Edinboro Wins PSAC Wrestling Championship

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Welcome to the online home of the 2012 PSAC Wrestling Championship!

Brackets will be updated throughout the day and can be found HERE. 
Live audio coverage
Probable Lineups

SCHEDULE
6:45 a.m.  Medical check – O’Pake Fieldhouse
7:00 a.m. Weigh in – O’Pake Fieldhouse
9:00 a.m.  First & Second round matches (3 mats) – Keystone Arena
    First & Second round consolations
    Semifinals (2 mats), 3rd round consolations (1 mat)
              Fourth round consolations – through semi-finals (3 mats)
   Coaches meeting, following the session
5:45 p.m.   Opening Ceremonies
6:00 p.m.   Championships (3 mats) 1 v. 2; 3 v. 4; 5 v. 6 – Keystone Arena
Directions to Kutztown & Visitor Information

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Year by Year PSAC Champions I 2011 Champions: Edinboro
All-Time PSAC Individual Champions 

TICKETS
Single Session (2 sessions total)
            $7.00 Adults
            $2.00 Students
            Free Admission for students from member institutions with school ID
Tournament Passes (both sessions)
            $12.00 Adults
            $3.00 Students
            Free Admission for students from member institutions with school ID


EDINBORO WINS PSAC WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIP

Kutztown, Pa. - Edinboro won the 2012 PSAC Wrestling Championship team title for the second consecutive year with three individual titles and 160.5 team points. 

Clarion took home second place with 140 points and Bloomsburg was third with 134 points. Lock Haven earned fourth as a squad with 125 points.

The Fighting Scots' win marked the sixth PSAC title in the last seven seasons and the 15th overall crown for Edinboro. Edinboro had three individual champions, who all repeated their 2011 titles. Sophomores A.J. Schopp (133), Mitchell Port (141) and Dave Habat (149) each took gold in their weight class.

Clarion's James Fleming, the 157-pound PSAC champion, was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the 70th Annual PSAC Championship. 

Results
Photos




CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Courtesy of Clarion Sports Information

Kutztown, Pa. - Ten PSAC teams and 100 athletes will travel to Kutztown on Saturday, December 8, searching for PSAC “Gold” at the 70th Annual Wrestling Championships.
 
Action gets underway at 9:00am Saturday, at the Keystone Arena, with two rounds of championship matches and two rounds of consolation bouts. The championship finals, which will include matches for third and fifth place, will begin at 6:00pm.
 
A championship steeped in great tradition, the 70th PSAC Championship will feature the return of six individual PSAC champions from last year’s PSAC Championship and a total of 10 former PSAC champions in the field.
 
Defending champion Edinboro is the pre-tournament favorite, given the fact that the Fighting Scots have 5 top 20 ranked wrestlers in the latest Division I rankings and Edinboro is ranked 19th in the latest NWCA Coaches Poll. 2010 champion Clarion, along with 2005 champion Bloomsburg should be in the mix, along with Lock Haven to place in the top 4 teams in team scoring.
 
In the history of the PSAC’s Lock Haven leads with 19 team titles, Clarion, Bloomsburg and Edinboro have 14 each, East Stroudsburg and Millersville two each. West Chester won three team crowns and Slippery Rock one, but both schools no longer have wrestling. Gannon and Mercyhurst will be competing for the fourth time since joining PSAC.

PSAC Weight-by-weight  - (Ranked wrestlers with highest ranking according to either AWN or Intermat - records in parenthesis)
 
125: Defending champion Robert Rehm (9-4) of Lock Haven and Bloomsburg’s Sean Boylan (7-5), a runner-up in 2011 and 2010, are the favorites to make the final. Rehm defeated Boylan 5-3 in last year’s finals. Edinboro’s Kory Mines (6-4) was third here a year ago and will challenge. Gannon’s Matt Turek (9-1) was 6th here a year ago. Others expecting to challenge for places include Clarion’s Tyler Fraley (1-1), Mercyhurst’s Willie Bohince (11-4) and Shipp’s Chris Kochinsky (3-1). Kochinsky was a D-II All-American in 2011 (4th).
 
133: This weight class looks to be shaping up as a battle between #4 Edinboro’s A.J. Schopp (6-0) and Bloom’s #19 Nick Wilcox (8-2). Schopp is the defending champion defeating Wilcox by tech. fall (18-2) in the finals in 2011. Wilcox was the champion here in 2010. Clarion’s Joe Waltko (5-5) was third here last year and second to Wilcox in 2010. Also looking to place will be Lock Haven’s Matt Bryer (12-9), Millersville’s Kyle Loeb (5-5), Mercyhurst’s Dylan D’Urso (8-1) who is ranked #2 in the region in d-2 and Cameron Throckmorton (3-1) of Shippensburg who is a transfer from UNC and ranked #1 in the region in d-2.
 
141: Edinboro’s #4 Mitchell Port (6-1) is the defending champion and heavy favorite to win here. Hoping to challenge is Kutztown’s Evan Yenelovich (4-3), who won the PSAC title in 2010 in an Edinboro singlet at 125-pounds, and was 5th at 133 last year for Kutztown. Looking to place high will be Clarion’s John Matacic (7-4), LH’s Dan Neff (9-3), Gannon’s Adam Weinell (7-2), Mercyhurst’s Nick Hannan (4-3), Shipp’s Tyler Erdman (2-2) and Joe Hoy of E. Stroudsburg. Erdman was a 2-time D-3 All-American at Elizabethtown and Hoy is a transfer from N.C. State.
 
149: Edinboro’s defending champion #15 David Habat (7-3) and Bloomsburg’s #19 Josh Roosa (10-2), along with Clarion’s Tyler Bedelyon (5-5) are bets to make the finals. Roosa was 2nd at 149 in 2009, while Bedelyon was second at 141 a year ago. LH’s Mac Maldanelli (6-3), Mercyhurst’s Michael Griffith (8-3), and Kutztown’s Mitch Voelker (2-4) will look to place. Voelker finished 6th at 141 in 2011 and 2010. Millersville’s Josh Ruppert (4-3) is also capable.
 
 157: One of the most talented weight classes in the PSAC’s features Clarion’s #3 James Fleming (12-0), Bloomsburg’s #7 Frank Hickman (9-2) and Lock Haven’s Jake Kemerer (12-5). Fleming finished 5th at D-1 nationals last year and was the champion at 157 in 2010, 2nd in 2011 and 4th at 149 in 2009. Hickman is the defending champion, having defeated Fleming 6-1 in last year’s finals. Hickman was 3rd here in 2010 and the champion at 149-pounds in 2009. Kemerer was third at the Nittany Lion Open last week. Also looking to place high will be E. Stroudsburg’s  Braden Turner (5-2) who was 4th at PSAC’s last year and a 2012 D-2 All-American (6th). Also very talented are Mercyhurst’s Tyler Berger (5-1), Shipp’s Neal Grudi (2-1) and Gannon’s Sean Floor (5-2).
 
165: Edinboro’s #13 John Greisheimer (7-3) leads the field at 165 – with two-time champion and all-American Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Clarion) having graduated. Greisheimer red-shirted a year ago and placed second at 157 in 2010. Bloomsburg’s Josh Veltre (11-5) was second in 2010 at 165, losing a 2-1 match in the finals to Abdurakhmonov. Mercyhurst’s Clint Schaeffer (8-1), ranked #2 in the region in d-2, Clarion’s Nick Milano (0-4), LH’s Aaron McKinney (15-9), and Millersville’s Austin Wenzlaff (2-0) all will battle to place.
 
174: This is the most wide-open weight class in the field in 2012. Edinboro’s Patrick Jennings (8-6), LH’s Zach Heffner (5-4), Clarion’s Ryan Darch (2-4), Bloom’s Chris Smith (3-6), Kutztown’s Rick Pena (2-3), Shipp’s tim Etter (2-0) and Mercyhurst’s Grant Chase (5-7) could all make it to the finals. Darch was 4th here last year, Heffner was 4th at EWL’s in 2012, Etter is ranked 6th in the region, and Pena was 4th at 165 in 2010.
 
184: Also a wide-open weight class, the highest returning PSAC finisher is Clarion’s Steven Cressley (2-6) who was second a year ago and is a D-I National Qualifier. Cressley was 3rd in 2010 and 6th at 174 in 2009.  Bloom will have either Sam Shirey (5th in 2011) or Andre Petroski (6-5), Edinboro has Vince Pickett (6-5), LH’s Freed Garcia (7-6), Gannon’s Keith Stoerr (2-2) and Kutztown’s Giovanni Ortiz (1-3) are all capable of the finals. Stoerr was 6th at 174 in 2011 and Ortiz a D-2 national qualifier. Also looking to place are Millersville’s Dan Cox (5-4), Mercyhurst’s Eric Lundgren (5-5) and E. Stroudsburg’s Luke DeLuise (3-3).
 
197:  Gone from this weight class are 3-time champion and 2012 NCAA runner-up Chris Honeycutt (Edinboro) and 2-time champion and 2010 OW Alex Thomas (Clarion). The door is wide open for Bloomsburg’s #19 Richard Perry (11-1) to take the title after finishing third in 2011. Clarion’s Justin Ortega (8-4), a transfer from Penn State, could get to the finals along with Edinboro’s Warren Busch (6-3), Kutztown’s Vinny Campanile (8-2), who was 5th here last year and ESU’s Tyson Searer (4-2). Also looking to place are LH’s Phil Spremkle (3-6), Millersville’s Joel Sutter (5-4) and Gannon’s Kris Rahn (5-4).
 
285: Heavyweight will be an extremely competitive weight class this year with Edinboro’s #15 Ernest James (6-2) back as the defending champion, who also was second in 2010,  and Bloomsburg’s #19 Justin Grant (8-0). Grant was a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier in 2012. Also back is 2010 PSAC champion and 2011 runner-up Harry Turner (10-4) of Lock Haven. Turner lost to James by fall in the finals last year, but decisioned James 7-3 in the finals in 2010. Clarion’s Phil Catrucco (9-5) is hoping to place high, while Kutztown’s Ziad Haddad (7-0) is undefeated this year, while Mercyhurst’s Brad Ladd (4-2) and Joe Blades (1-1) of ESU are capable.