Matt Moley Wins EWL Championship; Named OW

Matt Moley

LOCK HAVEN--Bloomsburg University wrestler Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring-Ford) won the 157-pound Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championship on Saturday and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler (OW) and three Huskies qualified for the NCAA Division I championships at 2009 EWL championships. Moley along with George Hickman (Castle Hayne, NC/Riverside) and Ian Moser (Dover, DE/Caesar Rodney) earned automatic berths to the NCAA championships in St. Louis in two weeks.

As a team, the Huskies finished third with 88.5 points, its best finish since taking first back in 1993.

Matt Moley (L)

Bruce Baumgartner (R)

Moley claimed his first EWL championship with his first-ever win over top-ranked Gregor Gillespie. Moley had been 0-9 lifetime against the Edinboro wrestler. Moley also qualified for the NCAA championships for the third straight season. A year ago he finished eighth at 157 pounds earning All-American honors.

Moley opened the tournament by pinning Ollie Underwood of Lock Haven in 2:17, then, knocked off Hadley Harrison of Clarion, 3-1 in the semi-finals. In the finals he posted an 8-5 win over Gillespie handing Gillespie his first loss of the season after 37 wins and also prevented him from becoming the just the sixth EWL wrestler in history to win four EWL titles.

Moley set the stage with a takedown just ten seconds into the match, and would add another for a 4-1 lead after one period. He would add a third takedown in the second period, and while Gillespie would rally, Moley went on to post the 8-5 win.

"Matt finally went out and attacked Gillespie from the start and that set the tone for the rest of the match," said Huskies coach John Stutzman. "That was as good as he has wrestled all year."

Hickman had a bye in the semi-finals and beat Greg Lewis of Clarion 6-1 to advance to the championship match. In the finals he lost to Matt Fittery of Lock Haven by a score of 4-2, but still earned his first trip to the NCAA championships.

"I am pleased for George," said Stutzman. "He has worked very hard this year and this is a nice way for him to go out."

Moser took third after opening the tournament with a loss. Moser dropped a 5-2 decision to Jay Ivanco of Clarion, then came back to beat Chris Albright of Pitt, 3-1; then earned a win by major decision over Nick Hyatt of Lock Haven, 16-8.

In addition to those three placewinners, Nate Graham (Selkirk, NY/Ravena) at 174 finished third; Jason Guffey (Muncy/Warrior Run) at 133, Ricky Donald (Millville/Millville) at 141 and Jesse Hasseman (Franklin, IN/Franklin) at 197 all finished fourth. Taking fifth were Ricky Schmelyun (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs) at 165 and heavyweight Zac Walsh (Denville, NJ/Morris Knolls) both took fifth.

Bloomsburg Weight-by-Weight

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