Dec. 16, 2007

Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.

Official Results

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Several Vikings placed high at the 2007 CSU Open yesterday, as over 240 competitors from 39 schools converged upon the Woodling Gymnasium for the annual wrestling tournament hosted by Cleveland State.

In all, six Vikings scored top finishes at the open, and were led by second place finishes by Mike Hurley at 141, Robbie Michaels at 157, and Nate Kmetz at 165.

"Our starters did pretty good," said head coach Jack Effner, "it was also good for our younger guys to get a chance to compete."

Senior Mike Hurley made his season debut at Penn State two weeks ago and experienced a bit of a letdown when he lost his first match, eliminating him from the tournament. He certainly made the most of his opportunities Saturday, as he tore through the championship bracket at 141 pounds, scoring three straight victories leading to the championship bout with Penn State's Frank Molinaro. As the matches progressed it appeared that the Nicholson-Hurley matchup that was postponed earlier in the season while Hurley was injured would be contested this day, but it was not to be as Nicholson fell to the eventual champion at 141 in the semi-final round. Nicholson went on to finish fourth in the weight class, capping off a 2-2 day. Meanwhile, Hurley fell to Molinaro in the final bout, capping off his day with a second place finish at 141 pounds.

Also making some noise for the Vikings was Robbie Michaels at 157, who went 5-0 en route to his second place finish. Michaels was dominant leading up to his semi-final matchup, scoring technical falls in his second and third bouts to go along with a 7-3 decision in his fourth before going up against a tough competitor in Eastern Michigan's Marc Hoff. Hoff was able to take Michaels to sudden victory with the match tied at five apiece before Michaels scored two quick points to seal the victory. He took a medical forfeit for the following championship round, and was one of several Vikings who felt the strain of the long day.

"It was just a brutal day," said Coach Effner, "But I always tell these guys that to get tougher you have to do tough things. A day like today is just what we need to get better as we get closer to the meat of our season."

Junior Nate Kmetz went 3-1 on the day in finishing second at 165, running his season total to six victories overall, and surpassing his total from last season. Facing quality competition throughout, Kmetz battled his way through the championship bracket before falling to Niagra's Tyrell Riley in a closely contested 3-2 decision.

Other top finishers for the Vikings included sophomore Shaun Mitchell who went 3-1 on the day in finishing fourth at 149 pounds, and freshman Alek Hughes, who went 2-2 in finishing fourth at 197.

The team takes a break for the holidays before traveling to Evanston, Ill. for the annual Midlands Invitational on Dec. 29-30.

2007 CSU Open Placers

125
1^st place - Ian Moser, Bloomsburg
2^nd place - Carson Beebe, Central Michigan
3^rd place - Jose Matos, Bucknell
4^th place - Josh Testa, Seton Hall
5^th place - Jordan McGuire, Eastern Michigan
6^th place - Josh Williams, Central Michigan

133
1^st place - Darrin Boing, Ohio
2^nd place - Jeff Shutich, Central Michigan
3^rd place - Chris Jenkins, Eastern Michigan
4^th place - Dante Rini, Notre Dame College
5^th place - Matt Ortega, Indiana
6^th place - David Armstrong, Unattached (Cleveland State)

141
1^st place - Frank Molinaro, Penn State
2^nd place - Mike Hurley, Cleveland State
3^rd place - Chris Diaz, Virginia Tech
4^th place - Antonio Nicholson, Cleveland State
5^th place - Adam Koballa, Unattached (Old Dominion)
6^th place - Scott Clymer, Liberty

149
1^st place - Anthony Jones, Michigan State
2^nd place - Matt Reedy, Ohio
3^rd place - JJ Johnson, Eastern Michigan
4^th place - Shaun Mitchell, Cleveland State
5^th place - Corey Phillips, Eastern Michigan
6^th place - Thomas Schwartz, Unattached (Cleveland State)

157
1^st place - Sean Nemec, Ohio State
2^nd place - Robbie Michaels, Cleveland State
3^rd place - Steve Brown, Central Michigan
4^th place - Marc Hoff, Central Michigan
5^th place - Aaron Hynes, Michigan
6^th place - Pete Puckett, Central Michigan

165
1^st place - Tyrell Riley, Niagra Community College
2^nd place - Nathan Kmetz, Cleveland State
3^rd place - James Myers, Kent State
4^th place - Kyle Haddox, Kent State
5^th place - Zoran Lazar, Eastern Michigan
6^th place - Kurt Wolff, Notre Dame College

174
1^st place - Mike Miller, Central Michigan
2^nd place - Mike Benefiel, Northwestern
3^rd place - Shane Riccio, Bucknell
4^th place - Rob Waltko, Bucknell
5^th place - James Lyons, Jamestown Community College
6^th place - Mike Williams, Cal Poly State

184
1^st place - Dustin Kilgore, Kent State
2^nd place - David Thompson, Bucknell
3^rd place - DJ Bruce, Virginia Tech
4^th place - Matt Powless, Indiana
5^th place - Ben Adams, John Carroll
6^th place - Ian Hinton, Michigan State

197
1^st place - Hafeez Qureshi, Central Michigan
2^nd place - John Taylor, Niagra Community College
3^rd place - Octavius Bellamy, Unattached
4^th place - Alek Hughes, Cleveland State
5^th place - Vince Didona, Central Michigan
6^th place - Tyler Dickenson, Michigan State

285
1^st place - Rashard Goff, Unattached (Cleveland State)
2^nd place - Clayton Jack, Oregon State
3^rd place - Brendan Barlow, Kent State
4^th place - Jarod Trice, Central Michigan
5^th place - Andy Hartshorn, Ohio
6^th place - Jesse Campbell, Ohio State