Clarion Wrestling at SIU-Edwardsville
Jan. 30, 2021

Golden Eagles vs. Northern Illinois // 12 p.m. ET
Golden Eagles vs. SIU-Edwardsville // 2 p.m. ET (watch)
Golden Eagles vs. Buffalo // 4 p.m.

Ten Quick Points

• The Golden Eagles will get set for a Saturday tripleheader when they head to Edwardsville for a quad match with Northern Illinois, Buffalo and the hosting Cougars
• This will be the eighth meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Huskies, with Clarion searching for their first-ever win against Northern Illinois
• This will be the fifth meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Cougars, with Clarion owning a 3-1 edge in the all-time series and a win as recently as last week
• This will be the 19th meeting between Clarion and Buffalo, with the Golden Eagles holding a slim 10-8 edge in the all-time series with the Bulls
• Greg Bulsak improved to 6-0 on the season with wins against competitors from SIU-Edwardsville and Kent State last week, and is now ranked in the top-10 in three major polls
• Freshman Kyle Schickel has now won three straight decisions at 141 pounds, including two bouts last week that secured wins against the Cougars and Kent State
• Tate Ortz made his return to the Golden Eagle lineup last week and split a pair of bouts, including a tech fall victory over Kent State at 157 pounds
• 2020 NCAA qualifier Ty Bagoly earned his first win of the season last week with a fall over Kent State, punctuating Clarion's win over the Golden Flashes
• Kolby Ho swept both of his dual matches last week to improve to 4-2 on the season, and is just two wins shy of 50 career collegiate victories.
• Two dual wins the rest of the way would secure Clarion's fourth straight season of a .500 or better record in dual matches, their longest streak in more than 30 years

The Lead
The Clarion wrestling team embarks on what is currently scheduled to be their only road trip of the season, when they head to Edwardsville, Ill. for a quad-match set against three Mid-American Conference (MAC) opponents. The Golden Eagles open up with Northern Illinois before taking on the hosting Cougars, and will wrap the day with a dual bout against Buffalo.

Last Time Out
The Golden Eagles evened their season record with an inspired showing on Jan. 23, sweeping SIU-Edwardsville (21-15) and Kent State (30-10) in a doubleheader at Tippin Gym.

The Golden Eagles were looking to respond to an 0-2 start to the season, and it was quickly apparent they were ready to flip the script as they came out loaded for bear. Kyle Schickel, Kolby Ho and Greg Bulsak were the three Golden Eagles to win both of their bouts on Saturday afternoon, with that trio helping Clarion to a narrow win over the Cougars and a larger win over the Golden Flashes. Tate Ortz made his season debut with a split on the afternoon, including a key technical fall against Kent State's Ian Senz that turned the momentum in the Golden Eagles' favor, and Ty Bagoly got off the schneid with a first period fall over the Golden Flashes' Jacob Cover.

Series Histories
This will be the eighth meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Huskies, with NIU owning a perfect 7-0 record to date over Clarion. For the most part the bouts between the two teams have been close, including a narrow 19-17 win for the Huskies in Lafayette, Ind. last year. Tate Ortz opened the bout with a 17-0 tech fall over Nathan Swartz at 141 pounds, but the Huskies won five out of six duals at one point to secure the win.

This will be just the fifth meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Cougars, with Clarion owning a 3-1 edge in the all-time series with SIU-Edwardsville. It will also be their second meeting in a week, as the Golden Eagles overcame the Cougars in a narrow 21-15 decision on Jan. 23. The teams split their 10 bouts evenly 5-5 last week, though the Golden Eagles were the beneficiary of a forfeit at 133 pounds. Greg Bulsak clinched the team win with a win by fall over Austin Andres at 197 pounds.

This will be the 19th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Bulls, with Clarion owning a 10-8 advantage over the Bulls in the all-time series. Their meeting last year was almost literally as close as could be, with the teams tied at 16-16 on dual points after both squads won five bouts apiece. The difference came down to the criteria of total match points scored, with Clarion secured when Ty Bagoly took down Nolan Terrance in the heavyweight bout for a 4-0 decision. That gave the Golden Eagles 44 points scored to just 42 points scored for the Bulls.

About the Coach
Keith Ferraro, a native of Brookville, is in his seventh year as Clarion's head wrestling coach in 2020-21. He has been integral in elevating the Golden Eagles back into the national spotlight.

The Golden Eagle program has made tremendous strides under Ferraro's tutelage, with perhaps no more telling figure than the number of NCAA qualifiers the Golden Eagles have produced.  The team that Ferraro took over in 2014-15 went 1-16 in dual matches and sent no wrestlers to the NCAA Championships.  The Golden Eagles have produced multiple NCAA qualifiers in every year since then, including four in 2017-18, tied for the most in a single season since the Golden Eagles sent five wrestlers to the 2004 Championships. Clarion has had 13 NCAA qualifiers in the last six years.

Academic Success is the Expectation
The Golden Eagles have become leaders in the classroom as well as the wrestling room under head coach Keith Ferraro. Clarion was recognized by the NCAA as being in the top 10 percent of the Academic Progress Rate (APR) report in both 2018-19 and 2019-20, the only wrestling program in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to earn recognition in either year.  

Bulsak, Bagoly Open Season in the Rankings
Clarion returns two NCAA qualifiers from a season ago, and both opened the season in the national rankings at the start of the year.

• Three-time NCAA qualifier Greg Bulsak ranks among the best in the nation at 197 pounds, coming in at seventh according to TrackWrestling, 10th according to InterMat and eighth according to FloWrestling.

• First-time NCAA qualifier Ty Bagoly ranked 22nd in the nation at heavyweight according to TrackWrestling's season-opening poll. Bagoly would have competed in his first NCAA Championships last year, starting in the "pigtail" round.

Fast Start for Bulsak
Greg Bulsak entered the season as a consensus nationally-ranked contender, and thus far has not disabused anyone of that notion. The redshirt senior is 6-0 on the season and ranks in the top-10 in three major polls, including a seventh-place ranking according to Track Wrestling, an eighth-place standing with FloWrestling, and a 10th-place standing according to InterMat.

Racking Them Up...
Greg Bulsak has been a supremely consistent force in the Golden Eagle lineup over the last three years, and is working on an impressive streak as he heads into this weekend's quad. With two wins last week against SIU-Edwardsville and Kent State, Bulsak improved his win streak to 22 consecutive matches dating back to last year. He has not dropped a match since falling in the fifth-place bout at the Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 7, 2019, and has not lost a dual match since Purdue's Christian Brunner beat him on Nov. 24 of that same year.

...And Laying Them Flat
With his win by fall over the Cougars' Austin Andres last week, Greg Bulsak now has three wins by fall on the season. That victory over Andres also represented the third consecutive pin for the 197-pounder. After finishing last year as one of the national leaders in wins by fall for 197 pounders, Bulsak leads the Golden Eagles with wins by fall this season. He has recorded 23 wins by fall out of his 71 career victories, meaning he is pinning nearly one out of every three opponents he faces. 

First Taste of Victory
Freshman Kyle Schickel earned his first career collegiate victory in the dual against Rider on Jan. 16, beating the Broncs' Bryan Miraglia by decision at 141 pounds. Schickel carried the early initative with two takedowns in the first period and never let Miraglia back into the bout, winning handily by an 8-2 score.

> Since then, Schickel has won two more matches to improve his win streak to three consecutive bouts. His decisions against SIU-Edwardsville and Avry Mutschly helped the Golden Eagles win a pair of duals last week.

Back in the Saddle
Tate Ortz made his 2020-21 debut last week, giving nationally-ranked Justin Ruffin (SIUE) everything he could handle in the first bout of the day before a tech fall dismantling of Kent State's Ian Senz in the nightcap. Ortz has dealt with injuries over the course of his career but will look to return to the form that earned him an at-large bid in the 2018 NCAA Championships.

Seth Steps Up
Junior Seth Koleno notched a pair of bonus point victories in extra bouts against Rider on January 16, as he looks to get his 2020-21 season off to a good start. Koleno recorded an impressive 11-4 sudden victory decision over Bryan Miraglia, taking him down and earning four near fall points to secure the win, and then followed up with a 13-2 major decision over Cole McComas.

> Koleno followed up that effort against the Broncs with a split against SIU-Edwardsville and Kent State, defeating the Cougars' Cardeionte Wilson by 6-5 decision to help Clarion win the team dual.

Kolby Settles In
Junior Kolby Ho transferred to Clarion after two years at EWL and MAC rival George Mason, and the 165-pounder is settling into the lineup after three weeks in the Blue & Gold. Ho improved to 4-2 last week with a pair of dual match wins, and is now just two wins shy of 50 Division I wins in his career.