Edinboro Match Notes
 
PROBABLE LINEUPS

Edinboro Fighting Scots (4-1, 1-0 EWL)
125 - Kory Mines (13-2, 68-49)  (R-Sr.,Bedford, Ohio/Maple Heights)
133 -  #1/#1 A.J. Schopp (8-0,115-14) (R-Sr.,Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone Area)
141 - #2/#2 Mitchell Port (13-0, 109-15) (R-Sr.,Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area) OR Jensen Lorea (4-7, 4-7) (Fr., Charleston, W.Va./George Washingto0n) 
149 - #4/#5 Dave Habat (12-0, 110-24) (R-Sr.,Parma, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
157 - Kasey Burnett-Davis (9-4, 61-41) (R-Sr., Meadville, Pa./Meadville)
165 - Casey Fuller (10-4,39-36) (R-Jr., Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne)
174 - Zach Towers (8-1, 16-8) (R-So.,Meadville, Pa./Meadville)
184 - #13/#12 Vic Avery (11-1, 60-23) (R-Jr.,Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) OR Nick Mitchell (9-1, 22-12) (R-So., Frewsburg, N.Y./Frewsburg Central)
197 - Vince Pickett (11-4, 54-30) (Jr.,Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing)
Hwt. - Warren Bosch (7-6, 23-27) (R-Jr.,Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park)
        
HEAD COACH: Tim Flynn (Penn State '87, 188-69-5, 17th year) 
Rankings: InterMat/Amateur Wrestling News

Clarion Golden Eagles (0-7, 0-1 EWL)
125 -- Seth Carr  (5-10, R-Fr., McDonald, Pa./South Fayette)
133 -- Joel Rosko (3-8, Fr., Campbell, N.Y./Campbell-Savona)
141 -- John Pezze (1-11, Jr., North Huntingdon, Pa./Norwin OR Sam Sherlock (3-9, Sr., West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin)
149 -- Brodie Zacherl (9-10, Fr., Brookville, Pa./Brookville)
157 -- Evan DeLong (8-10, Fr., Kane, Pa./Kane)
165-- Slade Horner (12-7, Jr., Ridgway, Pa./Ridgway)
174 -- Michael Pavasko  (10-7, Jr., Munhall, Pa./Steel Valley)
184 -- Daniel Sutherland (9-10, Sr., North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham)
197 -- Ryan Darch (11-7, Sr., Batavia, N.Y./Batavia)
Hwt. -- Evan Daley (9-6, So., Erie, Pa./Fort LeBoeuf)
 
HEAD?COACH:  Keith Ferraro (0-7, first year, Lock Haven '03) 


THE MATCH STORIES
• After a week of final exams Edinboro returns to the mat to face an old rival in Clarion. The Fighting Scots bring a 4-1 record into Saturday's match and are 1-0 in the Eastern Wrestling League after handing Cleveland State a 41-3 defeat on December 4. Note that the dual will take place in McComb Fieldhouse beginning at 7 p.m. The match was originally scheduled for the Mike S. Zafirovski Sports &?Recreation Dome with graduation ceremonies also being held in McComb Fieldhouse on Saturday. 

• Edinboro comes off a record-setting performance in last weekend's PSAC?Championhip. The Fighting Scots won their fourth straight PSAC?title and 15th in Tim Flynn's 18 years as head coach. they finished with 189.5 points to easily outdistance second-place Lock Haven, who finished with 130.5 points. Clarion came in fifth. Edinboro also set a record with nine PSAC?champions, breaking the previous record of seven the Scots held along with Clarion. A.J. Schopp (133 lbs.), Mitchell Port (141 lbs.), and Dave Habat (149 lbs.) won their fourth PSAC?titles. It marks the first time a lineup has had three four-time PSAC?titlists in it. There had previously been just 14 four-time PSAC?champions. Kory Mines won his second straight straight title at 125 lbs., and Vic Avery is now a two-time champion at 184 lbs. Kasey Burnett-Davis is now a two-time champion, as well, winning at 157 lbs. after claiming the 165 lb. title a year ago. Zach Towers (174 lbs.) and Vince Pickett (197 lbs.) won their first PSAC?crowns.     

• Edinboro has climbed to fourth in the latest InterMat Tournament Rankings. In addition, the Fighting Scots are ranked 13th in the latest USA?Today/NWCA?Division I?Coaches Poll.  Edinboro opened the year with a 25-13 loss to then-14th-ranked Pittsburgh. In their most recent action on November 15, the Fighting Scots swept three opponents in impressive fashion in the EMU?Duals. Edinboro defeated Central Michigan 30-3, Northern Illinois 40-3, and wrapped up the day with a 23-16 upset of eighth-ranked Michigan. 

• 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. He is currently out with an injury.   

• In addition, Edinboro's lineup has seven nationally-ranked wrestlers, including the WrestlingReport.com rankings which ranks 33 wrestlers per weight class. Four Fighting Scots are ranked in the top ten of their respective weight classes. 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 third at 149 lbs. in three different polls. Newcomer Austin Matthews, a transfer from Clarion, is ranked as high as fifth by The OpenMat.com at 157 lbs. Vic Avery falls just outside of the top ten, ranked as high as 11th by WIN and Flowrestling. Kory Mines fell out of most of the rankings after his setback against Pitt, but the redshirt senior has now climbed back in in two polls. He is ranked 19th at 125 lbs. by Amateur Wrestling News and 25th by WrestlingReport.com.  Vince Pickett is ranked 27th at 197 lbs. by WrestlingReport.com.    

• Clarion comes in with a 0-7 record and is 0-1 in the EWL. The Golden Eagles placed fifth at the PSAC?Championship. The Golden Eagles, under interim head coach Keith Ferraro, last competed in a dual on November 30, suffering a 25-13 loss to Penn. A young team has faced a demanding schedule, with losses to Northwestern, Penn State, and Rider. Edinboro and Clarion have faced two common opponents. The Fighting Scots have wins over Central Michigan and Northern Illinois while the Golden Eagles lost to both.

• 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 six teams in the top 25, including two of the top seven squads.  Edinboro already faced Pittsburgh, with the Panthers currently ranked 11th.  On November 15 the Fighting Scots competed in the EWL?Duals and upset a Michigan team that was eighth at the time and now ranked 16th. 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 12th-ranked Lehigh. Ohio State, currently ranked seventh, will visit McComb Fieldhouse for a first round match in the NWCA?Cliff Keen National Duals on February 15. 18th-ranked Rider is also still ahead on the schedule. In addition, Edinboro will once again compete in the 2015 Virginia Duals. The field features several nationally-ranked squads, including Virginia Tech (6th), Virginia (11th), Chattanooga (20th), and Old Dominion (24th). Throw in matches against Kent State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, and West Virginia, plus the other four EWL opponents, and the Scots will be battle-tested by March.
   
THE CLARION SERIES
EDINBORO LEADS 22-6 (DI); CLARION LEADS 32-25 OVERALL
The Fighting Scots have won the last two meetings with the Golden Eagles, and 15 of the last 16. That stretch was interrupted by a 25-21 victory for Clarion in 2010-11 in a match that was wrestled at Fort LeBoeuf High School. Edinboro won by a 40-3 score a year ago. 

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 188-69-5 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.

CLARION -- Keith Ferraro (Lock Haven '03) was appointed the interim head coach at Clarion on September 25. He had served as an assistant coach at Clarion the previous two years. A former wrestler at Lock Haven, Ferraro was the head coach at Brockway High School in 2005 before moving on to Brookville High School as an assistant coach the next year.  

SCOUTING CLARION
Interim head coach Keith Ferraro took over a young Clarion program in late September when Troy Letters stepped down. He inherited a program with a demanding schedule missing its top two wrestlers in national qualifiers Troy Arthur and Austin Matthews, who transferred to Edinboro. Slade Horner leads the Golden Eagles with a 12-7 record. The junior came in third at 165 lbs. at the PSAC Championships. Ryan Darch was also third at 197 lbs. The senior has an 11-7 record after competing at 174 lbs. a year ago. Mike Pavasko is 10-7 while competing at 174 lbs. A junior, he also took third place at the PSAC Championships. Evan Daley turned in Clarion's top performance last Saturday with a second place showing at heavyweight. A year ago he was part of a trio of outstanding freshmen for Clarion along with Arthur and Matthews. Daley, now 10-7, is a former standout at nearby Fort LeBoeuf High School.