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Freshmen Pace Bloomsburg to Fifth Place Finish at EWL Championships

BLOOMSBURG—The Bloomsburg University wrestling team finished fifth at this year's Eastern Wrestling League Championships held at Bloomsburg's Nelson Field House and in the process qualified two wrestlers for the NCAA Championships held later this month in St. Louis, Missouri. The Huskies finished with 79 team points , missing by1.5 points from overtaking fourth place Cleveland State. Edinboro and West Virginia shared this year's team title with 99.5 points apiece while the University of Pittsburgh took third with 97.5. The Huskies improved on last year's 44 point, eighth place showing at the championships.

Two Bloomsburg freshmen qualified for this month's Division I National Championships. Bryan Hart (Easton/Easton), Bloomsburg's 133 pounder, won his opening match 8-0 on Saturday before falling in the second session to the eventual champion, 6-4. Hart won his consolation semifinal 4-2 over Lock Haven's Dave Predko on Sunday. Hart then pinned West Virginia's Seth Lisa in overtime in 7:42 to qualify for nationals.

In the 141 pound weight class, Scott Heckman (Bangor/Bangor) lost his opening match on Saturday, 17-3. He came back strong on Saturday night, pinning Virginia Tech's Aaron Brown in 2:41. He then advanced over Edinboro's Ron Doppelheuer, due to injury default. Heckman faced Cleveland State's Anthony Coleman for the right to go to the nationals. The freshman responded, defeating Coleman, 13-8, earning a trip to St. Louis.

The Huskies also got a huge lift in the 285 pound weight class from Ryan Chulada (Honesdale/Honesdale). Chulada, wrestling up from his normal 174-pound weight class, pinned West Virginia's Lanfer Simpson in 2:28. After losing a 10-2 major decision to Edinboro's Joe Hennis on Saturday, Chulada came back strong to defeat Pittsburgh's Travis Shirley, 6-4. Chulada, however, fell in the third place consolation, 19-4, to Clarion's Matt Wilcox. Chulada ended the tournament with an impressive fourth place finish.

The Huskies also had four, fifth place finishers in this year's tournament. Freshman Brian Sellers (Pennsbury/Pennsbury) took fifth in the 125-pound weight class after a forfeit while Brad Forbes (Downingtown/Downingtown) defeated Reed Carpenter of Virginia Tech, 5-3 to finish fifth at 149 pounds. Jim Bertulis (Aston/Garnet Valley) also picked up a fifth place finish for the Huskies in the 174-pound weight class, defeating Eric Mullen of West Virginia, 4-1. Rounding out Bloomsburg's fifth place finishers was Chad Hoare (Reynoldsville/Dubois) who defeated Edinboro's Mike Lebella 6-0 at 197 pounds.

Josh Loew (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin) and Nate Shirk (Paxtonville/Middleburg), two of five Bloomsburg freshmen, also placed at this year's EWL's. Both Loew and Shirk finished sixth in the tournament for the Huskies. Loew won his 157-pound consolation quarterfinal bout over Eric Ring, 4-3, before losing two consecutive matches to take sixth. Shirk won his opening match in the 184-pound weight class over Mike Croyle of Pittsburgh before falling to eventual EWL Champion Greg Jones of West Virginia. Shirk then dropped his next two matches to finish sixth in the tournament.

In total, Bloomsburg placed nine out of ten wrestlers, tied for the most of any team.

Heckman and Hart will continue their road to gold when they travel to St Louis to square off in the Division I National Championships on March 18-20.