Wrestling Team Preparing for EWL Championships

BLOOMSBURG- The Bloomsburg University wrestling team will compete for the 34th annual Eastern Wrestling League championship on Saturday, March 7 at the Lock Haven University. Action gets underway at 10 a.m. with the opening rounds. Session II will begin at 5 p.m. and will feature the consolation bracket semi-finals, while session III will start at 7 p.m. and feature the championship finals.

The Huskies, 9-7, during the regular season, will be looking to improve on last year's fourth place finish.

"I am anxious and excited for the EWL's," said coach John Stutzman. "We have been off for two weeks and are getting healthy and ready to compete. The expectations are always the same. We want our 10 guys to wrestle hard and expect that all 10 will come away with titles. If we compete with a high level of intensity and we do the right things from a tactical standpoint we should be good. Our weights are good, and we are wrestling better now than all year."

Matt Moley

"The toughest weights in our league from a performance perspective is at 157 with two division 1 All-Americans (BU's Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring-Ford) and Edinboro's Gregor Gillespie) and another top 33 guy in Hadley Harrsion," said Stutzman. "Also the 165 pound weight class is a really strong weight for the EWL as well as the heavy weight division. At 125 there are four guys ranked nationally in the country so to me this is a improving but young league right now."

The NCAA has instituted a new format for determining participants for the national championships in St. Louis. There will be a total of 278 automatic-qualifier allocations from the Division I qualifying tournaments, including 22 for the EWL. Following the qualifying tournaments the NCAA will name 52 additional "at-large" qualifiers the week before the March 19-21 tournament. These at-large qualifiers will be in addition to the 278 automatic qualifiers. The NCAA plan is to have 33 wrestlers in each weight class at the 2009 national championships.

Stutzman said he is not sure yet on how the new system will work out. "As far as the new qualifying system goes, I am not sure yet on how it work out for the Bloomsburg and the EWL," Stutzman said. "I do know as a league we have to step up and wrestle the best competition to earn bids for our league and grow our fan base.

Here is a breakdown of the Huskies weight-by-weight.

125-Ian Moser (Dover, DE/Caesar Rodney)...Moser is ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division I Wrestling Coaches Panel ranking and posted a record of 20-11 during, including a mark of 3-4 against nationally ranked wrestlers. Moser was third at the Michigan State Open, the Body Bar Invitational and the PSAC championships.

Jason Guffey

133-Jason Guffey (Muncy/Warrior Run)...Guffey comes into the tournament with a record of 25-14 on the year and was fourth at the Body Bar Invitational, fifth at the Michigan State Open and third at PSAC championships. Guffey was fifth at last year's EWL championships.

141-Ricky Donald (Millville/Millville)...Donald posted a record of 19-14 during the regular season finishing third at the PSAC championships and sixth at the Body Bar Invitational.

George Hickman

149-George Hickman (Castle Hayne, NC/Riverside)...Hickman is ranked 27th in the Coaches Panel rankings. Hickman posted a mark of 22-11 during the season and was second at the PSAC championships and fifth at the Body Invitational. He owns wins this season over nationally-ranked Matt Fittery of Lock Haven and Torsten Gillespie of Edinboro, both wins coming late in the season. Overall, Hickman won his final five matches of the year.

157-Matt Moley...Moley was 28-5 during the season and finished second in this weight class a year ago. Moley is ranked number 10 by the NCAA Coaches Panel and has 18 wins this season by either pin, technical fall or major decision. Against ranked wrestlers, Moley is 6-5 this season. Moley was third at the Michigan State Open, second at the Body Bar Invitational, second at PSACs and second at the Southern Scuffle.

165-Ricky Schmelyun (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs)...Schmelyun leads the Huskies in wins this season with a mark of 29-11, including 15 victories by fall. He is ranked number 21 by the NCAA Coaches Panel. During the season Schmelyun was second at the Body Bar, second at PSACs and fifth at the Southern Scuffle and owns four wins over nationally ranked wrestlers.

174-Nate Graham (Selkirk, NY/Ravena)...Graham posted a record of 17-14 during the season and won the PSAC championship. Graham finished strong for the Huskies winning his final four matches of the season.

184-Brian Shaw (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg)...Shaw compiled a record of 12-18 on the season with two pins and two major decisions.

197-Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin)...Hasseman, who was fourth at 184 pounds last year, has moved a weight class this season. He posted a record of 10-17 on the season and won three of his final five matches.

285-Zac Walsh (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls)...Walsh has wrestled hard all season and suffered six losses by four points or less during the year.

"As a team I expect to get 10 guys to the NCAA championships," said Stutzman. "If I don't expect that then I am selling my guys out. We want to be the best."

The winner of each weight class gets an automatic bid to the NCAA championships, while the 125 and 133 pound weight classes will both see the top two finishers advance; 141 will have just the winner automatically advance; 149, 157 and 165 will have the top three move on automatically; 174, 184 and 197 will only the winner get an automatic berth; while 285 pounds will see the top four move on.

Watch the EWL Championships Via A Tape Delay Broadcast on the following channels.