Nov. 17, 2001

The Cleveland State wrestling squad was back in New York for the Cornell Invitational on Saturday, a week after placing second in the Oklahoma Classic in Brockport. The grapplers finished fourth behind Cornell, Drexel, and Army. The Vikes took the top spot in three weight classes and a second place in another, all without two top wrestlers in Nick Boucher and Phil Mansueto.

Junior co-captain Rocco Mansueto (Middletown, N.Y./Middletown) came in seeded first at 125 pounds and did not disappoint. Last year's NCAA qualifier defeated Cornell's Travis Lee in the finals, 2-1. Mansueto was down, 1-0, late in the match but came back to stun the Cornell crowd.

Junior Gerald Harris (Tulsa, Oklahoma/East Central) took first place honors at 174 pounds. Harris took charge early on and never let up. The 1999 NCAA qualifier pinned Virginia's Steve Mazzola in 1:25 in the first round. In the second round he pinned Ithaca's Jeff Edelstein in 4:20. In the semi-finals Harris grabbed his third-straight pin, this time again Drexel's Ben Chunko in 1:08. In the finals he met top-seeded Jim Stanec of Cornell. After falling behind early, Harris took over the lead in the third period and won, 3-2.

Sophomore Russ Davie (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) also earned first place honors. The heavyweight pinned Army's Bill Baird in 3:57 in the first round. He cruised to the finals and defeated Drexel's Mike Carroll, 4-2, in the finals.

Stipe Miocic (Willowick, Ohio/Eastlake North) earned the top seed in the tournament after winning the Oklahoma Classic last week, but took an overtime loss in the finals to Drexel's Chris Jones, 7-5.

The Vikings will open their dual meet season on Tuesday, November 20, against cross-town rival John Carroll.