Clarion's Matthews Wins EWL Title, Golden Eagles Finish 6th

matthews5 icsCLEVELAND, Oh. – Clarion freshman 157-pound wrestler Austin Matthews (Greenville/Reynolds) won his first EWL title on Saturday night defeating top seed and #15 ranked Johnny Greisheimer of Edinboro 9-6 in the finals of the Eastern Wrestling League Championships hosted by Cleveland state University.

The 39th Annual EWL Championships, hosted at Woodling Gymnasium, saw Edinboro win the team title scoring 140.5 points, Bloomsburg second with 113, Lock Haven third with 87.5, Rider fourth at 80, Cleveland State fifth with 74.5, Clarion sixth with 69.5 and George Mason seventh with 43.5 points.

Matthews defeated Edinboro’s #15 ranked and top seeded Greisheimer 9-6 with three takedowns and a reverse in posting the exciting win. Matthews opened with a double leg takedown, followed by a Greisheimer escape and takedown. Matthews reversed toward the end of the period to lead 4-3 after one. In the second Greisheimer escaped but Matthews scored an amazing takedown in a mat scramble to lead 6-4. Greisheimer escaped to close to 6-5 after two. Matthews opened the third with an escape, and once again in a scramble posted his final takedown to lead 9-5. Greisheimer escaped with a few seconds remaining to give Matthews the 9-6 victory.

“Austin wrestled very well al day today,” said Clarion second year mentor Troy Letters. “He really looked relaxed tonight and opened up the offense.”

Matthews was 2-0 on the day, opening the tournament with a bye, then pinned Bloomsburg’s Kevin Hartnett at 4:58 to get to the finals.

Mathews is now 22-7 on the season and has earned his ticket to the NCAA D-I National Championships March 20-22 in Oklahoma City.

Also placing for fourth for the Golden Eagles were Ryan Darch (Jr. Batavia, N.Y.) at 177, Dustin Conti (Fr. Jefferson, Pa/Jefferson-Morgan) and Evan Daley (Fr. Erie/Fort LeBoeuf) at 185.

Darch went 2-2 on the day to place 4th at 174. He won his first bout against Nick Corba (CS) 2-0, lost a togh 3-1 decision in the final second to #1 seed Connor Brennan (Rider), defeated Adam Mackie (LH) 7-0 and took his third place bout into the second overtime tied at 1-1 – before losing by fall at 9:15. He finished his season with a 16-22 record and has a career mark of 36-50.

Conti, unseeded at 184, took a quality fourth place finish. He lost 9-4 to #2 seed Fred Garcia (LH) had a bye, defeated Sam Shirey (BL) 7-1 before losing his final bout 4-0 to Clint Morrison (Rider). A true freshman, Dustin finished his season 8-21.

Daley also had a strong tournament and held his #4 seeding. Evan opened with abye, then wrestled top seed Ernest James of Edinboro in the semi’s, losing a hard-fought 2-0 decision. In the wrestled bcks Evan defeated Greg Velasco (Rider) 3-0 and lost his bout for third place to Riley Shaw (Cleve. St.) 8-2. Daley ends the regular season with a record of 19-15.

Finishing fifth for Clarion were Hunter Jones (Fr. New Rochelle, N.Y.) at 125 and Justin Arthur (Fr. Huntington, N.Y.) at 149, while sixth place endings were notched by Sam Sherlock (Jr. West Mifflin) at 133, Tyler Bedelyon (Sr. Lewistown/Indian Valley) at 141, and Daniel Sutherland (Jr. North Bellmore, N.Y.) at 197.

Jones was 2-2 in finishing fifth at 125. He lost his opening bout 8-0 to Kaleb LeMaire (LH), bounced back for a 7-4 win over Bill Prochnieswski (GM) 7-4, lost 6-0 to Sean Boylan (Bloom) and pinned John Martin (CS) at 2:29 to finish 5th. Hunter finished his season with a record of 8-10.

Arthur also was 2-2 at 149 in finishing 5th. He opened with a 10-3 win over Curt Delia (Rider), lost 9-6 over Bryce Busler (Bloom), lost in the final seconds to Nick Montgomeria (CS) 6-5 and defeated Delia for fifth by a 4-2 margin. Arthur is hoping for an NCAA wild card – he finished the regular season with a record of 26-13.

Sam Sherlock finished 6th at 133-pounds going 0-2. Sam had a bye in the opening round and faced Bloom’s Nick Wilcox in the semi’s Sam was leading 8-4 n the third period when he was pinned by Wilcox at 5:42. Re-injuring his shoulder, Sherlock tried to go against CSU’s Dan King in the wrestle backs but lost 6-1 and med forfeited his final bout. Sam finished his season with a record of 18-14 and now has a career record of 31-25.

Captain Tyler Bedelyon was 1-3 in finishing 6th at 149-pounds. He opened with a pin over Matt Rappo (Bloom) at 6:55. Against the nation’s #1 ranked Mitchell Port (Edinboro), Bedelyon lost 12-4, but actually led that match early 4-1 with two first period takedowns. He lost his next bout 9-3 to Jared McKinley (CS) then was pinned by Rappo at 3:33. Tyler finished his senior season with a record of 12-21 and his career with a mark of 65-65.

Sutherland was 0-3 in placing 6th at 197. He lost his opener to Matt Meadows (GM) 5-3, had a bye, then lost by fall to Vince Pickett (Edinboro) at 4:08 and to Corbin Boone (CSU) 7-3. Daniel finished the season with a record of 4-17.

Also wrestling for the Golden Eagles but eliminated with and 0-2 record was Michael Pavasko (So. Munhall/Steel Valley) at 165. Michael was pinned by Josh Veltre (Bloom) and by Matt Donohoe (CSU) and finished his first season as a starter with a mark of 14-22.

CLARION NOTES: The Eagles are hoping that 14-pounder Justin Arthur will earn a wild card to the national tournament… Matthews title gives Clarion 55 in its history. .. Kurt Angle won 4 EWL titles (1988, 90, 91, 92, Charlie Heller (1980, 81, 82), Sheldon Thomas (194, 96, 97) and John Testa (2001, 2002, 2003) won three each.

EWL TOURNMENT RESULTS

TEAM SCORING
1. Edinboro 140.5
2. Bloomsburg 113.0
3. Lock Haven 87.5
4. Rider 80.0
5. Cleveland State 74.5
6. Clarion 69.5
7. George Mason 43.5

OW – A.J. Schopp Edinboro

CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
125- Robert Deutsch (RI) dec. Kory Mines (E) 2-1
133- A.J. SChopp (E) tech. fall Nick Wilcox (B) 18-0; 5:00
141- Mitchell Port (E) maj. dec. Dan Neff (LH) 12-2
149- David Habat (E) dec. Bryce Busler (B) 6-0
157- Austin Matthews (CL) dec. Johnny Greisheimer (Ed) 9-6
165- Ramon Santiago (RI) dec. Josh Veltre (Bl) 2-1
174- Connor Brennan (RI) dec. Mike Dessino (B) 9-4
184- Vic Avery (E) Fred Garcia (LH) 8-2
197- Richard Perry (B) wbf Phil Sprenkle (LH) 6:47
285- Ernest James (E) dec. Justin Grant (B) 3-1 ot

THIRD PLACE
125- Sean Boylan (B) maj. dec. Kaleb LaMaire (LH) 14-0
133- Chuck Ziesloft (RI) dec. Dan King (CS) 3-1
141- Sahid Kargbo (GM) mej. Dec. Jared McKinley (CS) 13-3
149- Mac Maldarelii (LH) maj. dec. Nick Montgomery (CS) 12-1
157- Greg Flournoy (GM) dec. Elias Biddle (LH) 3-1
165- Matt Donohoe (CS) dec. Jake Kemerer (LH) 10-6
174- Patrick Jennings (ED) wbf Ryan Darch (CL) 9:15
184- Clint Morrison (RI) dec. Dustin Conti (CL) 4-0
197- Vince Pickett (ED) maj. dec. Matt Meadows (GM) 9-0
285- Riley Shaw (CS) dec. Evan Daley (CL) 8-2

FIFTH PLACE
125-Hunter Jones (CL) wbf John Martin (CS) 2:29
133- Cody Wheeler (LH) med forf. Sam Sherlock (CL)
141- Matt Rappo (BL) pinned Tyler Bedelyon (CL) 3:33
149- Justin Arthur (CL) dec. Curt Delia (RI) 4-2
157-Kevin Hartnett (BL) dec. Wayne Stinson (RI) 6-4
165- Ryan Forrest (GM) dec/ Kasey Davis (ED) 4-3
174- Nick Corba (CS) dec. Adam Mackie (LH) 9-3
184- Xavier Dye (CS) med. forf. Sam Shirey (BL)
197-Corbin Boone (CS) dec. Daniel Sutherland (CL) 7-3
285- Jacob Kettler (GM) dec. Greg Velasco (RI) 3-1


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