ESU/EIWA Championships

PHILADELPHIA - Brad Kleckner (141) and Matt Dudeck (157) scored East Stroudsburg University’s only victories, but the Warriors’ Kevin Rake (133) came close to major upset on the first day of the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Championships Saturday at the University of Pennsylvania’s Palestra.

Kleckner, the eighth seed, won by technical fall over Ted Seemuller of Franklin and Marshall, 16-1 in 3:16, in the first round, but then lost to third-seeded Joe Clarke of Princeton, 17-4, in the quarter-finals.

Dudeck scored a mild upset, surprising eighth-seeded Frank Edwards of Navy, 4-2, in overtime in the first round before losing to top-seeded Ryan Bernholz of Lehigh, 4-0, in the quarters.

Rake had a lead on third-seeded Jeff Eveleth of Penn heading into the last 30 seconds of their first-round match, but Eveleth caught him for a takedown and a three-point near fall and an 8-6 victory. The ESU sophomore from Pocono Mountain High School then bowed to sixth-seeded Steve Popovitch of Columbia, 6-2, in the consolations and was eliminated from the tournament.

Only one other ESU wrestler competed in the quarter-finals as Marc Bauknecht, eighth seeded at 285 pounds, had a bye in the first round but then lost a major decision to top-seeded Dawid Rechul of Army, 8-0.

The Warriors have seven wrestlers still alive in the consolations, battling back for third place and a chance to gain a berth in the NCAA Wrestling Championships March 15-17 at the University of Iowa. The finalists at each weight class plus ten wild cards will advance to the nationals.

Kleckner will face an unseeded wrestler, Kyle Bernholz of Penn in his first consolation match. If he wins, he then will probably take on seventh-seeded Tom Wysocki of Rutgers with the winner guaranteed a place in the top six. Another win would likely send the ESU junior against fifth-seeded Tom Waldron of Cornell with the winner making the consolation finals.

Bauknecht also will face an unseeded wrestler, Buck McLamb of Cornell in the consolations. His path to a top-six finish will be difficult, however, as fourth-seeded Shawn Laughlin of Lehigh would be his next opponent.

Dudeck has unseeded Jon Bunt in the Princeton in the consolations with the winner expected to take on fifth-seeded Shane Engle-Folks of Rutgers.

Also still alive for ESU are Shawn Smith (165), Dan Roy (174), Dan Madonna (184) and Andy Sheaffer (197). Roy had a close loss in his first match, bowing to seventh-seeded Justin Haskins of Rutgers, 3-2.

The Warriors scored 3 ½ points and are 12th of the 14 teams in the team standings. Host Penn leads the scoring with 62 ½ points and eight semi-finalists. Defending champion Lehigh is second with 51 ½ points and has advanced six wrestlers to the semis. Next are Harvard 46 ½ with five semi-finalists, Cornell 42 ½ with six and Rutgers 39 ½ with four.

Competition will begin today at 11 a.m. with the semi-finals and consolation matches. The finals are scheduled tonight at 7 p.m.

Team Scoring: Penn 62 ½, Lehigh 51 ½, Harvard 46 ½, Cornell 42 ½, Rutgers 39 ½, Navy 29 ½, Princeton 27, Brown 22, Arm,y 19 ½, Bucknell 13 ½, Columbia 4 ½, ESU 3 ½, Syracuse 2 ½., Franklin and Marshall 0

How ESU Wrestlers Did:

125 – No Entry

133 – Kevin Rake lost to Jeff Eveleth, Penn (third seed), 8-6; lost to Steve Popovitch, Columbia (sixth seed), 6-2. Eliminated

141 – Brad Kleckner (sixth seed) won by technical fall over Ted Seemuller, Franklin and Marshall, 16-1, 3:16; lost to Joe Clarke, Princeton (third seed), 17-4; will face Kyle Bernholz, Penn

149 – No Entry

157 – Matt Dudeck dec. Frank Edwards, Navy (eighth seed), 4-2, sv; lost to Ryan Bernholz, Lehigh (first seed), 5-0; will face Jon Bunt, Princeton

165 – Shawn Smith lost major decision to Bryon Lauer, Rutgers (seventh seed), 14-6; will face Michael Barikian, Navy

174 – Dan Roy lost to Justin Haskins, Rutgers (seventh seed), 3-2; will face P.J. Jones, Harvard (eighth seed)

184 – Dan Madonna was pinned by Graig Cooper, Army (eighth seed), 4:48; will face

Jim Letchford, Navy (seventh seed)

197 – Andy Sheaffer was pinned by Rick Romereo (Rutgers), 4:30; will face Craig Powell, Brown (eighth seed)

285 – Marc Bauknecht (eighth seed) had a bye; loses to Dawid Rechul, Harvard (first seed), 8-0; will face Buck McLamb (Cornell)