Clarion University's NCAA Division I Wrestling program hits the road for three matches this weekend. The Golden Eagles will wrestle at Davison on Saturday at 8am, then at North Carolina at 3pm. Clarion will then travel to Blacksburg, Virginia and take on #4 ranked Virginia Tech on Sunday at 7pm.

 

            Saturday's North Carolina match can be heard locally on WWCH-AM (1300) and on the internet at redzonemedia.com, while Sunday's match at Virginia Tech will be on WCCR-FM (92.7) and redzonemedia.com with Rich Herman calling the play by play.

 

            Clarion is off to a fantastic start to the 2010-11 season under fifth year head coach Teague Moore. Clarion is 2-0 in dual meets defeating Princeton 25-21 and Edinboro 25-21, while finishing 17^th at the Midlands tournament with sophomore James Fleming taking fourth place at 157-pounds.

 

The Golden Eagles also won the PSAC Team Title at Bloomsburg on December 4^th, with Clarion scoring 125.5 points and having three individual champions in Fleming, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov at 165 and Alex Thomas at 197.

 

            Last year coach Moore led the Golden Eagles to a 4-2 EWL dual record a year ago, an 8-8 overall dual meet slate, and third place finishes at the PSAC's and EWL's. Always wrestling an extremely competitive D-I schedule, Moore has a career dual record of 35-50-1 entering Saturday's match.

 

Clarion's lineup will be: Thomas Gowing (2-8, Jr. Eugene, Or.) or Trey Hicks (1-5, So. Amityville, N.Y.)at 125; Joe Waltko (18-4, So. Allison Park, North Allegheny) at 133; Cameron Moran (10-6, Jr. James City, Kane) at 141, Anthony White (14-6, Fr. Philadelphia, Pa. North Catholic) at 149; #8 James Fleming (20-4, So. West Mifflin, West Mifflin) or Kyle Braddock (1-6, Fr. Lewistown) at 157, Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (15-4, Jr. Tashkent, Uzbekistan) at 165, Scott Joseph (8-10, Sr. Export, Kiski Area) at 174, Steven Cressley (10-8, So. Punxsutawney) at 184, Alex Thomas (10-6, So. Seaford, De., Sussex Tech) at 197 and Quintas McCorkle 15-7, Jr. Alexandria, Va.) at heavyweight.

 

            Davidson, led by seventh year head coach Bob Patnesky, has the Wildcats 2-3 overall this season. Davidson has wins over Franklin & Marshall (27-15) and Millersville (31-9), while losing to Pitt 34-7. Top wrestlers include Alex Radsky (14-2) at 133, Vitaly Radsky (5-1) at 141, Tyler Mullen (8-6) at 165 and Charlie Wolff (8-3) at 285.

 

            North Carolina meanwhile has a 4-4 dual meet record under seventh year head coach C.D. Mock. The Tar Heels have defeated Drexel (46-0), Lock Haven (19-16), UT-Chattanooga (21-18) and UNC-Greensboro (23-17), while losing to Kent (25-10), #4 Wisconsin (27-3), Hofstra (19-17) and #19 Rutgers (28-6).

 

            Top wrestlers include Danny Lopes (20-10) at 141, Corey Mock (24-11) at 157, Thomas Scotten (22-9) at 165, Thomas Ferguson (15-9) or Andre Petroski (14-10) at 174, and Zac Bennett (16-9) at 197.

 

            Virginia Tech, led by fifth year head coach Kevin Dresser, enters the dual with their highest ever dual meet ranking. The Hokies are ranked 4^th in the nation after finishing second at the NWCA National Duals last weekend. With a dual meet record of 11-3, Virginia Tech last weekend defeated #17 Central Michigan (30-10), #2 Oklahoma State (18-16), #4 Wisconsin (20-19) and lost in the finals to #1 Cornell 25-10). Virginia Tech also has a 27-6 win over Edinboro, and a 25-12 win over Kent. Losses were to Iowa State (17-16) and Wisconsin (24-19).

 

            The Hokies have #13 Jarrod Garnett (18-5) at 125, #8 Devin Carter (20-5) at 133, #14 Chris Diaz (20-5) at 141, #8 Brian Stephens (19-6) at 149, #5 Jesse Dong (6-0) at 157, #14 Pete Yates (18-4) at 165,  Matt Epperly (9-7) at 174, #19 Tommy Spellman (12-7) at 184, Chris Penny (9-14) at 197 and David Marone (10-5) at heavyweight.

 

            CLARION NOTES:  Clarion is 2-0 against Davidson last defeating Davidson 31-14 in 2008 … The Golden Eagles are 5-2 versus North Carolina … Last year defeating the Tar Heels 25-19 and losing to UNC 34-9 in 2006 … Clarion has a 5-1 series record against Virginia Tech last meeting in 2004 and winning 24-15… Clarion hosts WVU on Saturday Jan. 22^nd at 7pm and Eastern Michigan Sunday Jan. 23^rd at 2pm.

 

174- Thomas Ferguson (NC) tech. fall Steven Cressley (CL) 6:59; 18-2

184- Nick Tenpenny (NC) forfeit

197- Dennis Drury (NC) dec. Alex Thomas (CL) 5-0

HWT- Ziad Haddad (NC) dec. Quintas McCorkle (CL) 8-2

125- Joe Waltko (CL) wbf Brian Bokowski (NC) 2:47

133- Jeremy Shaw (NC) dec. Jay Ivanco (CL) 6-4

141- Greg Lewis (CL) inj. def. Mike Rappo (NC) 3:53

149- #18 James Fleming (CL) tech. fall Jon Burns (NC) 7:00; 16-1

157- #17 Hadley Harrison (CL) wbf #10 Thomas Scotton (NC) 2:17

165- Nick Milano (CL) dec. Kyle Kiss (NC) 5-2*

* - One team point deducted from both team scores during 165 for bench conduct