Nov. 21, 2006

Contact: Josh Rattray

UNIVERSITY HTS., Ohio - Two pins, two major decisions and two decisions early gave Cleveland State a 26-0 lead and the Vikings didn't look back, defeating crosstown John Carroll, 38-3, on Tuesday (Nov. 21) night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center. Junior Mike Hurley (141) and sophomores Marcus Effner (165) and Jeff Schuller (285) registered pins in the victory, which was CSU's only dual meet before the first of the year.

Juniors Ryan Riggs (125) and David Armstrong (133) put CSU up, 6-0, after posting decisions and after an 85-second pin by Mike Hurley, the Vikings led, 12-0.

Two takedowns in the final 1:14 of the third period gave freshman Shaun Mitchell (149) a 10-2 major decision over John Carroll's Greg Elliott to extend the lead to 16-0.

"I'm so proud of our team," head coach Jack Effner said. "We pulled together and beat a very solid team. We wrestled our best tonight."

Two freshmen, Kyle Chittick (174) and Benny Balogh (197) were involved in the meet's most exciting bouts, with Balogh scoring a last-second 11-7 decision with a late takedown and three near-fall points, while Chittick fell, 3-2, JCU's Chris Branchen in double overtime in a match were two of the points he surrendered were on escapes when he was on top.

Junior Ryan Hurley, who normally wrestles at 149 pounds, wrestled up a weight at 157 but it didn't matter, as the junior improved his season record to 9-1 after an 18-6 major decision over Devon Jurczak. The Vikings led, 20-0, after Hurley's bout.

Effner recovered from an early cut over his right eye to pin Steven Bagnowski in 3:34 immediately after Ryan Hurley, setting the stage for Chittick's battle.

Senior David Gilkey (184) scored two late takedowns to win, 10-9, to extend CSU's lead to 29-3 before Balogh's bout made it 32-3, and then sophomore Jeff Schuller (285) finished the Blue Streaks off with a pin in 1:15.

"Our guys came prepared and well conditioned," Effner said. "They earned their Thanksgiving break."

The Vikings will take a breather over the holiday weekend before returning to action on Dec. 3 at the Penn State Open. The tournament is slated for a 9:00 a.m. start.

MATCH RESULTS

125 - Ryan Riggs dec. Elie Naoum - 6-3                                                                3-0 CSU

133 - David Armstrong dec. Adam Pizzuro - 7-1                                                  6-0 CSU

141 - Mike Hurley pinned Dominic Spitalieri (1:25)                                             12-0 CSU

149 - Shaun Mitchell major dec. Greg Elliott - 10-2                                              16-0 CSU

157 - Ryan Hurley major dec. Devon Jurczak - 18-6                                           20-0 CSU

165 - Marcus Effner pinned Steven Bagnowski (3:34)                                        26-0 CSU

174 - Chris Branchen dec. Kyle Chittick - 3-2 (2 OT)                                            26-3 CSU

184 - David Gilkey dec. Ryan Summers - 10-9                                                     29-3 CSU

197 - Benny Balogh dec. John Francis - 11-7                                                       32-3 CSU

285 - Jeff Schuller pinned Tim Lambert (1:15)                                                     38-3 CSU