ESU Wrestling Drops Three at Lock Haven Duals

December 14, 2008

LOCK HAVEN - Chris Birchler, Shane Mallory and Jeff Jacobs all turned in strong individual performances, but it wasn't enough to give East Stroudsburg University its first dual victory of the season as the Warriors wrestled at the Lock Haven Duals on Sunday.

ESU fell 34-9 to Lock Haven, 32-12 to Rutgers and 24-15 to Drexel in a rematch of the season opener which Drexel won 22-11.

Birchler, the Warriors' junior heavyweight, won all three of his matches by decision. He went undefeated for the second straight day to improve to 8-0 in duals and 13-2 on the season. Birchler was 25-10 as a sophomore in his first year at ESU and has a 38-12 record in his first 50 career matches.

Mallory went 2-1 on the day while facing strong competition in all three of his matches at 197 pounds to run his season record to 10-2. He opened the morning with a 3-2 decision over Lock Haven's Ben Hepburn, the runner-up at the PSAC Championships. Mallory avenged a 5-2 loss to Hepburn in the PSAC semifinals.

He also won a 5-3 decision against Rutgers' Karim Mahmoud, who came in with  7-3 dual record this season. Mallory's only defeat with a 15-5 major decision at the hands of Jon Oplinger, who is ranked No. 9 nationally and didn't compete in the first meeting this year.

Jacobs, a redshirt sophomore, was also 2-1 at 165 pounds with decisions over Lock Haven's Aaron Earnest (7-2) and Drexel's Scott Hunter (8-4). Sophomore Ed Ebewo had a pair of wins at 184, earning a 6-4 decision against Drexel's Shawn Fausey and a medical forfeit in his bout with Rutgers' Mike Cucinotta.

Redshirt senior Scott Heckman notched his second pin of the year when he decked Robbie Robinson of Drexel 1:41 into their bout at 149 pounds. Heckman suffered two losses, to Lock Haven's Matt Fittery (11-3) and Rutgers' David Seidenberg (4-3).

The Warriors are back in action on Dec. 28 and 29 at the Southern Scuffle at UNC Greensboro.


Lock Haven 34, ESU 9
125: Nick Hyatt (LHU) pinned David Luthy, 1:47
133: Billy Ashnault (LHU) won by forfeit
141: Owen Wilkinson (LHU) tech. fall John Menafra, 15-0 (4:40)
149: Matt Fittery (LHU) maj. dec. Scott Heckman, 11-3
157: Dave Richmond (LHU) maj. dec. Jesse Dunn, 12-3
165: Jeff Jacobs (ESU) dec. Aaron Earnest, 7-2
174: Dan Tolbert (LHU) pinned Nick Tetro, 4:32
184: Tom Kocher (LHU) dec. Ed Ebewo, 4-3
197: Shane Mallory (ESU) dec. Ben Hepburn, 3-2
285: Chris Birchler (ESU) dec. Gabe Murtorff, 11-7

Rutgers 32, ESU 12
125: Matt Fusco (RU) maj. dec. David Luthy, 16-5
133: Paul Grogan (RU) won by forfeit
141: David Greenwald (RU) pinned John Menafra, 2:21
149: David Seidenberg (RU) dec. Scott Heckman, 4-3
157: Scott Winston (RU) maj. dec. Jesse Dunn, 18-5
165: Matt Pletcher (RU) dec. Jeff Jacobs, 10-3
174: Mike Whalen (RU) pinned Nick Tetro, 4:53
184: Ed Ebewo (ESU), injury forfeit over Mike Cucinotta
197: Shane Mallory (ESU) dec. Karim Mahmoud, 5-3
285: Chris Birchler (ESU) dec. Dominick Russo, 11-5

Drexel 24, ESU 15
125: Mike Gomez (DU) dec. David Luthy, 11-5
133: Frank Cimato (DU) won by forfeit
141: Matt Dugan (DU) tech. fall John Menafra, 20-4
149: Scott Heckman (ESU) pinned Robbie Robinson, 1:41
157: Billy Haydt (DU) dec. Jesse Dunn,  6-2
165: Jeff Jacobs (ESU) dec. Scott Hunter, 8-4
174: Brian Stouffer (DU) dec. Nick Tetro, 4-1
184: Ed Ebewo (ESU) dec. Shawn Fausey, 6-4
197: Jon Oplinger (DU) maj. dec. Shane Mallory, 15-5
285: Chris Birchler (ESU) dec. Kyle Frey, 4-3

Rutgers 24 - LHU 19__                                       
125: Nick Hyatt, LHU dec. Mike Damarco, RU 5-0__         
133: Billy Ashnault, LHU major dec. Paul Grogan, RU 10-0                             
141: Dave Greenwald, RU, pinned Owen Wilkinson, LHU 3:05__                        
149: Matt Fittery, LHU dec. Dave Seidenberg, RU 8-4__    
157: Scott Winston, RU major dec. Dave Richmond, LHU 14-6__                        
165: Matt Pletcher, RU major dec. Aaron Earnest, LHU 8-0                             
174: Mike Whalen, RU major dec. Dan Tolbert, LHU 16-2_
184: Tom Kocher, LHU won by injury default over Keith Dobish, RU                   
197: Ben Hepburn, LHU dec. Karkim Mahmoud, RU 5-2__    
HWT: Dominick Russo, RU pinned Gabe Murtorff, LHU 3:20

Rutgers 21 - Drexel 15                                        __
125: Matt Fusco, RU dec. Michael Gomez, DU 9-8          __
133: Frank Cimato, DU dec. Mike Demarco, RU 7-5__         
141: David Greenwald, RU pinned Matt Dugan, DU 2:31                             
149: David Seidenburg, RU pinned Robert Robinson, DU 1:42__                        
157: Billy Haydt, DU tech fall Greg Zannetti, RU (2:01)__                                  
165: Matt Pletcher, RU dec. Scott Hunter, DU 7-0               _
174: Mike Whalen, RU dec. Brian Stouffer, DU 7-0          __
184: Justin Wieller, DU dec. Keith Dobish, RU 8-6__         
197: Jon Oplinger, DU dec. Karim Mahmoud, RU 9-5__    
HWT: Dominick Russo, RU dec. Kyle Frey, DU 9-3