Feb. 14, 2008
(CLARION, PA.): Clarion sophomore Mario Morelli's pin at 174 and sophomore Scott Joseph's technical fall at 184 gave the Golden Eagles an 11-3 lead and Clarion went on to defeat Cleveland State 30-7 on Thursday night in an Eastern Wrestling League dual meet.
Held at Waldo S. Tippin Gymnasium, Clarion raised its overall record to 10-13-1 and 1-3 in the EWL, while the Vikings dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-5 in the EWL.
With the match starting at 165, Cleveland State jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Marcus Effner edged Dom Ross 5-3, but Mario Morelli had other things in mind.
The sophomore from DuBois, Pa. pinned J. T. Miller with a cradle at 4:39, bringing the 800 partisans at Tippin Gym to their feet and giving Clarion a 6-3 lead.
Joseph, also a sophomore, fed off Morelli's energy to build a 6-2 first period lead, on his way to a big 21-5 technical fall win over Derek Cummins at 184. Joseph led 15-5 into the final 10 seconds, but he took Cummins down to his back for a 5-point move giving him the technical fall at the buzzer. Clarion led 11-3 and never looked back.
Jamie Luckett built that lead to 14-3 with a 5-2 win over Benny Balough at 197. With the score tie 1-1, Luckett scored a takedown with 40-seconds left in the match, then after a Balough escape, scored his final takedown with 5-seconds remaining.
Cleveland State heavyweight Rashard Goff, ranked #20 by AWN, scored a 13-2 major decision over Roman Husam to cut Clarion's lead to 14-7.
The Golden Eagles responded by winning the final five matches from 125-157.
Jay Ivanco (Fr. Monroeville) notched a 12-3 major decision over Ryan Riggs at 125, then Rob LaBrake (SO. N. Bennington, Vt.) won a 6-2 decision over Josh Palivoda at 133 to put Clarion out to a 21-7 lead.
The match was clinched by co-captain Sal Lascari (Jr. Gray) at 141 with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Mike Hurley. Lascari had a second period escape and rode Hurley the entire third period to post his victory.
Hadley Harrison (So. McKean) used three takedowns to defeat Ryan Hurley 7-3 at 149. Two of Harrison's takedowns came in the third period.
Freshman Travis Uncapher (Grapeville) finished off the night with a big 8-3 win over Rob Michaels at 157. Uncapher was leading 3-2 in the third when he posted a penalty point, a three-point near fall in the final 15 seconds and riding time for his win.
CLARION NOTES: The Golden Eagles, under second year head coach eague Moore, reached 10 dual meet wins for the first time since 2001 when Clarion was 11-6... Before that it was 1994 when Clarion was 15-2... Ivanco is now 23-12, Harrison 20-8, Uncapher 19-9 and Lascari 15-9... Clarion hosts Lock Haven on Saturday here at Tippin Gym with match time at 7:30pm
CLARION 30 CLEVELAND STATE 7
165- Marcus Effner (CS) dec. Dom Ross (CL) 5-3
174- Mario Morelli (CL) pinned J.T. Miller (CS) 4:39
184- Scott Joseph (CL) tech. fall Derek Cummins (CS) 21-5; 7:00
197- Jamie Luckett (CL) dec. Benny Balough (CS) 5-2
285- Rashard Goff (CS) maj. dec. Roman Husam (CL) 13-2
125- Jay Ivanco (CL) maj. dec. Ryan Riggs (CS) 12-3
133- Rob LaBrake (CL) dec. Josh Palivoda (CS) 6-2
141- Sal Lascari (CL) dec. Mike Hurley (CS) 2-0
149- Hadley Harrison (CL) dec. Ryan Hurley (CS) 7-3
157- Travis Uncapher (CL) dec. Rob Michaels (CS) 8-3
CLARION: 10-13-1; 1-3 EWL
CLEVE. ST: 4-10; 0-5 EWL
Ref: John Hnath
