EDINBORO, Pa. (November 19, 2015) – The Edinboro wrestling team returns to dual meet action this weekend with its first Eastern Wrestling League match of the year, followed by a match against one of the top teams in the country. The Fighting Scots face long-time rival Clarion on Friday, November 20 at 7 p.m. in Tippin Gymnasium, followed by a Sunday, November 22 match at tenth-ranked Lehigh. That contest gets underway at 1 p.m. at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.
 
A young Edinboro team brings a 2-1 record into the weekend after competing in the EMU Duals on November 8. The Fighting Scots defeated Olivet, 46-3, with four true freshmen and three more redshirt freshmen in the lineup, before losing to 22^nd-ranked Ohio, 22-12. Head coach Tim Flynn was presented with career win number 200 thanks to a 19-12 win over Northern Illinois. Flynn now has an impressive 200-74-5 record in his 19^th season at the helm.
 
A week ago the Fighting Scots made the long journey west to Fresno, Calif. and competed in the Roadrunner Open. Three wrestlers brought home first place finishes, with freshman Patricio Lugo winning at 149 lbs., redshirt senior Casey Fuller at 165 lbs., and redshirt freshman Billy Miller at heavyweight.
 
Eight Fighting Scots in all placed.  Redshirt freshman Sean Russell finished second at 125 lbs., as did Patrick Jennings at 174 lbs. Senior Vince Pickett captured third place at 197 lbs. Freshman Tyler Vath came in fourth at 141 lbs., and another true freshman, Spencer Nagy, was fifth at 157 lbs.
 
Edinboro comes off a monumental 2014-15 campaign which saw the Fighting Scots post their highest finish ever at the NCAA Division I National Championships. Edinboro earned a spot on the stand for the first time, finishing in third place, with four wrestlers earning All-American honors.
 
Unfortunately, three of those All-Americans – A.J. Schopp, Mitchell Port, and Dave Habat  --have departed, and with them a total of eight All-American certificates and 399 career wins. In addition, four-year starter Kory Mines and his 88 career victories are gone, leaving Flynn to replace close to 500 wins in the starting lineup.

INJURIES TAKING THEIR TOLL
The Edinboro lineup has been dealt further blows with the losses of several wrestlers to injuries for undetermined amounts of time. Most noteworthy is Vic Avery, the lone returning All-American at 184 lbs. Avery earned All-American honors for the first time a year ago thanks to a third place finish. The redshirt senior was forced to pull out of the NWCA All-Star Classic due to an injury suffered in practice, and will miss an extended period of period. He was 34-7 last year and owns 83 career victories. He is ranked as high as second in the various national rankings.
 
Austin Matthews and Warren Bosch, among others, will also miss the start of the season. Matthews, a former transfer from Clarion, was off to great start last year with a 9-0 record. He would suffer a knee injury and miss the rest of the season and is still not ready to compete this year. The redshirt sophomore is ranked as high as fourth at 157 lbs.
 
Bosch was the starter at heavyweight a year ago and was expected to move back down to 197 lbs. and challenge Vince Pickett for the starting job. The redshirt senior will miss the start of the season with an injury. He was 16-20 last year.
 
Along with Avery, Pickett is the only other returning national qualifier. A senior, he was 17-18 last year and made his first trip to Nationals. He has 65 career victories after getting off to a 5-3 start.

FULLER, LUGO EARN EWL WEEKLY HONORS
Casey Fuller was named the EWL Wrestler of the Week and Patricio Lugo received EWL Freshman of the Week honors for their performances in the Roadrunner Open. Fuller, a redshirt senior, has an 8-0 overall record this season. He went 5-0 this last weekend to win the championship at 165 lbs. He won his first two matches of the day by falls to advance to the quarterfinals. Fuller won by major decision over Cal Poly's Travis Berridge, 9-0, before winning another major decision over Joe Granger of Cal Poly, 13-5 to advance to the finals. He defeated Drexel's Austin Rose by decision, 3-1, to capture first place.

Lugo also has an 8-0 overall record this season. The true freshman went 5-0 in the Roadrunner Open while competing at 149 lbs. He won his opening match of the day via fall at 1:44 over SF State University's Daniel Contreas and then his second match by decision over Cal Poly's Jacob Leon. Lugo defeated Jay Tovey of Oregon State via fall at 0:59 and Cal St. Bakersfield's Coleman Hammond by decision, 6-4, to advance to the finals. He won a 7-6 decision over Stanford's Paul Fox to take home first place. 

AVERY RUSSELL IN INTERMAT's NATIONAL RANKINGS
A pair of Edinboro wrestlers show up in InterMat's national rankings. Vic Avery is ranked second at 184 lbs., while redshirt freshman Sean Russell is ranked 20^th at 125 lbs. Avery is currently out with an injury. The fifth-year senior earned All-American honors for the first time a year ago thanks to a third place finish at Nationals. Russell ran off six straight wins to open his career before suffering a 2-1 loss in a tiebreaker to Stanford's Connor Schram, who is ranked 18^th, in the finals of the Roadrunner Open.
 
FULLER, JENNINGS, PICKETT LONE RETURNING STARTERS
With Vic Avery and Austin Matthews out with injuries, redshirt seniors Casey Fuller and Patrick Jennings and senior Vince Pickett are the only returning starters from the 2014-15 team. Fuller was 16-17 last year while starting at 165 lbs. and currently shows a perfect 8-0 record. Jennings enjoyed a breakthrough season, ending the year at 29-10. He is 5-2. Pickett was 17-18 and qualified for nationals a year ago. He has a 5-3 record in the early going of the 2015-16 campaign.

BORO LINEUP FEATURES PLENTY OF YOUTH
The EMU Duals marked the lineup debuts of last year's top two recruits, Sean Russell and Billy Miller. Four true freshmen who are among a highly-regarded recruiting class started, as well. Patricio Lugo, a two-time Florida state champion and four-time place winner, is starting at 149 lbs. Tyler Vath (6-4) takes the spot of Port, now an Edinboro assistant coach, at 141 lbs. The Saegertown High School product is a four-time PIAA placewinner. Meanwhile, Spencer Nagy (10-5) will fill in for Matthews at 157 lbs. Tony Recco (1-5) is starting at 133 lbs.
Russell was a four-time Georgia state champion who got 2015 underway a bit early with an 8-2 decision over Devane Dodgens of Life in an NWCA All-Star Classic showcase match. Miller was a two-time Ohio state champion while competing for former Edinboro All-American Dave Rowan at Perry High School.

PROBABLE LINEUPS
 
EDINBORO Fighting Scots (2-1)
125 -- Sean Russell (R-Fr., 6-1, Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hill)
133 – Tony Recco (Fr., 1-5, Lyndonville, N.Y./Lyndonville)
141 -- Tyler Vath (Fr., 6-4, Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown)
           Nate Hagan (Fr.,  8-5, Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Central Catholic)
149 -- Patricio Lugo (Fr., 8-0, Homestead, Fla./South Dade)
157 -- Spencer Nagy (Fr., 10-5, Alliance, Ohio/Alliance)
165 -- Casey Fuller (R-Sr., 8-0, Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne)
           Ty Schoffstall (R-So., 3-2, Pottsville, Pa./Tri-Valley)
174 -- Patrick Jennings (R-Sr., 5-2, Ridge, N.Y./Longwood)
184 -- Chris Laird (R-Fr., 2-6, Waterford, Pa./General McLane)
197 -- Vince Pickett (Sr., 5-3, Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing)
Hwt. -- Billy Miller (R-Fr., 7-0, Perry, Ohio/Perry)

CLARION Golden Eagles (2-3, 0-1 EWL)
125 – Patrick DeWitt (Fr., 4-5, Arnold, Pa.)
133 – Michael Bartolo (Fr., 4-5, Greenville, Pa.)
141 – Brock Zacherl (R-Fr., 9-1, Brookville, Pa.)
149 – Jacob Keller (Jr., 5-5, Curwensville, Pa.)
          Brodie Zacherl (So., 3-6, So., Brookville, Pa.)
157 – Morgan Way (Fr., 0-2, Frederick, Md.)
165 – Evan DeLong (So., 9-1, Kane, Pa.)
174 – Michael Pavasko (Sr., 5-4, Munhall, Pa.)
184 – Dominic Rigous (So., 6-5, Warrington, Pa.)
197 – Dustin Conti (R-So., 3-7, Jefferson, Pa.)
Hwt. – Evan Daley (Jr., 8-4, Erie, Pa.)
            Zack DeLuca (Fr., 2-0, Pittsburgh, Pa.)
 
THE CLARION SERIES
Edinboro leads 23-6 (DI); Clarion leads 32-26 overall
The Fighting Scots have won the last three meetings with the Golden Eagles, and 16 of the last 17. 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 32-6 score a year ago. 
 
SCOUTING CLARION
The Golden Eagles, under second-year head coach Keith Ferraro, also competed in the EMU Duals and bring a 2-3 record into the match. Clarion opened EWL competition with a 24-19 win over Bloomsburg. The lone victory was a 19-12 triumph over Michigan State. Edinboro and Clarion had one common opponent at the EMU Duals, with the Golden Eagles falling to Northern Illinois, 34-11.
 
#10 LEHIGH Mountain Hawks (2-1, 1-0 EIWA)
125 – #14 Darian Cruz (R-So., 7-2, Allentown, Pa.)
133 – #15 Mason Beckman (R-Sr., 0-3, Transfer, Pa.)
141 – #8 Randy Cruz (R-Jr., 6-1, Bethlehem, Pa.)
149 – Laike Gardner (R-Jr., 6-3, Biglersville, Pa.)
          Drew Longo (R-So., 3-2, So., Ardsley, N.Y.)
157 – #7 Mitch Minotti (R-Jr., 2-1, Easton, Pa.)
165 – Ryan Preisch (R-Fr., 2-1, New Columbia, Pa.)
174 – Elliott Riddick (R-Jr., 6-3, Whitehall, Pa.)
184 – #8 Nathaniel Brown (R-Sr., 2-1, Lewisburg, Pa.)
197 – #13 John Bolich (R-Sr., 3-1, Willow Grove, Pa.)
Hwt. – #16 Max Wessell (R-Sr., 4-1, Boulder, Colo.)
            Doug Vollaro (R-Jr., 0-0, Springfield, Mass.)
 
THE LEHIGH SERIES
Lehigh leads 8-5
Edinboro snapped a two-match losing streak to the Mountain Hawks last year in the Grapple at the Garden.  The Fighting Scots won six of the first seven matches to hold over Lehigh, 19-18.
 
SCOUTING LEHIGH
The Mountain Hawks are ranked tenth in the latest USA Today/NWCA Division I Coaches Poll. Coach Pat Santoro's team has a 2-1 record, with wins over Bucknell (23-12) and 16^th-ranked Minnesota (22-12), along with a 24-6 loss to then tenth-ranked Nebraska. Lehigh hosts Pittsburgh on Friday. The Lehigh lineup features seven nationally-ranked wrestlers according to InterMat, including Nathaniel Brown. The redshirt senior was the national runner-up at 184 lbs. last year. It is a lineup with three All-Americans in Mason Beckman at 133 lbs., a two-time All-American, along with Mitch Minotti at 157 lbs., also a two-time All-American, and Brown.