Edinboro Match Notes
 
Edinboro Lineup  
125 -- #18/#18 Kory Mines (R-Sr., 27-7, 82-54, Bedford, Ohio/Maple Heights)
133 -- #2/#2 A.J. Schopp (R-Sr., 15-1, 122-15, Tyrone, Pa./Tyrone Area) OR Anthony Rivera (R-Fr., 3-14, 3-14, Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside)
141 -- #2/#2 Mitchell Port (R-Sr., 29-1, 125-16, Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte Area)
149 -- #1/#3 Dave Habat (R-Sr., 29-1, 127-25, Parma, Ohio/St. Ignatius)
157 -- Chase Delande (R-So., 12-10, 33-15, Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard-Davidson) 
165 -- Casey Fuller (R-Jr., 14-15, 43-47, Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne)          
174 -- #19/NR Patrick Jennings (R-Jr., 26-9, 51-46, Ridge, N.Y./Longwood)               
184 -- #10/#14 Vic Avery  (R-Jr., 25-6, 74-28, Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) 
197 -- Vince Pickett  (Jr.,14-15, 57-41, Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing)
Hwt. -- Warren Bosch (R-Jr., 13-18, 29-39, Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park)       
 
HEAD COACH:  Tim Flynn (Penn State '87, 197-73-5, 18th year)
Rankings:  InterMat/Flowrestling


West Virginia Mountaineers Probable Lineup  
125 -- NR/#20 Zeke Moisey (Fr., 26-11, Northampton, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic)
133 -- Cory Stainbrook (So., 14-15, Streetsboro, Oh./Walsh Jesuit)
141 -- #16/13 Michael Morales (Sr., 27-9, Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial)
149 --Louis Colonna (R-Fr., 1-12, Montgomery, N.J./Montgomery) OR Roman Perryman (Sr., 4-9, Springfield, Va./Virginia Tech)
157 -- Tim Wheeling (Jr.,  6-11, Erie, Pa.) OR Brutus Scheffel (Sr., 6-12, Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett)
165 -- Ross Renzi (Jr., 10-12, Burke, Va./Robinson Secondary)
174 -- Parker VonEgidy (R-Fr., 5-10, Marshville, N.C./Missouri)
184 -- Bubba Scheffel (Jr., 18-13, Oakland, Md./Southern Garrett)
197 -- Jake A. Smith (So., 22-8, Charleston, W.Va./Cleveland State)
Hwt. -- A.J. Vizcarrondo (Jr., 13-14, Philadelphia, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) 
 
HEAD COACH:  Sammie Henson (8-8, 1st year, Missouri '95)
Rankings:  InterMat/Flowrestling


The Match Stories
 
Edinboro wraps up the 2014-15 regular season on Friday night against a familiar foe in former EWL opponent West Virginia. The match gets underway at 8 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum. The Fighting Scots, ranked seventh in the latest InterMat Tournament Rankings and 14th in the NWCA/USA Today Division I Coaches Poll, come in with a 13-5 record after dropping a 30-7 decision to third-ranked Ohio State on Sunday in the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals.  That snapped a five-match winning streak for the Fighting Scots. West Virginia evened its record at 8-8 with a come-from-behind 19-16 win over Ohio on Sunday.

Edinboro and West Virginia have already met once this season as the two squared off in the Virginia Duals on January 9. The Fighting Scots prevailed 21-16 in that match to move on to the semifinals. Mitchell Port (141 lbs.) and Dave Habat (149 lbs.) won by fall as Edinboro won five of the first eight bouts.

Next up for the Fighting Scots is the EWL?Championships, set for Saturday, March 7. Rider will host this year's tournament. Edinboro looks to defend its crown, winning in 2014 for the first time since 2010 but the 13th under head coach Tim Flynn.     

Edinboro has not had its intended lineup in place since the first month of the season, and will not the rest of the year with the recent announcement that Austin Matthews, the starter at 157 lbs., will miss the rest of the year with an injury. Head coach Tim Flynn does hope to welcome back two-time All-American A.J. Schopp to the lineup.  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 now ranked second. Schopp returned to practice recently and could see his first action in 2015 against the Mountaineers.

Edinboro currently has six wrestlers showing up in the various national rankings. Dave Habat remains at the head of the class at 149 lbs., as the redshirt senior is ranked first in four of the six polls.  A.J. Schopp and Mitchell Port are second at 133 and 141 lbs., respectively.  Vic Avery is ranked as high as tenth by InterMat at 184 lbs. Kory Mines is ranked 15th at 125 lbs. by The Open Mat and WrestlingReport.com.  Patrick Jennings has been appearing in the WrestlingReport.com rankings for several weeks. He moved into InterMat's rankings at 174 lbs. a week ago, and moved up a spot to 19th this week.  It marks 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 has been 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 faced seven teams in the current top 25, the last coming last Sunday against third-ranked Ohio State.  Edinboro has wins over 11th-ranked Lehigh and 16th-ranked Michigan while dropping matches to Ohio State, sixth-ranked Cornell, 13th-ranked Virginia, 14th-ranked Pittsburgh, and 20th-ranked Old Dominion. Throw in matches against Chattanooga, 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 WEST VIRGINIA SERIES
EDINBORO LEADS 19-7-2
The Fighting Scots won a 21-6 decision over the Mountaineers at the Virginia Duals in early January. It marked Edinboro's second straight win over WVU after a 29-9 win two years ago at the WVU Coliseum.

LAST MEETING
2014-15:  #10 EDINBORO 21, WEST VIRGINIA 16 -- Edinboro won five of the first eight matches to move on in the Virginia Duals. Mitchell Port and Dave Habat led the way with falls at 141 and 149 lbs., respectively. 
 
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 197-73-5 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.
 
WEST VIRGINIA -- Sammie Henson (Missouri '95) is in his first season as the head coach at West Virginia, replacing long-time mentor Craig Turnbull. Henson previously served as the head assistant coach for two years at Missouri and also had a stint with Penn State. He was a two-time national champion at Clemson and previously earned All-American honors at Missouri. He went on to win a gold medal at the 1998 World Championships before winning a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. He is one of five inductees for the National Wrestling Hall of Fame's Class of 2015.  

SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA
The Mountaineers are 8-8 overall and 0-3 in the Big 12 following a come-from-behind 19-16 over Ohio on Sunday. WVU lost its first four matches under first-year head coach Sammie Henson, including a 26-9 loss to Cornell, but then ran off four straight victories, including a 21-19 win over Chattanooga.  The Mountaineers also own a win over then 25th-ranked Bucknell, while losing to No. 14 Edinboro, along with all three Big 12 matches, to Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Iowa State. The Mountaineers have a pair of ranked wrestlers in Michael Morales and Zeke Moisey.  Morales, a senior is ranked 16th by InterMat at 141 lbs. with a 27-9 record. He is a two-time NCAA qualifier who has an 83-33 career record. Moisey is a freshman who was a four-time PIAA placewinner at Bethlehem Catholic. He has a 26-11 record while competing at 125 lbs. He has climbed into 20th place in Flowrestling's rankings. Jake A. Smith (22-8) also has 20 wins while competing at 197 lbs. Bubba Scheffel comes in at 18-13 at 184 lbs., including a 7-4 decision over Ohio State's Kenny Courts. He is tied for third in career falls with 23. All four are ranked in the latest NCAA?Coaches' Panel Index -- Morales is 14th, Moisey 20th, Smith 27th, and Scheffel 28th. 

FIGHTING SCOTS FALL TO NO. 3 OHIO STATE IN EAS NUTRITION/NWCA NATIONAL DUALS
With a crowd of 2,753 fans watching at McComb Fieldhouse, the 15th-ranked Fighting Scots fell to third-ranked Ohio State 30-7 in regional action of the EAS Sports Nutrition/NWCA National Duals on February 15. The Buckeyes won the first two matches by major decision and were ahead 11-0 after top-ranked Logan Stieber won a 6-3 decision over second-ranked Mitchell Port. The Fighting Scots would get on the board thanks to a 10-0 major decision for No. 1 Dave Habat over Randy Languis at 149 lbs. The Boro's other win came at 184 lbs., with 11th-ranked Vic Avery handing 10th-ranked Kenny Courts a 4-1 defeat. 

AVERY BREAKS THROUGH AGAINST TOP TEN GRAPPLER; NAMED EWL WRESTLER OF WEEK
Vic Avery was named the Eastern Wrestling League Wrestler of the Week for the week ending February 15. Avery turned in an impressive performance against Ohio State' Kenny Courts while improving to 25-6. The redshirt junior handed the tenth-ranked Courts (19-5) a 4-1 defeat while dominating the match on top. After a scoreless first period, Avery got on the board with an escape with just under a minute left in the second period. He added a takedown with 44 seconds left for a 3-0 lead. Avery would ride out Courts until ten seconds remained in the third period. He would add a point for riding time.  The match was Avery's tenth against a nationally-ranked opponent, and he has faced the top five wrestlers and six listed in the top eight according to InterMat. He lost all of the matches to those six, but 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.      

PORT FALLS IN SHOWDOWN WITH STIEBER
The highlight of the Ohio State match was the showdown between top-ranked Logan Stieber of Ohio State and Mitchell Port, who was ranked second and is a two-time All-American. Stieber is the defending national champion at 141 lbs. and a three-time national champion. Port was hoping to hand Stieber just his fourth career loss, but the Buckeye would claim a 6-3 decision to improve to 20-0. Stieber would record the first of two takedowns in the match at 1:16, with Port escaping at the buzzer for a 2-1 score after one period. A Steiber escape at 1:24 was the lone scoring in the second period. The third period began with an escape by Port twenty seconds in to close the gap to 3-2. Stieber would clinch the victory with a takedown with 51 seconds to go, with Port escaping with four seconds left in the match. Stieber added a point for riding time. Port suffered his first loss of the season while falling to 29-1 and 125-16 for his career.  

HABAT SERENADES FANS FOLLOWING FINAL HOME APPEARANCE
Dave Habat was the lone senior to pick up a victory against Ohio State, and following his 10-0 major decision over Randy Languis he made it a point to thank the home fans in his final appearance at McComb Fieldhouse. The number one ranked wrestler at 149 lbs. threw kisses to the more than 2,700 fans in attendance and raised his arms high following the victory. Habat improved to 29-1 with his tenth straight win, and is now 127-25 for his career. That moves him into sole possession of ninth place for career victories.