KUTZTOWN - East Stroudsburg University's Brandon Mihalko finished second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships Saturday for the highest conference finish by an ESU freshman in 16 years.

The last time the Warriors had a freshman finish as well was in 1986 when Jack Cuvo took runner-up honors at 118 pounds. Cuvo went on to win three conference titles and two NCAA Division I crowns later in his career.

Mihalko, the second seed at 165 pounds, lost in the championship match to top-seeded and nationally-ranked Matt King of team champion Edinboro, 10-4. King scored four takedowns, including two in the last period to break open a 5-2 match. King was ranked 13th in the nation in this week's InterMat national poll.

The loss broke a eight-match winning streak for the former PIAA runner-up from Bethlehem Liberty High School and left his season record at 16-4.

In the semi-finals, Mihalko downed Chris Haines of Lock Haven, 13-9, rallying from an early 4-1 deficit and then winning the match with two third-period takedowns.

"Brandon showed in the tournament that he has the potential to be a championship wrestler in the conference during his career," said Angelo Borzio, ESU coach. "He wrestled really well in the semis, coming from behind to win, and then in the finals, he just didn't do as well as he is capable although you have to realize he was competing against a nationally-ranked wrestler."

The Warriors had four other place-winners with Brad Kleckner third at 141 pounds and Keith Kleckner, 149; Matt Dudeck, 157, and Dan Roy, 184, fourth. All four lost one-sided matches in the championship semi-finals and then scored victories in the consolation semis.

Brad Kleckner, now 12-4, defeated Adam Castner of Bloomsburg, 13-6, in the consolation finals to place in the conference for the third straight year. He had been third two years ago and fifth last season.

Edinboro had three individual champions and edged defending champion Lock Haven, 147-141, to win the team title. The Fighting Scots' Josh Koscheck won his fourth straight PSAC title at 174 pounds and was named the tournament's outstanding wrestler.

ESU placed sixth of the nine schools with 62 1/2 points.

Team Scoring: Edinboro (Ed) 147, Lock Haven (LH) 141, Clarion (Cl) 101.5, Millersville (Mi) 78.5, Bloomsburg (B) 66, East Stroudsburg (ES) 62.5, Slippery Rock (SR) 56.5, Kutztown (K) 55.5, Shippensburg (Sh) 12.

125- Trap McCormack (LH) dec. Shawn Bunch (ED) 10-7

133- Cory Ace (ED) dec. Rad Martinez (CL) 6-5

141- Mike Maney (LH) dec. Chad Caros (ED) 7-1

149- James Lavalle (LH) dec. Brad Cieleski (SR) 7-3

157- JaMarr Billman (LH) dec. Ryan Yates (ED) 8-3

165- Matt King (ED) dec. Brandon Mihalko (ES) 10-4

174- Josh Koscheck (ED) dec. Ed Pawlak (LH) 8-2

184- Josh Millard (LH) maj. dec. Justin Johnson (BL) 15-5

197- Eric Mausser (CL) dec. Dave Shunamon (ED) 4-3

HWT- John Testa (CL) dec. Josh Pearce (ED) 10-4

141 - Brad Kleckner lost by technical fall to Chad Caros (Ed), 17-1, in semi-finals. Consolations - dec. Derek Sola (Mi), 2-2, TB; dec. Adam Castner (B), 13-6. Third Place

149 - Keith Kleckner lost to James Lavalle (LH), 7-0; in semi-finals. Consolations - dec. Shawn Blanchard (Mi), 7-1; lost to Dominic Surra (Cl). 9-3. Fourth Place

157 - Matt Dudeck lost by technical fall to JaMarr Billman (LH), 24-6 (6:57) in semi-finals; Consolations - Chris Jacobs (K), 1:52; lost to Jeremy Reitz (Cl), 3-2. Fourth Place.

165 - Brandon Mihalko dec. Chris Haines (LH), 13-9, in semi-finals; lost to Matt King (Ed), 10-4, in finals. Second Place.

174 - Dan Roy lost to Ed Pawlak (LH), 14-4, in semi-finals. Consolations - Curtis Yeager (Mi.), 10-3; lost to Todd Schuchert (Cl), 10-4. Fourth Place.

184 - Anthony Petrock lost to Marcus Surin (Cl), 6-0. Eliminated

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