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Bloomsburg Gearing Up for EWL Championships

BLOOMSBURG—Bloomsburg University will be host of the 29th Annual Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships to be held March 6th and 7th, 2004 at Nelson Field House. This will be Bloomsburg's fifth time hosting the championships. The last time the EWL Championships were at Bloomsburg was 1996 when the Huskies finished fifth.

The EWL championships are an NCAA Division I qualifying tournament where 37 EWL wrestlers will go on to compete at the NCAA Division I national championships. The eight EWL members that make up the league are Bloomsburg, Clarion, Cleveland State, Edinboro, Lock Haven, University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Tickets are now on sale for the championship and can be purchased by calling the Huskies ticket office at 570-389-4371. Cost for the All-Session tickets are $25 adult general admission and $15 student general admission.

The Huskies have been very successful in the EWL, both individually and as a team. Individually, wrestlers have won 36 titles, while as a team, the Huskies won the EWL championship in both 1981 and 1993.

In 1981, Bloomsburg captured its first ever EWL team championship when the Huskies held off Clarion by five points to win the team title. Going into the tournament, Bloomsburg was seen as the underdog because of injury problems and other disappointments they had earlier in the season. They also entered the tournament without a heavyweight competitor. But that didn't hold the Huskies back and they proved that with four first place finishes by Todd Cummings (118), Ed Fiorvanti (126), Don Reese (134), and Tom Fiorvanti (150) who also all qualified for the NCAA Division I championship along with Al McCollum (142). “This team was hard-working and a very close team. The addition of Eddie Fiorvanti gave us very solid lightweights.” former coach Roger Sanders said.

In 1993, twelve years after its last win at the EWL championships, Bloomsburg edged out Lock Haven 107.75 points to 104.50 points. “This was another team effort where everyone contributed” Sanders said. The Huskies had place winners in all but one weight class, including two first place finishes by Brad Rozanski at 126 pounds and Chad Bailey at 150 pounds, who also went on to win the honor of Freshmen of the Year. The Huskies qualified a school-record eight wresters for the national championships that year. That same year Bloomsburg also won the Dual Meet Championship along with Lock Haven.

Over the years Bloomsburg has seen some outstanding wrestlers compete in the EWL Championships, including 15 who went on to be NCAA Division I All-Americans. Some memorable wrestlers include Ricky and Rocky Bonomo. Ricky was a three-time NCAA, EWL and PSAC champion wrestling at 118 pounds and had a record of 116-12-3, third best in school history. Rocky was also a talented wrestler on the mat winning three EWL and PSAC Championships with a record of 100-19, fourth best in school history. Rocky is now the head coach of Lock Haven's wrestling team.

Another one of Bloomsburg's finest is Don Reese. Reese is the only Bloomsburg wrestler to win four consecutive Eastern Wrestling League titles. He won twice at 126 pounds and twice again at 134 pounds. He was a runner up at the NCAA Division I finals where he also earned All-American honors. He also was named Wrestler of the Year in 1982 at the EWL tournament. He has the best record in Bloomsburg history with 126-22-4. Dave Morgan was also a standout on the mat for the Huskies. He was a four-time NCAA qualifier along with being a two-time EWL and PSAC champion. Morgan finished his career at Bloomsburg with an overall record of 127-26-6.

Bloomsburg also holds three of the ten fastest tournament falls, more than any other school. Mel Sharp had one of the fastest falls ever at 0:18 in 1979 wrestling at heavyweight, while Al McCollum had a pin in 0:36 in 1981 at 142 pounds, and Leszek Radon with 0:39 in 1977 wrestling at 177 pounds.