korbin Myers (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Korbin Myers, Edinboro; 2. Anthony Cefolo, Rider; 3. Andy Schutz, Bloomsburg; 4. DJ Fehlman, Lock Haven
Coaches Ranking - No. 16 Myers, No. 24 Cefelo
RPI - No. 13 Myers, No. 31 Cefelo, No. 33 Schultz
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Myers (1st), Fehlman (2nd), Cefolo (3rd)
141 pounds (4 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 6 Brock Zacherl (Clarion)
Preseeds - 1. Brock Zacherl, Clarion; 2. Tyson Dippery, Rider; 3. Evan Cheek, Cleveland State; 4. Kyle Shoop, Lock Haven; 5. Tejon Anthony, George Mason
Coaches Ranking - No. 6 Zacherl, No. 23 Dippery, No. 26 Shoop, No. 30 Cheek
RPI - No. 17 Zacherl, No. 21 Cheek, No. 27 Shoop
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Zacherl (2nd), Cheek (3rd)
149 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 16 Ronnie Perry (Lock Haven)
Preseeds: 1. Ronnie Perry, Lock Haven; 2. Gary Dinmore, Rider; 3. Taylor Ortz, Clarion; 4. Ryan Ford, Cleveland State
Coaches Ranking - No. 15 Perry
RPI - No. 19 Perry, No. 26 Dinmore
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Perry (1st at 141), Shoop (3rd)
157 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 157
Preseeds: 1. Andrew Shomers, Edinboro; 2. BJ Clagon, Rider; 3. Alex Klucker, Lock Haven; 4. Avery Shay, Clarion
Coaches Ranking – No. 25 Shomers, No. 26 Clagon, No. 33 Klucker
RPI - No. 18 Shomers, No. 30 Klucker
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Clagon (1st)
165 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 8 Chance Marsteller (Lock Haven)
No. 9 Chad Walsh (Rider)
Preseeds: 1. Chance Marsteller, Lock Haven; 2. Chad Walsh, Rider; 3. Nate Newberry, Bloomsburg; 4. Georgio Poullas, Cleveland State
Coaches Ranking – No. 5 Marsteller, No. 6 Walsh
RPI - No. 4 Marsteller, No. 14 Walsh
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Walsh (1st)
174 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 174
Preseeds: 1. Ty Schoffstall, Edinboro; 2. Dom Rigous, Clarion; 3. Dean Sherry, Rider; 4. Jared Siegrist, Lock Haven
Coaches Ranking – No. 21 Schoffstall
RPI - No. 16 Schoffstall
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Schoffstall (1st), Sherry (3rd), Rigous (4th)
184 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No. 19 Corey Hazel (Lock Haven)
Preseeds: 1. Corey Hazel, Lock Haven; 2. Nick Corba, Cleveland State; 3. Greg Bulsak, Clarion; 4. Trevor Allard, Bloomsburg
Coaches Ranking – No. 22 Hazel, No. 31 Bulsak
RPI - No. 24 Hazel, No. 27 Corba, No. 28 Bulsak
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Corba (2nd)
197 pounds (1 NCAA automatic qualifiers)
No EWL wrestlers ranked by Flo at 197
Preseeds: 1. Ethan Laird, Rider; 2. Dustin Conti, Clarion; 3. Tristan Sponseller, Lock Haven; 4. Dylan Reynolds, Edinboro
Note: There are no athletes from the EWL in the Coaches Ranking or the RPI
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Conti (2nd), Sponseller (3rd), Reynolds (4th)
285 pounds (2 NCAA automatic qualifier)
No. 14 Thomas Haines (Lock Haven)
No. 19 Billy Miller (Edinboro)
Preseeds: 1. Billy Miller, Edinboro; 2. Thomas Haines, Lock Haven; 3. Matt Voss, George Mason; 4. Toby Cahill, Clarion
Coaches Ranking – No. 13 Haines, No. 16 Miller, No. 30 Voss
RPI – No. 15 Haines, No. 26 Voss
Returning 2017 EWL Placers: Miller (1st), Haines (2nd), Voss (4th)
2017 Eastern Wrestling League Champions
125-pounds - Sean Russell (Edinboro)
133-pounds - Korbin Myers (Edinboro)
141-pounds - Ronald Perry (Lock Haven)
149-pounds - Patricio Lugo (Edinboro)
157-pounds - Bryant Clagon (Rider)
165-pounds - Chad Walsh (Rider)
174 -pounds - Ty Schoffstall (Edinboro)
184- pounds - Dakota Geer (Edinboro)
197 –pounds - Ryan Wolfe (Rider)
285 pounds – Billy Miller (Edinboro)
2017 Team Standings: 1. Edinboro 122.5; 2. Rider 75.0; 3. Lock Haven 71.5; 4. Clarion 48.5; 5. George Mason 27.5; 6. Cleveland State 21.0; 7. Bloomsburg 5.5
Ranked Teams (final NWCA Rankings)
No. 23 Lock Haven
EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
(Eastern time)
Saturday, March 3
10:00 a.m. - First session
6:00 p.m. - Placement matches
Broadcast: Flowrestling
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