Huskies Compete at EWL Tournament

EDINBORO- The Bloomsburg University wrestling team wrapped up day one at the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships qualifying two athletes for the NCAA Championships in Oklahoma City, OK in Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) and Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy).

The Huskies are currently in fourth place with 67 points, while West Virginia is in fist with West Virginia is in first with 89.5 points and Edinboro has 87 points.

Sees started off the round with a win in the 125-pound semifinals, getting a pin at the 3:37 mark against Cleveland State's Joe Wornoff. Spaid also got a pin, his second of the day, advancing to the finals after a fall over Lock Haven's Tim Meyers at the 1:42 mark in the match.

Ricky Donald (Millville/Bloomsburg) fell to first-ranked and top-seeded Shawn Bunch of Edinboro in a 12-3 major decision. Despite three escapes in the match, Bunch had five takedowns to win the bout, advancing to the title match.

At 141 pounds, Brad Forbes (Downingtown/Downingtown) fell in his semifinal match-up to seventh-ranked Ron Tarquinio of Pittsburgh. Tarquinio tallied two takedowns, a reversal and five backpoints in the match for the Panthers.

George Hickman (Wilmington, NC/Riverside) got a win in the first 149-pound consolation round over Clarion's Derrick Smith, 8-4. Hickman scored two takedowns, a reversal and an escape in the win.

In the 157-pound bracket, Aric Fuhrman (Spring Grove/Delone Catholic) had the most exciting match of the night, nearly upsetting second-ranked Matt Lebe of West Virginia. Fuhrman, trailing 5-6 in the third period, got an escape with a minute left in the bout, eventually sending the match into overtime. After a scramble in the overtime period, it appeared that Fuhrman had a takedown to get the win, but Lebe reversed the move, getting a takedown with 21 seconds remaining to advance to the title match.

At 174 pounds, Bertulis fell to West Virginia's Kurt Brenner, 10-6 in the semifinal match. Trailing 8-4 after the first period, Brenner scored another takedown en route to the win for the Mountaineers.

In the 184-pound consolation match-ups, Nate Shirk (Middleburg/Middleburg) won a 10-4 decision over Clarion's Dominic Ross. Shirk took an early 4-2 lead going into the second and scored another takedown in the middle period. In the final two minutes, Shirk scored another three points and earned a point for riding time to advance to the consolation semifinals.

Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin) lost a tough 2-1 match to first-seeded Joe Fendone at 197 pounds. After exchanging escapes in the match, Fendone won the bout on 1:41 of riding time.

Tournament action will resume Sunday morning at 10 a.m. with the consolation rounds followed by the championship matches at the 4 p.m. session.

EDINBORO - The Bloomsburg University wrestling team recorded four wins in the opening rounds of the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships. The Huskies are currently in third place with 39 team points, while 17th-ranked Edinboro is in first with 50 points and West Virginia is in second with 48.5 points.

Ricky Donald (Millville/Bloomsburg) got the day off to a good start for the Huskies with a 7-2 win over Lock Haven's Casey More. Following a scoreless first period, Donald scored a takedown in the closing seconds of the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the third period, after selecting the defensive position, Donald got a reversal with 1:25 left to take a 4-0 lead. Ten seconds later, Moore got a reversal of his own, cutting the lead to two. After Donald got an escape with 55 seconds left, he scored his final two points on a takedown with eight seconds left in the match. Donald is now 2-0 against Moore this season, having beaten him 3-2 in the Huskies' dual-match win over Lock Haven.

At 141 pounds, Brad Forbes (Downingtown/Downingtown) got a 7-5 decision over Clarion's Greg Lewis, giving Forbes a 3-0 mark against the Golden Eagle this season. In the first, Forbes took a 4-0 lead after a takedown and two backpoints, followed by an escape in the second period. In the final two minutes, despite an escape and a takedown from Lewis, Forbes held on, advancing to the semifinals against Pittsburgh's Ron Tarquinio. Tarquinio beat Forbes in the Huskies' dual-match win over Pittsburgh at the start of the year in a 2-1 decision.

George Hickman (Wilmington, NC/Riverside) dropped a tight 5-3 match to West Virginia's David Jauregui. After a scoreless first period, Hickman scored on an escape to take an early 1-0 lead in the second. At the 1:06 mark in the period, Jauregui took the lead with a takedown, followed by another Hickman escape to tie the match. In the third period, Jauregui scored three-straight points on an escape from the defensive position, followed by a takedown with 27 seconds remaining in the match. Despite his third escape of the bout, Hickman was unable to get another takedown in the match.

In the 157-pound bracket, Aric Fuhrman (Spring Grove/Delone Catholic) avenged a loss from earlier in the season with an 11-1 major decision win over Cleveland State's Victer Crenshaw. Earlier in the season, in the Huskies' dual-match win over Cleveland State, Fuhrman dropped a 7-3 decision to Crenshaw. Fuhrman took an early 4-0 lead in the first, scoring a takedown and two backpoints. In the second, he built on the lead with an escape, leading 5-0 to start the final period. Crenshaw scored his lone point of the match on an escape from the defensive position with 54 seconds remaining, but Fuhrman got an escape with eight seconds left and earned two backpoints to seal the win. His final point came on riding time.

Frank Beasley (Oden, IL/Centralia) fell in the opening round to West Virginia's Larry Hall, 6-3. Hall scored an early takedown at the 2:35 mark, followed by two backpoints, owning a 4-0 lead after the first period. In the second, Beasley scored an escape, which was followed up by another Hall takedown. Beasley scored his second escape of the match in the closing seconds of the second. In the final period, Beasley rode out on the top position, but was unable to score any backpoints.

In the 184-pound quarterfinals, Nate Shirk (Middleburg/Middleburg) dropped a 4-3 decision on a last-second takedown to Pittsburgh's Kyle Deliere. Shirk owned a 2-1 lead after the first period, scoring on a takedown, while Deliere scored his point on an escape. In the second, Shirk got an escape of his own from the defensive position, taking a 3-1 lead heading into the final two minutes. Deliere cut the lead to one after an escape three seconds into the period. With the match winding down, Deliere got the bout win with a takedown with three seconds remaining to advance to the semifinals.

Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) recorded his sixth pin of the season against Lock Haven's Tim Meyers in the heavyweight bracket. Spaid, seeded first in the tournament, scored an early takedown in the first period, then turned Meyers to get the pin at the 2:24 mark in the match. The meeting was the second between the two this season, as Spaid also pinned Meyers in the Husies' dual-match win over Lock Haven.

In tonight's semifinals, Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) , Jim Bertulis (Aston/Garnett Valley) and Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin) will all be in action after first-round byes. Fourtheenth-ranked and first-seeded Sees will face Cleveland State's Joe Wornoff at 125 pounds, while second-seeded Bertulis will face West Virginia's Kurt Brenner in the 174-pound bracket. At 197 pounds, Hasseman, seeded third, will wrestle top-seeded Joe Fendone from Edinboro.