Edinboro Match Notes
 
Edinboro Lineup  
125 -- #18/#19 Kory Mines (R-Sr., 27-6, 82-53, Bedford, Ohio/Maple Heights)
133 -- Anthony Rivera (R-Fr., 3-13, 3-13, Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside)
141 -- #2/#2 Mitchell Port (R-Sr., 29-0, 125-15, Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area)
149 -- #1/#1 Dave Habat (R-Sr., 28-1, 126-25, Parma, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
157 -- Kasey Burnett-Davis (R-Sr., 12-10, 64-47, Meadville, Pa./Meadville) OR Chase Delande (R-So., 12-9, 33-14, Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard-Davidson) 
165 -- Casey Fuller (R-Jr., 14-14, 43-46, Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne)          
174 -- #20/NR Patrick Jennings (R-Jr., 26-8, 51-45, Ridge, N.Y./Longwood)               
184 -- #11/#17 Vic Avery  (R-Jr., 24-6, 73-28, Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) 
197 -- Vince Pickett  (Jr.,14-14, 57-40, Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing)
Hwt. -- Warren Bosch (R-Jr., 13-17, 29-38, Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park)       
 
HEAD COACH:  Tim Flynn (Penn State '87, 197-72-5, 18th year)
Rankings:  InterMat/Flowrestling


Ohio State Buckeyes Probable Lineup  
125 -- #7 Nathan Tomasello (R-Fr., 22-4, Parma, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy)
133 -- #10 Johnni DiJulius (R-Jr., 22-3, Aurora, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit)
141 -- #1 Logan Stieber (R-Sr., 19-0, Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville)
149 -- #6 Hunter Stieber (R-Jr., 1-2, Monroeville, Ohio/Monroeville) OR Randy Languis (R-Sr., 8-11, Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto)
157 -- #12 Josh Demas (R-Sr., 11-4, Columbus, Ohio/Westerville North)
165 -- #5 Bo Jordan (R-Fr., 14-0, St. Paris, Ohio/St. Paris Graham)          
174 -- #13 Mark Martin (Jr., 14-8, Strongsville, Ohio/St. Edward)
184 -- #10 Kenny Courts (R-Jr., 18-4, Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin)
197 -- #3 Kyle Snyder (Fr., 22-2, Woodbine, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel)
Hwt. -- #9 Nick Tavanello (R-So., 13-7, Wadsworth, Ohio/Wadsworth) OR Ray Gordon (Sr., 0-7, Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield)
 
HEAD?COACH:  Tom Ryan (Iowa '93, 112-41, 9th year; 221-125-1, 20th year overall)
Rankings:  InterMat

The Match Stories
 
Mat Mayhem, otherwise known as the EAS Sports Nutrition/National Duals, comes to Edinboro on Sunday, February 15 as the Fighting Scots host one of eight regional matches. The Fighting Scots, ranked seventh in the latest InterMat Tournament Rankings and 15th in the NWCA/USA?Today Division I?Coaches Poll, square off against one of the powerhouses of the Big Ten in Ohio State. The Buckeyes come in tied for second with Minnesota according to interMat and third in the NWCA/USA?Today Coaches Poll. Edinboro is 13-4 overall and has won five straight duals. The Fighting Scots clinched the EWL dual meet crown last Friday with a 21-14 win over Lock Haven to finish undefeated in the EWL for the second straight year at 6-0. The Buckeyes are 12-3 and 8-1 in the Big Ten. They won their eighth straight dual last Friday with a 22-13 triumph over then third-ranked Minnesota.

The winner of Sunday's Edinboro-Ohio State match will move on to the National Duals Finals set for February 21-22 at Carver Hawkeye Arena on the campus of the University of Iowa. The NWCA?will reseed the eight remaining teams at that time.

Edinboro will bid farewell to eight seniors prior to the Ohio State match. They include four-year starters Kory Mines (125 lbs.), A.J. Schopp (133 lbs.), Mitchell Port (141 lbs.), and Dave Habat (149 lbs.). Throw in Kasey Burnett-Davis, a semi-regular for three seasons, and all told these five wrestlers account for 591 wins. Schopp, Port and Habat have combined for five All-American medals.         

Head coach Tim Flynn continues to make do with a patched-up lineup that will once again be missing A.J. Schopp. The redshirt senior went down at the Midlands Championships at the end of December.  Ranked number one at 133 lbs. entering the tournament, he was injured in his consolation semifinal match. He was able to finish the match but did not wrestle in the third place match. Schopp, who is 15-1, is still ranked second. Edinboro has also been without Austin Matthews at 157 lbs. for two months and the Clarion transfer will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.  Zach Towers is once again out of the lineup at 174 lbs., although Patrick Jennings has emerged as a nationally-ranked replacement.

Edinboro currently has six wrestlers showing up in the various national rankings. Dave Habat has moved to the head of the class at 149 lbs., as the redshirt senior is ranked first in four of the six polls.  Mitchell Port remains second at 141 lbs..  A.J. Schopp, who had been the consensus number one at 133 lbs., is now ranked second.  Vic Avery is ranked as high as ninth by WIN at 184 lbs. Kory Mines is ranked as high as 15th at125 lbs. by The Open Mat.  Patrick Jennings has been appearing in the WrestlingReport.com rankings for several weeks. This week he moved into 20th at 174 lbs. in InterMat's rankings, the first time he has appeared in the top 20.

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 season-opening lineup featured 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.  

Head coach Tim Flynn has always liked to challenge his squad, and this year is no exception. The Pittsburgh match was the first of a very difficult dual schedule for the Fighting Scots. Using the USA?Today/NWCA?Division I?Coaches Poll, Edinboro has already faced six teams in the current top 25 and a seventh looming in third-ranked Ohio State.  Edinboro has wins over 11th-ranked Lehigh and 16th-ranked Michigan while dropping matches to sixth-ranked Cornell, 13th-ranked Virginia, 14th-ranked Pittsburgh, and 20th-ranked Old Dominion. Throw in matches against Rider, 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?OHIO?STATE SERIES
OHIO?STATE LEADS?7-3
The Buckeyes have won the last five meetings with Edinboro. The Fighting Scots have not defeated the Buckeyes since 1996-97, coming away with a 31-10 victory.
 
LAST?MEETING
2010-11:  #22 OHIO?STATE?31, EDINBORO 14 -- Edinboro found itself behind quicly with forfeits in the first two weight classes and would never make up the difference. Kasey Burnett-Davis won a major decision over Randy Languis at 141 lbs. They were the only two wrestlers from that dual who could wrestle on Sunday, with Languis possibly wrestling for Ohio State at 149 lbs. and Burnett-Davis set to go at 157 lbs. for Edinboro. Torsten Gillespie followed with a major decision at 149 lbs., but Edinboro would win just two more matches as Chris Honeycutt and Mike Horton won decisions at 184 lbs. and heavyweight, respectively. Current Edinboro assistant coach Colt Sponseller won a major decision over Johnny Greisheimer at 157 lbs. for the Buckeyes.
 
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 196772-5 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.
 
OHIO STATE -- Tom Ryan (Iowa '93) is in his ninth season as the head coach at Ohio State after serving as the head coach at Hofstra for 11 seasons. He has a 101-39 record at Ohio after, giving him a career record of 210-122-1. Ryan has had six national champions for Ohio State and was named 2009 national coach of the year. He has led the Buckeyes to two runner-up finishes at the NCAA?Division I?National Championships and top ten finishes in seven of his eight seasons.  The head coach at Hofstra from 1995-2006, he earned Eastern Collegiate Wrestling Association and Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year honors seven times.
 
SCOUTING?OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes come in with a 12-3 overall ledger and wrapped up Big Ten action with an 8-1 record, losing only to Iowa (18-14). Ohio State also fell to Virginia Tech (19-18) and Missouri (20-19). Since the loss to Iowa the Buckeyes have run off eight straight wins, including a 22-13 triumph over Minnesota last Friday. Ohio State also has wins over Penn State (22-15) and Virginia (30-7). All ten wrestlers in Ohio State's lineup are nationally-ranked, including three ranked in the top five according to InterMat., and seven in the top ten. Logan Stieber is ranked number one at 141 lbs. with a 19-0 record, one of two undefeated wrestlers in the OSU lineup. The redshirt senior is a three-time national champion (201 and '13 at 133 lbs., 2014 at 141 lbs.) with a 109-3 career record. Redshirt freshman Bo Jordan is the other undefeated wrestler in the lineup. The former four-time Ohio state champion and 2013 Junior Dan Hodge trophy winner has a 14-0 record while competing at 165 lbs. He is ranked 14-0. True freshman Kyle Snyder is ranked third at 197 lbs., showing a 22-2 record. Another young wrestler, redshirt freshman Nathan Tomasello, is ranked seventh at 125 lbs. with a 22-4 ledger. Hunter Stieber is ranked sixth at 49 lbs. with a 1-2 record and is a two-time All-American at 141 lbs. Stieber and heavyweight Nick Tavanello have missed time with injuries. Tavanello, a redshirt sophomore, was a national qualifier a year ago. He has a 13-7 record and is ranked ninth. Johnni DiJulius (22-3), a two-time national qualifier, is ranked tenth at 133 lbs. No. 12 Josh Demas (11-4 at 157 lbs.) and No. 13 Mark Martin (14-8 at 174 lbs.) are two-time national qualifiers, and No. 10 Kenny Courts (18-4 at 184 lbs.) qualified a year ago.   
 
EIGHT?SENIORS?TO?BE?RECOGNIZED
Edinboro will recognize eight seniors making their final appearance at McComb Fieldhouse prior to the Ohio State match. The seniors include:
 
Kasey Burnett-Davis -- Meadville, Pa.
Nathan Hartless -- Brookville, Pa.
Trevor Hartless -- Brookville, Pa.
Dave Habat -- Parma, Ohio
Kory Mines -- Maple Heights, Ohio
Mitchell Port -- Bellefonte, Pa.
A.J. Schopp -- Tyrone, Pa.
Alex Schulmann -- Lincroft, N.J.
 
BORO?RUNS?EWL?DUAL STREAK?TO 11 WITH?SECOND?STRAIGHT?UNDEFEATED SEASON
Edinboro's 21-14 win against Lock Haven clinched Edinboro's second straight Eastern Wrestling League regular season title. The victory boosted the Fighting Scots to 6-0 in dual meets, extending Edinboro's unbeaten streak to 11 EWL matches. Edinboro has now won 12 EWL dual meet titles.
 
SPONSELLER, ROSSELLI TO?FACE?ALMA?MATERS?
Current Edinboro assistant coach Colt Sponseller earned All-American honors while competing for Ohio State. Buckeyes' assistant coach Lou Rosselli is one of the all-time greats at Edinboro, a two-time All-American, member of the Edinboro Hall of Fame, and an Olympian. Sponseller was actually in the Ohio State lineup the last time Edinboro and Ohio State met in 2010-11. He won a 9-0 major decision over Johnny Greisheimer at 157 lbs. Sponseller went on to earn All-American honors at 165 lbs. that season, finishing fourth. He was a three-time NCAA qualifier (2009, 2010, 2011) and would end his career with a 105-24 record. He is in his third year as an assistant with the Fighting Scots. Rosselli is now in his ninth season as an assistant for the Buckeyes after serving as an assistant coach at Edinboro from 11 years. He was named the 2009 National Wrestling Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year. While wrestling for the Fighting Scots he still ranks among the all-time leaders in career wins with a 136-25-4 record, good for fourth all-time. Rosselli was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team (114.5 pounds), a 1997 World Cup Champion and won the silver medal at the 1998 Pan American Championships.
 
STIEBER, PORT?SQUARE?OFF?IN?ONE-VS.-TWO?SHOWDOWN
It was anticipated that Mitchell Port and Logan Stieber would meet in the NWCA?All-Star Classic in November. That meeting never took place as Stieber was pulled from the match. Now the top two wrestlers in Division I at 141 lbs. are expected to meet in Sunday's dual. Both are redshirt seniors who have dominated the competition this year, and throughout their career. Port comes in as the consensus number two and is a two-time All-American, finishing as the national runner-uo in 2013 and third a year ago. He has a 29-0 record with 12 falls, a technical fall, and 6 major decisions. He ranks 11th in career victories with a 125-15 record. Stieber has an incredible career ledger of 109-3, with wins via bonus points in 93 of those matches. He is a three-time national champion, winning the 133 lb. title in 2012 and '13 before moving up and claiming the national championship at 141 lbs. a year ago. He comes in with a 19-0 record with 9 falls, 5 technical falls and a pair of major decisions. Stieber edged fourth-ranked Nick Dardanes of Minnesota 10-9 in his last match. Port has never faced Logan Stieber, but he is 1-2 against his brother Hunter. Two of the meetings came in 2012-13, including a 7-6 decision for Port in the national semifinals. Logan Stieber has faced A.J. Schopp twice, claiming an 18-2 technical fall that same year, also in the semifinals, along with a 10-5 decision in 2011-12.
 
AVERY?SET?TO?FACE?ANOTHER?OF?THE?ELITE?AT?184?
Vic Avery is scheduled to face Ohio State's tenth-ranked Kenny Courts on Sunday in the 184 lb. bout. It will mark his tenth match against a nationally ranked opponent, and he has faced the top five wrestlers and six listed in the top eight according to InterMat. While the redshirt sophomore has lost all of the matches to those six, he took top-ranked Gabe Dean of Cornell into overtime before losing 6-4, and went to two tiebreakers before losing a 7-6 decisioon to eighth-ranked Sam Brooks of Iowa. He fell 5-3 to second-ranked Max Thomusseit of Pittsburgh, 3-1 to third-ranked Nathaniel Brown of Lehigh, and 5-3 to fifth-ranked Lorenzo Thomas of Penn. Avery is ranked 11th and has a 24-6 record, with all six losses to top eight wrestlers.    
 
HABAT, PORT, SCHOPP?TRIO OF SCOTS IN?100-WIN CLUB 
Edinboro has a trio of wrestlers in the 100-win club. Dave Habat is now 126-25 for his career, tied for ninth place in career victories.  Mitchell Port is one win behind at 125-15, 11th in career wins.  A.J. Schopp has a 122-15 record and is 13th. Combined the threesome is 373-55.        
 
FOUR?SCOTS?PLACE?AT?EDINBORO?OPEN?
Four Edinboro wrestlers placed while competing in the Edinboro Open. Chase Delande led the way with a second place finish at 157 lbs., with Sean Russell also coming in second at 125 lbs. Nick Mitchell took home third place at 184 lbs. while Ty Schoffstall was fifth at 165 lbs. Delande and Russell both ended the day with 3-1 records. Delande suffered a 4-2 loss to Arizona State's Oliver Pierce in the 157 lb. finals. Russell reached the 125 lb. finals after winning twice by fall. He would drop a 4-2 decision in sudden victory to Lehigh's Darian Cruz, who earned All-American honors a year ago. It marked the second time the two met in the finals of an open tournament this year, with Cruz prevailing 2-1 in the ESU Open championship match. Nick Mitchell garnered a third place finish at 184 lbs. thanks to a forfeit victory over Pitt-Johnstown's Travis McKillop. Mitchell was 4-1 on the day. Schoffstall finished fifth at 165 lbs., going 5-2 for the day.
 
RUSSELL?NAMED?EWL?FRESHMAN?OF?THE?WEEK?FOR?SECOND?TIME?
Sean Russell was named the Eastern Wrestling Freshman of the Week for the week ending February 8. Russell took home second place at 125 lbs. in the Edinboro Open. It marked the second time he earned the award this year. Russell finished with a 3-1 record. He opened the day with a fall in 49 seconds over Johnny Stramiello of Wyoming Seminary, followed by a 10-4 decision over Arizona State's Hayden Lee. In the semifinals Russell posted another pin, this one at 3:25 over Ares Carpio of Arizona State. Russell met Lehigh's Darian Cruz in the finals of a tournament for the second time this year. Cruz, an All-American a year ago, would hand Russell a 4-2 defeat in sudden victory. Earlier in the year Russell lost a 2-1 decision to Cruz in the finals of the ESU Open.