LOCK HAVEN, Pa. (EYT) – Clarion University’s Brock Zacherl, a Brookville High School graduate, claimed his first EWL title Saturday when he beat Lock Haven’s Cody Wheeler 7-0 in the finals at 141 pounds at Lock Haven’s Thomas Fieldhouse.
Zacherl, who is now 27-1 on the year, had a bye into the semifinals where he beat George Mason’s Tejon Anthony, 6-2.
With the EWL title, Zacherl, a red-shirt freshman, will wrestle in the NCAA Division I Tournment, which will be March 17-19 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Zacherl was one of two Golden Eagles to claim EWL titles Saturday joining Michael Pavasko, who won the title at 174 pounds.
It marks the first time Clarion has had at least two EWL champions since 2012, when James Fleming and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov both took home EWL Titles at Tippin Gym. It is only the second time since 2005 the Golden Eagles have had two titlists.
Pavasko, who also qualifies for the NCAA Tournament, beat Bloomsburg’s Casey Glunt, 8-3, in the first round then overtook Lock Haven’s Tyler Wood, 3-2, in the semifinals before winning a 7-3 decision from Cleveland State’s Gabe Stark in the finals.
Despite the two champions, Clarion still could only muster a fifth-place finish in the seven-team championship with 41.5 points.
Clarion had two other wrestlers finish in the top four with Evan DeLong placing third at 165 pounds and Dustin Conti fourth at 197 pounds.
DeLong was impressive on Saturday, reaching the “true” second place match in the 165-pound bracket by winning the consolation side after bowing out of the main draw in the semifinals. DeLong earned a 5-1 decision over the Patriots’ Patrick Davis but fell in sudden victory to the Fighting Scots’ Casey Fuller in the semis. He wrestled his way to a third-place finish, beating Nathan Wynkoop and Davis (again) along the way, but again fell to Fuller in earning third place.
Conti also came tantalizingly close to an NCAA bid, reaching the third-place match at 197 pounds. He earned a major decision over the Patriots’ Cameron Houston in the consolation quarterfinals, winning 12-1, and beat Edinboro’s Vincent Pickett 5-2 to move on to the third-place match. Conti dropped a narrow decision to Lock Haven’s Phil Sprenkle, falling 5-4.
NOTES – According to the Clarion Sports Information Office, Zacherl and Pavasko are the 56th and 57th EWL champions in school history … The duo are also the first Clarion wrestlers to qualify for the NCAA Tournament since 2014 when Justin Arthur, who now wrestles for Nebraska, and Austin Matthews, who is now at Edinboro, did so in 2014. Matthews, who transferred to Edinboro after the 2014 season, won the EWL title at 157 pounds Saturday.
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