Edinboro Match Notes

The Lineups

EDINBORO Fighting Scots (8-10, 6-0 EWL)
 

			2015-16	Career
			Record	Record
125	Sean Russell	R-Fr.	24-6	24-6	Lawrenceville, Ga./Collins Hills
133	Anthony Rivera	R-Jr.	8-12	13-27	Mardela Springs, Md./Parkside
141	Tyler Vath	Fr.	9-18	9-18	Saegertown, Pa./Saegertown
149	#18/#16 Patricio Lugo	Fr.	26-6	26-6	Homestead, Fla./South Dade
157	#16/#15 Austin Matthews	R-So.	7-3	7-3	Greenville, Pa./Reynolds/Clarion
165	Casey Fuller	R-Sr.	24-7	69-56	Hamlin, Pa./Western Wayne
174	Patrick Jennings	R-Sr.	20-14	74-61	Ridge, N.Y./Longwood
184	#5/#6 Vic Avery	R-Sr.	9-1	92-30	Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro
197	Vince Pickett	Sr.	18-15	78-59	Galloway, Ohio/Central Crossing
285	Billy Miller	R-Fr.	24-8	24-8	Perry, Ohio/Perry

 
RANKINGS: InterMat/Flowrestling


OHIO STATE Buckeyes (10-3, 7-2 Big Ten) 
 

			2015-16
			Record
125	#1/#1 Nathan Tomasello	R-So.	17-0	Parma, Ohio
133	#9/#14 Johnni DiJulius	R-Sr.	14-5	Aurora, Ohio
141	#4/#6 Micah Jordan	R-Fr.	19-1	Urbana, Ohio
149	Cody Burcher	R-Fr.	10-6	Gnadenhutten, Ohio
157	#10/#14 Jake Ryan	R-Fr.	14-2	Powell, Ohio
165	#3/#3 Bo Jordan	R-So.	13-1	St. Paris, Ohio
174	#14/#14 Myles Martin	Fr.	23-5	Penns Grove, N.J.
184	#16/#17 Kenny Courts	R-Sr.	15-7	Harrisburg, Pa.
197	Mark Martin	Sr.	15-5	Strongsville, Ohio
285	Nick Tavanello	R-Jr.	16-3	Wadsworth, Ohio

RANKINGS:  InterMat/Flowrestling


The Match Stories

The Edinboro wrestling team wraps up its season on Monday, February 22 at Ohio State as part of the NWCA National Duals Championship Series. The dual is one of eight featuring eight Big 10 teams hosting six league champions and two wild card teams, capped by the national championship between top-ranked Penn State and third-ranked Oklahoma State. Ohio State and Edinboro met in the opening round of the old format duals last season, with the Buckeyes winning 30-7.  The Fighting Scots qualified as regular season champions of the Eastern Wrestling League. Edinboro finished with a perfect 6-0 record in EWL duals while running their winning streak to 17 straight EWL dual matches. It marked the the straight year the Fighting Scots went undefeated.

Edinboro wrapped up its home season on Saturday night, suffering an 18-14 loss to West Virginia. It marked the Fighting Scots' fourth straight loss, with three of those coming against nationally-ranked teams. Head coach Tim Flynn's team comes in with an uncharacteristic 8-10 record. However, seven of those losses have come to nationally-ranked teams, and an eighth coming against a Pittsburgh team that has been in-and-out of the USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.  

Ohio State is ranked ninth and owns a 10-3 record. The Buckeyes have won five of their last six duals, with the lone loss coming to top-ranked Penn State (24-14). Their other losses have come to sixth-ranked Missouri and eighth-ranked Michigan. Head coach Tom Ryan's team last wrestled on February 12, defeating Wisconsin, 34-6. The Buckeyes showcase a lineup with seven nationally-ranked wrestlers (according to InterMat), including top-ranked Nathan Tomasello at 125 lbs., the reigning NCAA champion at 125 lbs., and Kyle Snyder (hwt.), who became the youngest world champion in USA Wrestling history last summer.   They also feature No. 3 Bo Jordan (165), who suffered his only loss of the season on Friday to his cousin, Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin, No. 4 Micah Jordan (Bo's younger brother at 141), and No. 9 Johnni DiJulius (133). 

The Edinboro lineup received a huge boost a month ago with the returns of Vic Avery and Austin Matthews against George Mason. Both had missed the entire season while recovering from knee surgery. Avery is 9-1 since returning to wrestle at 184 lbs. and now has 92 career victories. He posted a 2-1 decision in a tiebreaker over seventh-ranked Blake Stauffer of Arizona State in the Edinboro Open, before dropping a 3-1 loss in sudden victory to Zach Zavatsky of Virginia Tech. 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 climbed 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 is 7-3 this year while facing a number of very strong opponents.

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 26-6 record and is ranked 16th by FloWrestling and 18th by InterMat. Miller has a 24-8 record, while Russell is 24-6.

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 24-7 record while competing at 165 lbs. and is ranked 20th by InterMat. Coming off a 29-win season a year ago, redshirt senior Patrick Jennings owns a 20-14 record at 174 lbs. Finally, senior Vince Pickett has an 18-15 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, in the 12-team field. A trio of seniors 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.     

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 206-83-5 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 as high as second by WIN Magazine at 184 lbs., and is in the top ten in all six polls despite sitting out two months while recovering from knee surgery. Like Avery, Austin Matthews returned against George Mason and jumped right back in to the rankings. He is 12th at 157 lbs. according to TheOpenMat.com. Patricio Lugo is ranked as high as 16th by FloWrestling at 149 lbs., and is ranked 18th by InterMat. Casey Fuller us ranked 18th by TheOpenMat. Sean Russell is 19th by TheOpenMat.com at 125 lbs. Heavyweight Billy Miller is 29th in TheWrestlingReport.com poll.

THE OHIO STATE SERIES
OHIO STATE LEADS 8-3 
The Buckeyes have won the last six meetings with Edinboro. The Fighting Scots have not defeated the Buckeyes since 1996-97, coming away with a 31-10 victory. 

LAST MEETING
2014-15:  #3 OHIO STATE 30, #15 EDINBORO 7 -- The Buckeyes won eight of the ten bouts, four by bonus points, in the first round matchup of the NWCA National Duals. The main event featured top-ranked Logan Stieber and number two Mitchell Port at 141 lbs., with Stieber prevailing, 6-3. The two would meet again in the national championship match. Edinboro's wins came courtesy of a 10-0 major decision by top-ranked Dave Habat at 149 lbs., and a 4-1 decision for 11th-ranked Vic Avery over 10th-ranked Kenny Courts at 184 lbs. 

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 206-82-5 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.

OHIO STATE -- Tom Ryan (Iowa '93) is in his tenth season as the head coach at Ohio State after serving as the head coach at Hofstra for 11 seasons. He has a 123-45 record at Ohio State, giving him a career record of 222-126-1. A year ago Ryan led the Buckeyes to their first-ever national championship. he was named the 205 Big Ten, NWCA, and InterMat Coach of the Year.  Ryan has coached four different student-athletes to eight national champions. He was also named the 2009 national coach of the year and previously led the Buckeyes to two runner-up finishes at the NCAA Division I National Championships and top ten finishes in eight of his nine 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.