FINAL NITTANY LION OPEN BRACKET

                (University Park, Pa.): Clarion junior James Fleming (West Mifflin) won the 157-pound title, senior heavyweight Quintas McCorkle (Alexandria, Va.) finished second and junior 197-pounder Alex Thomas (Seaford, De.) was 5^th leading the Golden Eagles at the Nittany Lion Open held Sunday at Penn State's Rec Hall.

                “I thought we had a very strong day today,” said Clarion first year head coach Matt Dernlan. “We had some big wins against quality, ranked kids, and we wrestled hard every time we took the mat. We're really coming on.”

                Clarion's Fleming, ranked #6 in the nation at 157-pounds, was an impressive 6-0 on the day in wining his title. He defeated #11 rated Dylan Alton of Penn State, a red-shirt freshman, in the finals by fall at 2:40. Fleming was trailing 4-1 when he took Alton down and took him to his back for what would have been a 6-4 lead. Fleming cradled Alton and posted the fall.

                Fleming opened with a pin at 1:42 over Ian Thom, then won a 9-0 major decision over Matt Stephens (Va. Tech), 10-0 over Pierre Frazile (Citadel), 6-2 over John Greisheimer of Edinboro, 1-0 over James Vollrath of Penn State in the semi's before defeating Alton.

                McCorkle was 4-1 on the day and won his way into the finals with an exciting 4-3, double overtime win over #10 Spencer Myers of Maryland. In the second overtime McCorkle escaped and was awarded a stall point for a 4-2 lead. Myers escaped and McCorkle had his victory. In the finals “Q” lost by fall at 1:26 to #5 rated Cameron Wade of Penn State.

                McCorkle opened with a 5-1 win over Mike Murray of Central Michigan, a 5-3 win over Joseph Rizqallah of Michigan State and a 6-1 win over Henry Turner of Lock Haven.

                Thomas was an impressive 5-1 on the day and finished 5^th at 197. Alex opened with a 4-2 win over Bryce Barmes of Army, then 3-2 over Justin Heiserman of Buffalo, before losing to #20 ranked Christian Boley of Maryland 6-4. In the wrestle backs he defeated Derek Stanley of Army 11-2, pinned Justin Ortega of Penn State at 3:27 then defeated #16 ranked Nick Veterlein of Va. Tech 10-7 for fifth.

                Other Clarion wrestlers on the day by weight class order:

125 – Trey Hicks (0-1)

133- Joe Waltko (2-2)

141- Devin Cook (2-2); Tyler Bedelyon (0-1)

149- Cameron Moran (3-2)

174- Ryan Darch (0-1)

184- Steve Cressley (3-2); Nick Milano (1-2)

                CLARION NOTES:  Fleming is out to an 8-0 start for the season … McCorkle is 10-4 and Thomas is 12-6… #8 ranked
Bekzod Abdurkhmonov did not wrestle at the Nittany Lion Open … But will return Saturday, December 10 as Clarion looks to defend its 2010-11 PSAC Team title … Hosted this year at Mercyhurst.