Edinboro Match Notes
 

The Lineups

EDINBORO Fighting Scots (4-3, 2-0 EWL)
 

			2015-16	Career
			Record	Record
125	Sean Russell	R-Fr.	12-3	12-3	Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hills
133	Tony Recco	Fr.	3-11	3-11	Lyndonville, N.Y./Lyndonville
	Anthony Rivera	R-Jr.	4-2	9-17	Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside
141	Nate Hagan	Fr.	12-10	12-10	Toledo, Ohio/Toledo Central Catholic
149	Patricio Lugo	Fr.	16-0	16-0	Homestead, Fla./South Dade
157	Spencer Nagy	Fr.	16-8	16-8	Alliance, Ohio/Alliance
165	Casey Fuller	R-Sr.	15-0	60-49	Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne
174	Patrick Jennings	R-Sr.	14-6	68-53	Ridge, N.Y./Longwood
184	Chris Laird	R-Fr.	3-11	3-11	Waterford, Pa./General McLane
197	Vince Pickett	Sr.	14-5	74-49	Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing
	Warren Bosch	R-Sr.	4-3	36-44	Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park
285	Billy Miller	R-Fr.	13-2	13-2	Perry, Ohio/Perry

CLEVELAND STATE Vikings (3-3, 0-0 EWL)
 

			2015-16
			Record
125	Nick DeRoas	So.	5-5	Billerica, Mass.
	John Martin	Jr.	3-6	Columbus, Ohio
133	Alfredo Gray	Sr.	0-2	Wadsworth, Ohio
141	Mike Carlone	Sr.	3-3	Mayfield, Ohio
149	Nick Montgomery	Jr.	8-2	Madison, Ohio
	RJ LaBeef	Sr.	6-2	Pomfret, Conn.
157	Chas Busz	Sr.	3-2	South Whitley, Ind.
	John Vaughn	Fr.	6-8	Boiling Springs, Pa.
165	Nathan Wynkoop	Jr.	3-6	West Branch, Mich.
174	Gabe Stark	Jr..	9-10	Warren, Ohio
184	Jacob Worthington	Fr.	0-5	Wellington, Ohio
197	Sam Wheeler	Sr.	14-3	Copley, Ohio
285	#8 Riley Shaw	Sr.	11-0	Washington, Ohio

The Match Stories

Edinboro will wrap up the 2015 portion of its schedule with an Eastern Wrestling League dual at Cleveland State on Saturday, December 19.  A young Edinboro team comes in with a 4-3 record, with two of the losses to nationally-ranked teams, and the third loss to a Pittsburgh team that climbed into the rankings this week. The Fighting Scots opened the year in the EMU Duals, winning two of three matches. Ranked 24th to start the season, they defeated Olivet, 46-3, before falling to 22nd-ranked Ohio, 22-12. They ended the day with a 19-12 win over Northern Illinois. Edinboro opened EWL action with a 23-15 win at Clarion. That was followed by a 36-6 loss at 10th-ranked Lehigh on November 22. Edinboro defeated Bloomsburg, 37-12, in its first home dual on December 3.  Last Thursday,  the Fighting Scots suffered a 24-9 loss at Pittsburgh. Following the CSU match, the Fighting Scots will not take to the mat again until 2016, competing in the Southern Scuffle on January 1-2.

Edinboro has run off 13 straight wins against EWL competition dating back to 2012-13. The Fighting Scots are 2-0 this year with wins over Clarion and Bloomsburg. 

Cleveland State has a 3-3 record in duals. That includes a 26-18 loss to seventh-ranked Ohio State in their last dual on November 24. This will mark CSU's first EWL match. The Vikings showcase senior Riley Shaw. He is ranked eighth by InterMat at heavyweight. He is a two-time national qualifier who won the EWL championship a year ago.

The Fighting Scots own a 24-8 record in the all-time series with Cleveland State. Edinboro won by a 41-3 score a year ago at McComb Fieldhouse for their tenth straight win against the Vikings. 

With a lineup featuring four true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen, it was anticipated that Edinboro would see its string of four straight PSAC championships come to an end. But someone forgot to tell the Fighting Scots. Six wrestlers reached the finals on December 5, with all six coming away with titles, and a total of eight Fighting Scots placed. It all added up to a fifth straight championship for the Scots, who finished with 136.5 points to outdistance Lock Haven, who finished second with 118 points. Mercyhurst was third with 108.5 points in the 12-team field. While the emphasis has been on the freshmen this year, it was a trio of seniors who led the way. Casey Fuller won his second straight title at 165 lbs., while Vince Pickett was doing the same at 197 lbs. Patrick Jennings won his first championship at 174 lbs. The freshmen did their part, as well. Redshirt freshmen Sean Russell and Billy Miller finished first at 125 and 285 lbs., respectively, while true freshman Patricio Lugo took home the crown at 149 lbs. Freshman Spencer Nagy added a third place finish at 157 lbs., with fellow freshman Nate Hagan fourth at 141 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. That came after a fifth place showing at Nationals in 2014. 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. Throw in Kasey Burnett-Davis, who was in-and-out of the Edinboro lineup during his career and had 64 wins, and Edinboro's five seniors accounted for 551 wins!

Not only was Edinboro forced to replace four seniors in last year's lineup, injuries have left the Fighting Scots with two more gaps. 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 a knee injury suffered in practice, and has yet to compete this year. 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 has not competed since early last season due to knee injuries. A former transfer from Clarion, Matthews 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 began the year ranked as high as fourth at 157 lbs. Warren Bosch just returned to the mat in the Mat Town Open two weeks ago.  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. He was 16-20 last year.

The Fighting Scots have turned to youth in 2015-16, in part due to the graduation losses and in part due to the injuries to Avery and Matthews. The lineup to date has featured four true freshmen -- Tony Recco (133 lbs.), Nate Hagan or Tyler Vath (141 lbs.), Patricio Lugo (149 lbs.), and Spencer Nagy (157 lbs.) -- and three redshirt freshmen.  Sean Russell at 125 lbs. and Billy Miller at heavyweight were the two blue-chips of last year's recruiting class and have not disappointed. They are joined in the lineup by Chris Laird, who is filling in for Avery at 184 lbs.   

Vince Pickett and Avery are the only returning national qualifiers from a year ago. A senior, Pickett was 17-18 last year and made his first trip to Nationals. He has 74 career victories after getting off to a 14-5 start.

Freshman Patricio Lugo and redshirt senior Casey Fuller remain undefeated. Lugo is up to 16-0 while competing at 149 lbs. Fuller is 15-0 at 165 lbs.

Head coach Tim Flynn is in his 19th season as head coach. Already the record-holder for career wins at Edinboro, Flynn joined the 200-win club with the early-season victory over Northern Illinois. He owns a 202-76-5 record. Flynn was named the EWL Coach of the Year for the second straight year and seventh time overall last season. In addition, he was selected the PSAC Coach of the Year for the 13th time.  

Edinboro has six wrestlers ranked in the various polls. Vic Avery is ranked second at 184 lbs. by InterMat and WIN Magazine despite sitting out almost two months now while recovering from knee surgery. Casey Fuller is ranked as high as 12th in TheOpenMat.com rankings. Patricio Lugo is 15th in TheOpenMat.com and the Wrestling Report.com. Vince Pickett is ranked 19th by WIN Magazine at 197 lbs. The WrestlingReport.com ranks Sean Russell 21st at 125 lbs. and Billy Miller 22nd at 285 lbs. 

THE CLEVELAND STATE SERIES
EDINBORO LEADS 24-8 
The Fighting Scots have won the last ten meetings with the Vikings, including a 41-3 triumph a year ago at McComb Fieldhouse. The last Cleveland State win occurred in 2004-05 when the Vikings prevailed 22-20. Since then Edinboro has won by an average of 30 points.   

THE COACHES
EDINBORO -- Tim Flynn (Penn State '86) is in his 19th season as the helm of the Fighting Scots.  He has elevated the Edinboro program to one of the best in the country, compiling a 202-76-5 record.  Edinboro has had 13 top-20 finishes and five in the top ten at the NCAA Division I National Championships during his tenure.  That includes the two best finishes in school history the last two years. The Fighting Scots made the podium for the first time at Nationals with a third place showing a year ago, and in 2014 they were fifth. He has produced three national champions and 37 All-Americans.  All told, Flynn has been named the EWL Coach of the Year seven times and the PSAC Coach of the Year 13 times. Two years ago, 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.

CLEVELAND STATE -- Ben Stehura (Lock Haven '00) is in his eighth season as the head coach of the Vikings after serving five years as the Limestone College head coach.  Stehura joined CSU in 2008 after building a successful program at Limestone in Gaffney, S.C. The first head coach in Limestone's history, Stehura took the team from three wins his first year to 13 in 2007-2008. He led the charge last spring to keep wrestling alive at Cleveland State after it was announced the school was going to drop the sport. 

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
After staving off elimination of the wrestling program earlier this year, head coach Ben Stehura will continue his rebuilding project with the Vikings. Cleveland State features heavyweight Riley Shaw, a two-time national qualifier who won the EWL title at heavyweight last year. He went 31-4 last year and brings a perfect 11-0 record into Saturday's dual. Shaw is ranked eighth by InterMat. Sam Wheeler transferred to Cleveland State this year for his final year of eligibility after completing his eligibility at Kent State. He owns  a 14-3 record while competing at 197 lbs.