2007 PSAC Wrestling Championship Preview

For the first time in 9 years, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Wrestling championships make a visit to Bloomsburg University.

Eight teams and 80 wrestlers will be doing battle at Nelson Field House for the 64th annual PSAC championship this Saturday, Jan. 27.

Action gets underway at 10am Saturday with two rounds of championship matches and a consolation round. Round two begins at Noon with semifinals, followed by two rounds of consolation bouts. The championship finals, which will include matches for third and fifth place, will begin at 6pm.

All Session passes for adults ($12) and students ($3), as well as individual session tickets for adults ($7) and students ($2) will be available at the door.

A championship steeped in great tradition, the PSAC Championship will feature the return of seven individual champions, including one wrestler who is looking to make history with his fourth PSAC title.

From a team standpoint, Edinboro, which won the Virginia Duals earlier in the month, goes into the championship wearing the tag of "favorite". The Fighting Scots, who won the Duals with a win over Big-10 power Penn State, feature four returning PSAC champions in Gregor Gillespie, Deonte Penn, Alex Clemsen and Joe Fendone (who will wrestle at heavyweight this year). Ranked ninth in the Intermat/NWCA poll (as of Jan. 17); Edinboro has won four of the last five PSAC titles with only Bloomsburg interrupting the run back in the 2004-05 season.

The host school for the PSAC championships, the Bloomsburg Huskies, will feature two returning PSAC champions in its lineup in Mike Sees and Mike Spaid. The Huskies, who were second a year ago, will be looking to return to the top of the standings in front of their home fans.

Lock Haven, third a year ago at the PSAC championships, has one returning champion in its lineup in Seth Martin. He will try and lead the Bald Eagles back to the top of the PSAC for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

Weight by Weight Review

125-Bloomsburg's Mike Sees, the defending champion at this weight and ranked 13th, sports a record of 20-3 on the year. He will be battling it out with 2005 champion Obenson Blanc of Lock Haven, ranked seventh, who comes into the event with a record of 20-4. Toby Seger of Clarion could also earn All-PSAC honors.

133-A wide-open weight class here with no returning champion. Edinboro's Ricky Deubel, runner-up last year at 125, is ranked 18th and is 17-9 on the year leads the strong field. Also look for Kutztown's Joe Kemmerer, 19-2 and ranked eighth in Division II, along with Danny Lopes of Lock Haven at 22-8, to be among the contenders here. Others to watch out for include Bloomsburg's Ricky Donald, Steve Fittery of Shippensburg and Sal Lascari of Clarion.

141- Another weight class without a returning champion among those who should contend here are Daryl Cocozzo of Edinboro, Greg Lewis of Clarion, Sean Carr of East Stroudsburg and Darren Kern of Bloomsburg.

149-Gregor Gillespie of Edinboro is the defending champ at this weight and is the favorite to repeat. On the year Gillespie is 24-1 and is ranked fifth according to Intermat. Looking to the pull the upset at this weight would be Kutztown's Chris Chambers, ranked seventh in Division II, who is 17-6 on the year; while Bloomsburg's Matt Moley is 18-6 and Matt Fittery from Lock Haven at 7-2 are the other guys who could surprise here.

157-A showdown could be looming at this weight class between defending champ Seth Martin from Lock Haven and last year's runner-up Matt Hill. Martin is ranked eighth by Intermat and is 25-3 on the season, while Hill is ranked 11th and is 22-1 this year. Hill's lone loss this year is to Martin, while Martin suffered one of his three defeats to Hill earlier. Should those two have a misstep along the way, Jared Hostetter of Millersville and Dennis Bermudez of Bloomsburg will be waiting in the wings.

165-Deonte Penn of Edinboro is the defending champion at this weight. Penn is ranked eighth by Intermat and has a mark of 23-2 this season. He recently notched his 100th career win and is the school's all-time leader in pins with 44. Behind Penn look for Ricky Schmelyun of Bloomsburg and Dom Ross of Clarion to battle it out for a spot in the top three.

174-This weight class could be another wide open affair with no returning champion. Edinboro's Phil Moricone could be considered the favorite going in with his ranking of 20th by Intermat and a record of 18-6. Also, look for Mike Metzger of Lock Haven to challenge at this weight.

184-We could see some PSAC history made at this weight as Edinboro's Alex Clemsen looks to become just the 14th wrestler in PSAC history to be crowned champion four times. Clemsen, ranked ninth by Intermat, is 24-2 on the year. Looking to challenge Clemsen and deny him a spot among the four-time champs will be Nate Shirk of Bloomsburg, Tom Kocher of Lock Haven and Roy Gecelosky of Lock Haven.

197-Defending champ Joe Fendone of Edinboro has moved up to 285 leaving this weight up for grabs. Look for either Edinboro's Jim Gibson or Pat Bradshaw to lead the field here.

285-Bloomsburg's Mike Spaid, 22-5 on the year, is the defending champion here and is ranked 10th by Intermat. He will be challenged by Fendone who is 19-5 this season, while A.J. Brooks of Clarion could also make it to the podium.

All Intermat rankings are as of Jan. 17, 2007; All D-II Rankings are as of Jan. 10, 2007