Rider Broncs (5-7, 1-1 EWL) at Edinboro Fighting Scots (6-6, 4-0 EWL)
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Edinboro, PA l 1:00 p.m.
McComb Fieldhouse
Edinboro Match NotesThe Lineups
EDINBORO Fighting Scots (6-6, 4-0 EWL) | | | 2015-16 | Career | |
| | | Record | Record | |
125 | Sean Russell | R-Fr. | 20-5 | 20-5 | Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hills |
133 | Anthony Rivera | R-Jr. | 6-8 | 11-23 | Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside |
141 | Tyler Vath | Fr. | 7-10 | 7-10 | Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown |
149 | #19/#12 Patricio Lugo | Fr. | 23-3 | 23-3 | Homestead, Fla./South Dade |
157 | #9/#8 Austin Matthews | R-So. | 1-0 | 1-0 | Greenville, Pa./Reynolds/Clarion |
165 | Casey Fuller | R-Sr. | 20-5 | 65-54 | Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne |
174 | Patrick Jennings | R-Sr. | 18-11 | 72-58 | Ridge, N.Y./Longwood |
184 | #2/#2 Vic Avery | R-Sr. | 1-0 | 84-29 | Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro |
197 | Vince Pickett | Sr. | 17-10 | 77-54 | Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing |
285 | NR/#19 Billy Miller | R-Fr. | 22-5 | 22-5 | Perry, Ohio/Perry |
RIDER Broncs (5-7, 1-1 EWL) | | | 2015-16 | | |
| | | Record | | |
125 | Zach Valcarce | So. | 2-6 | Villas, N.J. | |
133 | Robert Deutsch | Sr. | 8-5 | Cherry Hill, N.J. | |
141 | Paul Kirchner | Jr. | 12-9 | Somerville, N.J. | |
149 | #17/NR B.J. Clagon | So. | 10-9 | Toms River, N.J. | |
| Jimmy Morris | Sr. | 3-11 | Newport, N.Y. | |
157 | #20/#13 Chad Walsh | So. | 15-5 | Cherry Hill, N.J. | |
| Jesse Rodgers | So. | 0-3 | Pittsburgh, Pa. | |
165 | #20/#16 Conor Brennan | Sr. | 18-2 | Brick, N.J. | |
| Curt Delia | Sr. | 3-2 | Mullica Hill, N.J. | |
| Andrew Reca | Sr. | 0-2 | Robbinsville, N.J. | |
174 | Wayne Stinson | R-So. | 9-10 | Wrightstown, N.J.. | |
184 | Michale Fagg-Daves | So. | 13-8 | Somerset, N.J. | |
197 | Ryan Wolfe | Jr. | 16-8 | New Castle, Del. | |
285 | Mauro Correnti | R-So. | 9-7 | Delran, N.J. | |
| Greg Velasco | Sr. | 1-5 | Union Beach, N.J. | |
The Match StoriesEdinboro hosts Rider in an Eastern Wrestling League dual match on Saturday at McComb Fieldhouse. The Fighting Scots improved to 4-0 in EWL competition with a 31-7 win over George Mason last Saturday, the 15th straight EWL dual win for the Fighting Scots dating back to 2012-13. Lock Haven and Rider are both 1-1 in the EWL, with Edinboro set to wrestle at Lock Haven on February 4.
Edinboro comes in with a 6-6 overall record, with four of the losses to nationally-ranked teams, and the fifth loss to a Pittsburgh team that has been in and out of the national rankings. 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. The Fighting Scots then suffered a 24-9 loss at Pittsburgh, before wrapping up dual action in 2015 with a 25-10 defeat of Cleveland State. After a 15th place finish against a strong field in the Southern Scuffle to open 2016, Edinboro dropped three straight duals at the Pittsburgh Duals. The Scots fell to 15th-ranked North Carolina, 26-11, to Duke by a 30-15 score, and to third-ranked North Carolina State, 31-10. Last week Edinboro evened its record with the win over George Mason.
Rider has a deceiving 5-7 record. Four of those losses are to nationally-ranked teams, as the Broncs have fallen to Penn State, Lehigh, Central Michigan, and Old Dominion. Rider also owns wins over nationally-ranked Kent State and Northwestern. The Broncs are 1-1 in the EWL, losing to Clarion , 24-15, and defeating Lock Haven last Saturday, 27-6. Rider turned in a strong showing at the Midlands Championships, finishing fifth. Depending on injuries, the Broncs could have three nationally-ranked wrestlers in their lineup. That includes B.J. Clagon at 149 lbs., who as a freshman a year ago was the EWL Freshman of the Year, the EWL Tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler, and went on to earn All-American honors with a fifth place finish. Clagon is currently ranked 17th. In addition, Chad Walsh and Conor Brennan are both ranked 20th by InterMat at 157 and 165 lbs., respectively.
Edinboro holds a 6-1 lead in the all-time series with the Broncs, winning the last four meetings. A year ago, the Fighting Scots prevailed 20-16 in Lawrenceville, NJ.
The Edinboro lineup received a huge boost last week with the returns of
Vic Avery and
Austin Matthews. Both had missed the entire season while recovering from knee surgery. Avery won by major decision at 184 lbs. to pick up his 84th career win. The redshirt senior earned All-American honors for the first time a year ago with a third place showing. He was 34-7 a year ago and has been ranked as high as second in the various national rankings. Matthews had not competed since November of last season due to knee injuries. A former transfer from Clarion, Matthews was off to great start last year with a 9-0 record and climb into the top five nationally. He would suffer a knee injury and miss the rest of the season. The redshirt sophomore began the year ranked as high as fourth at 157 lbs. He won a 6-1 decision in his 2015-16 debut.
The return of Avery and Matthews give Edinboro's lineup a little more experience, but the ascent is still on youth, with true freshmen
Tyler Vath (141 lbs.) and
Patricio Lugo (149 lbs.) in the lineup along with redshirt freshmen
Sean Russell and
Billy Miller at 125 and heavyweight, respectively. Lugo has a 23-3 record and is ranked 12th by FloWrestling and 19th by InterMat. Miller has climbed into 19th in FloWrestling's rankings with a 22-5 record. Russell is 20-5.
While youth has been key in 2015-16, Edinboro's upperclassmen have stepped up.
Casey Fuller is enjoying the best season of his career. The redshirt senior has a 20-5 record while competing at 165 lbs. and is ranked in a pair of polls. Coming off a 29-win season a year ago, redshirt senior Patrick jennings owns an 18-11 record at 174 lbs. Finally, senior
Vince Pickett has a 17-10 ledger at 197 lbs. Pickett and Avery are the lone returning national qualifiers from last year's team.
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!
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 204-79-5 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, FloWrestling, and WIN Magazine despite sitting out two months while recovering from knee surgery. Like Avery,
Austin Matthews returned last week and jumped right back in to the top ten in three polls. He is sixth at 157 lbs. according to TheOpenMat.com.
Patricio Lugo is ranked as high as 12th by FloWrestling at 149 lbs., and is one of three wrestlers ranked by InterMat.
Casey Fuller is ranked as high as 15th in TheOpenMat.com rankings.
Billy Miller is ranked 19th at heavyweight by Amateur Wrestling News and FloWrestling.
Sean Russell is 20th by Amateur Wrestling News and TheOpenMat.com at 125 lbs.
THE RIDER SERIES
EDINBORO LEADS 6-1 LAST MEETING
2014-15: EDINBORO 20, RIDER 16 -- In a battle of two nationally-ranked teams, the 15th-ranked Fighting Scots held over 20th-ranked Rider thanks to a 2-1 tiebreaker win in the final match of the night for
Warren Bosch over Greg Velasco. The tight match featured just one fall, that by Rider's Robert Deutsch over
Anthony Rivera at 133 lbs.
Kory Mines and
Mitchell Port won by major decision for the Fighting Scots. .
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 204-79-5 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.
RIDER -- Gary Taylor (East Stroudsburg '76) is in his 38th season as the head coach at Rider. During that period he has compiled a 422-244-4 record, the second-highest victory total in the NCAA among active coaches. The pinnacle of Taylor's career came in 1997, when the Broncs cracked the top ten in the national poll and were ranked seventh in the nation over the final five weeks of the season by the Amateur Wrestling News. Three wrestlers earned All-American honors that year. To date 13 of Taylor's wrestlers have earned All-America honors, including two in the last seven years. He led Rider to 13 conference championships. A seven-time East Coast Wrestling Association Coach of the Year, Taylor has turned out 96 conference champions. Taylor guided Rider into the EWL for the 2013-14 season, and was 4-2 in the EWL with three individual champions and five more NCAA qualifiers. All told, he has taken 163 Broncs to the NCAA Championships, including six last year.