16 • Monday, January 25, 2010
CSU Wrestling Falls to Nation’s Top Programs, Vikes Start Year, 0-1 In EWL By Robert Ivory, The Cauldron Sports Editor
Photography by Robert Ivory
There is no doubt that the Pittsburgh Panthers are one of the most talented squads not only in the EWL (Eastern Wrestling League), but are one of the best in the entire nation. That squad came to Woodling Gym Thursday night to compete against the young, yet talented Vikings. However, the Vikings dropped their opener against Pitt 43-3 in Cleveland State’s first matchup in the EWL this week. “I think you saw us wrestle in spurts, which is what a young team does,” Cleveland State’s second year head coach Ben Stehura said after the match. “We’re doing a lot of good things out there. We are making progress and that’s all you can ask for.” The Vikings had much to improve on from last year’s meeting, which saw the Panthers beat the Vikings 38-3 at Pitt, but the Vikings’ overall record against the Panthers stood at 14-16-1 coming into Thursday night. The Vikings had to face a Pitt scorecard that featured five wrestlers that were in the top 26 of their weight class in the most recent NCAA Coaches Panel Ranking (as of 1/17/2010), and Pitt sat at #18 on the NWCA/USA Today’s Ranking. “They are a good team, I would venture to guess they’re moving up,” Stehura said. “When you get into
the EWL schedule, there are no slouches in there.” The Panthers jumped out early on the Vikings and after four matches, Pitt was up 19-0 and moving into cruise control. However, sophomore Corey Carlo came through for the Vikings at the 157 level and was able to rescue 3 points for the Vikes as he won the decision 7-4 over Pitt’s Donnie Tasser. “Corey is capable of big wins like that,” Stehura said. Pitt still led 19-3, but the Vikings looked to get back into the match as they had the 30th ranked wrestler in the same poll, Robbie Michaels, who probably had the best performance of the night, was just seconds away from winning, when his opponent, Adam Counterman scoped up the deciding points. Michaels, who lost 8-7, showed his frustrations after the match, as he knew he let the match get away from him. The Vikings were swept in the final four matches as Pitt had leads of 25-3, 31-3, 37-3, and finally 43-3. The Vikings will now have a week off until they meet EWL opponent Lock Haven in Pennsylvania on Saturday, January 30. The next day they tangle with Bloomsburg University, also on the road, before facing Edinboro University in yet another tough and talented EWL matchup on February 6. The coach has much to be happy about, though. When asked how much progress the team has made, he replied, “It’s night and day. It really is.” He also added, “We are wrestling much tougher opponents and wrestling better against those opponents.” The Vikings last home match will be against West Virginia University (February 19), which is their last matchup before the EWL’s Championships, which are
hosted in Morgantown, WV. “It’s not going to get any easier, the guys are dedicated and we are going to get right back into the room tomorrow and start getting at it again.” Cleveland State does have a long road ahead of them before the end of the year. However, the coach has approached the remaining part of the EWL schedule with almost a Zen like approach: “Our goal is that when we wrestle somebody; beat somebody that you lost to before, if you do that, you’ll going to run out of people to lose to.” Pittsburgh 43, Cleveland State 3 125: Anthony Zanetta (Pitt) wins by forfeit (6-0 Pitt) 133: Jimmy Conroy (Pitt) 16-0 Tech Fall Zech Huff (CSU) (11-0 Pitt) 141: Tyler Nauman (Pitt) 17-2 Tech Fall Mike Mencini (CSU) (16-0 Pitt) 149: Kyle Patton (Pitt) 7-3 dec. Dan Castillo (CSU) (19-0 Pitt) 157: Corey Carlo (CSU) 7-4 dec. Donnie Tasser (Pitt) (19-3 Pitt) 165: Adam Counterman (Pitt) 8-7 dec. Rob Michaels (CSU) (22-3 Pitt) 174: David Sullivan (Pitt) 3-2 dec. Marcus Effner (CSU) (25-3 Pitt) 184: Zac Thomusseit )(Pitt) Fall 4:41 Nick Anthony (CSU) (31-3 Pitt) 197: Matt Wilps (Pitt) Fall 2:11 Jeff Schuller (CSU) (37-3 Pitt) HWT: Ryan Tomei (Pitt) Fall 1:29 Chris Weber (CSU) (43-3 Pitt)