Edinboro Match Notes
 

The Lineups

EDINBORO Fighting Scots (5-3, 3-0 EWL)
 

			2015-16	Career
			Record	Record
125	Sean Russell	R-Fr.	16-5	16-5	Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hills
133	Tony Recco	Fr.	4-15	4-15	Lyndonville, N.Y./Lyndonville
	Anthony Rivera	R-Jr.	5-5	10-20	Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside
141	Tyler Vath	Fr.	7-6	7-6	Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown
149	Patricio Lugo	Fr.	20-2	20-2	Homestead, Fla./South Dade
	Jensen Lorea	So.	9-8	15-20	Charleston, W.Va./George Washington
157	Spencer Nagy	Fr.	18-10	18-10	Alliance, Ohio/Alliance
	Chase Delande	R-Jr.	2-1	38-19	Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson
165	Casey Fuller	R-Sr.	19-2	64-51	Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne
174	Patrick Jennings	R-Sr.	17-8	71-55	Ridge, N.Y./Longwood
184	Chris Laird	R-Fr.	3-14	3-14	Waterford, Pa./General McLane
197	Vince Pickett	Sr.	16-7	76-51	Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing
	Warren Bosch	R-Sr.	4-6	36-47	Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park
285	Billy Miller	R-Fr.	18-5	18-5	Perry, Ohio/Perry

The Match Stories

Edinboro faces a trio of Atlantic Coast Conference teams on Saturday in the Pitt Duals. The day begins at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse with a match against 15th-ranked North Carolina at 9 a.m., followed a meeting with Duke. In their third match, the youthful Fighting Scots will square off against third-ranked North Carolinas State.  Edinboro comes in with a 5-3 record, with two of the losses to nationally-ranked teams, and the third loss to a Pittsburgh team that climbed into the rankings two weeks ago. They climbed into the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll this week, ranked 22nd. 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. The win was Edinboro's 14th straight in EWL competition. A week ago, the Fighting Scots competed against a strong field in the Southern Scuffle, finishing 15th.

North Carolina has a 6-1 record in duals and is ranked 15th in the latest USA Today/NWCA Coaches poll, along with 14th in InterMat's Tournament Rankings. The Tar Heels are 6-1, including a win over Minnesota, and have run off five straight wins since a loss to Rutgers. Duke comes in at 0-2 after losing to North Carolina State, 34-9, on Wednesday. The Blue Devils are tied for 23rd in the NWCA rankings. North Carolina State is 12-0 and ranked third by the NWCA and sixth by InterMat. The Wolfpack has wins over NCAA powerhouses Oklahoma State, ranked fourth at the time, and Minnesota. 

This will mark the first time Edinboro has faced Duke and North Carolina State. The Fighting Scots last wrestled North Carolina in the 2011-12 season, with the Tar Heels owning a 3-2 edge in the series.

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. 

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 76 career victories.

Freshman Patricio Lugo and redshirt senior Casey Fuller enetered the Southern Scuffle without a loss, but both came out with two losses.  Lugo is now 20-2 while competing at 149 lbs. Fuller is 19-2 at 165 lbs. Lugo reached the quarterfinals, along with Pickett. Heavyweight Billy Miller was the only wrestler to place, finishing eighth.

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 203-76-5 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 two months now while recovering from knee surgery. Casey Fuller is ranked as high as 11th in TheOpenMat.com rankings. Patricio Lugo is 17th in TheOpenMat.com. Billy Miller is ranked 17th at heavyweight by Amateur Wrestling News, one of three polls he is ranked in. Sean Russell is 20th by TheOpenMat.com at 125 lbs. 

THE NORTH CAROLINA SERIES
NORTH CAROLINA LEADS 3-2 
Edinboro last met the Tar Heels in the 2011-12 campaign, with the Fighting Scots prevailing 22-14 in the Virginia Duals. That snapped a two-match losing streak to UNC.

THE DUKE SERIES
FIRST MEETING 

THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE SERIES
FIRST MEETING