THE MAT STORIES

Edinboro opened the dual meet portion of its 2014-15 campaign on November 8 with a 25-13 loss to 14th-ranked Pittsburgh. The Fighting Scots, ranked tenth at the time, were without starters Dave Habat and Zach Towers, and the night got underway with 19th-ranked Kory Mines dropping a 6-0 decision at 125 lbs.  Edinboro would jump out to a 13-7 lead but Pittsburgh won the final five matches. 

The Fighting Scots open up the EMU?Duals with a 10 a.m. match against Central Michigan. Edinboro last faced the Chippewas in the 2013 Virginia Duals, with Central Michigan claiming third place with a 25-10 victory. Next comes an 11:30 a.m. match with Northern Illinois. It will mark the first-ever dual between the Fighting Scots and the Huskies. Then comes the highlight match of the day, as Edinboro, ranked 14th in the latest USA?Today/NWCA?Division I Coaches Poll, faces a loaded Michigan team that is ranked eighth. In InterMat's Tournament Rankings Edinboro is seventh and Michigan 12th. The two have not met since the 2001-02 season. Edinboro has lost both previous meetings with the Wolverines.

Edinboro comes off the finest season in school history. The 2013-14 Fighting Scots finished with an 11-3 record, winning the EWL and PSAC?Championships. Seven national qualifiers then combined to help Edinboro finish fifth at the NCAA?Division I?National Championships, the highest finish in school history. Three Fighting Scots earned All-American honors -- A.J. Schopp (133 lbs.) and Mitchell Port (141 lbs.) for the second time and Dave Habat (149 lbs.) for the first time. Port placed third with Schopp and Habat coming in fourth.

Edinboro's lineup features five returning national qualifiers, along with a sixth in Clarion transfer Austin Matthews. Leading the way are All-Americans Mitchell Port, A.J. Schopp, and Dave Habat. Port earned All-American honors for the second time at 141 lbs. with a third place finish, while Schopp is also a two-time All-American after coming in fourth last year at 133 lbs. Habat earned his first All-American certificate with a fourth place finish at 149 lbs. Kory Mines made his first appearance at Nationals last year at 125 lbs. Matthews earned a trip to Nationals for the first time while wrestling at Clarion. He competed at 157 lbs.  

In addition, Edinboro's lineup has seven nationally-ranked wrestlers, including the WrestlingReport.com rankings which ranks 33 wrestlers per weight class. A.J. Schopp is the consensus number one at 133 lbs., while Mitchell Port is second at 141 lbs. Dave Habat is ranked as high as fourth at 149 lbs. Vic Avery is also a top-ten wrestler, ranked as high as seventh by Amateur Wrestling News. Newcomer Austin Matthews, a transfer from Clarion, is ranked as high as tenth by TheOpenMat.com at 157 lbs. Kory Mines fell out of most of the rankings after his setback against Pitt, but the redshirt senior is ranked 28th at 125 lbs. by WrestlingReport.com.  Vince Pickett is ranked 32nd at 197 lbs. in the same rankings.      

Head coach Tim Flynn has always liked to challenge his squad, and this year is no exception. The Pittsburgh match is the first of a very difficult dual schedule for the Fighting Scots. Using the USA?Today/NWCA?Division I?Coaches Poll, Edinboro will face five of the top 15 teams in the country in the preseason poll. On November 15 the Fighting Scots compete in the EWL?Duals, where they will face ninth-ranked Michigan. The Grapple at the Garden on December 21 finds the Scots facing a grueling day. They wrestle third-ranked Cornell in their first match, then meet 15th-ranked Lehigh. Ohio State will visit McComb Fieldhouse for a first round match in the NWCA?Cliff Keen National Duals on February 15. Pittsburgh comes in ranked 14th. In addition, Edinboro will once again compete in the 2015 Virginia Duals. The field has yet to be announced but it always features several nationally-ranked squads. Throw in matches against Kent State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and West Virginia, plus the five EWL opponents, and the Scots will be battle-tested by March.    

Based on potential lineups for Saturday, Edinboro wrestlers Mitchell Port and Austin Matthews will have to be at their best. Port will square off against Central Michigan's Zach Horan, a two-time national qualifier who is ranked tenth by InterMat. He will then go up against Michigan's Steve Dutton, who finished seventh at Nationals last year to earn All-American honors. He is ranked fourth. Matthews is expected to face eighth-ranked Luke Smith of Central Michigan and tenth-ranked Brian Murphy of Michigan.    

Another very interesting match will take place at 133 lbs. when A.J. Schopp meets Michigan's Rossi Bruno. The two met twice last year, with Schopp a 6-0 winner at the Midland's Championships and 6-2 at Nationals. In addition, Schopp's first match at the 2013 National was against Bruno. He prevailed by major decision 8-0.
   
THE?CENTRAL?MICHIGAN SERIES
CENTRAL?MICHIGAN LEADS?4-2
The Fighting Scots and Chippewas last met in the third place match at the 2013 Virginia Duals on January 12, 2013, with Central Michigan winning 25-13. The Chippewas have won the last two duals.
 
THE?NORTHERN?ILLINOIS SERIES
First Meeting
Edinboro snapped a string of four straight Pittsburgh victories a year ago with a 17-16 win over the Panthers. The victory came thanks to criteria 3.15.3, total match points, with Edinboro holding a narrow 50-49 advantage. In 2012-13 Pittsburgh prevailed 19-18.  Prior to the string of Pitt wins Edinboro ran off 11 straight wins against the Panthers.
 
THE?MICHIGAN SERIES
MICHIGAN LEADS?2-0
Edinboro and Michigan have just twice on the mats. The Wolverines won 36-9 in 1995-96, then came away with a 30-6 triumph in 2001-02. 
 
THE?COACHES
EDINBORO -- Tim Flynn (Penn State '86) is in his 18th season as the helm of the Fighting Scots.  He has elevated the Edinboro program to one of the best in the country, compiling a 184-69-5 record.  Edinboro has had 12 top-20 finishes and four in the top ten at the NCAA?Division I?National Championships during his tenure.  He has produced three national champions and 33 All-Americans.  All told, Flynn has been named the EWL?Coach of the Year six times and the PSAC?Coach of the Year 12 times. last year Flynn captured nearly every Coach of the Year award, including being named the NWCA?NCAA?Division I Coach of the Year, WIN's Dan Gable Coach of the Year, and was InterMat's Co-Coach of the Year along with Minnesota's J Robinson.
 
CENTRAL?MICHIGAN -- Tom Borrelli (The Citadel '79) is in his 23rd year in charge of the Chippewas and owns a 287-123-7 record. He has led CMU to 13 Mid-American Conference championships and 14 MAC?Championships titles, including 11 straight from 2002-12. He has coached 38 All-Americans at Central Michigan.
 
NORTHERN?ILLINOIS -- Ryan Ludwig (Findlay '00) is in his fourth season at the helm of the Huskies. The former three-time NAIA?All-American served for five years as an assistant at Northern Illinois starting in 2005 before taking over as head coach. He has a 25-31 record. 
 
MICHIGAN -- Joe McFarland (Michigan '85) is in his 16th season as the head coach of the Maize and Blue, showing a 174-86-5 record. He was a four-time All-American while wrestling for the Wolverines, ranking third in career wins with a 166-24-4. He spent two years as the head coach at the University of Indiana before assuming the head coaching job at Michigan.  He has guided the U-M wrestling squad to three Big Ten dual meet championships (2004, '05, '06) and eight consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships (2001-08) -- including an NCAA runner-up performance in 2005 -- under his leadership. He ranks third on Michigan's head coaching career wins list (174). He has coached five national champions and 44 All-Americans.
 
SCOUTING?CENTRAL?MICHIGAN
The Chippewas are expected to have an inexperienced lineup that will rely on national qualifiers Luke Smith and Zach Horan. Smith is ranked eight by InterMat at 157 lbs. The junior was 22-12 a year ago and reached the Round of 12 at Nationals. Horan, a junior, is ranked tenth at 141 lbs. after a 32-6 finish a year ago. He made his second trip to Nationals after previously reaching the Round of 12 in 2012 while competing at 133 lbs. He won the MAC title in 2012. Horan has a 50-19 career record.   
 
SCOUTING?NORTHERN?ILLINOIS
The Huskies are off to an 0-3 start, losing all three matches in the Illini Quad to Rider (28-9), SIU Edwardsville (20-18), and Illinois (37-10). Senior Derek Elmore is off to a 7-1 start at 125 lbs. Andrew Morse, a junior, defeated Edinboro's Johnny Greisheimer a year ago at the MSU?Open. Brother Gabe Morse has a victory over former Michigan standout Eric Grajales on his resume'.
 
SCOUTING?MICHIGAN
The Wolverine lineup is loaded, with no fewer than eight former national qualifiers. This will mark the first competition of the season for Michigan. For starters, there's two-time All-American Steve Dutton at 141 lbs. The redshirt senior finished seventh at Nationals a year ago and has a 63-27 career record. Heavyweight Adam Coon is also ranked fourth by InterMat. The sophomore reached the Round of 12 as a true freshman and ended the year at 32-5. Rossi Bruno, a junior, also reached the Round of 12 at 133 lbs. he is ranked ninth by InterMat and was 22-16. Brian Murphy and Taylor Massa are also ranked in the top ten at 157 and 165 lbs. Both are ranked tenth. Murphy, a sophomore, was 18-9 last year. Massa is a redshirt sophomore who reached the Round of 12 in 2013 and had a 27-10 record. He redshirted last year. Max Huntley is a two-time national qualifier at 197 lbs. who was injured last year.