Nov. 18, 2007

Contact: Brian McCann

ASHLAND, Ohio. - Marcus Effner and Ryan Hurley won the individual titles and three other Vikings finished in third place as Cleveland State dominated action on Saturday at the Ashland Open.

"We've started this season out pretty fast and today is exactly what we needed to get ready for the start of our dual meet season this week," CSU head coach Jack Effner said. "We were able to get our entire roster a lot of matches, we worked on our game planning and put is in a very good state of mind for our John Carroll meet on Tuesday."

Competing in their third Open tournament in as many weeks, the Vikings dominated, having an individual win no fewer than three matches at each of the nine weight classes.

Effner (165) and Hurley (149), each of whom have qualified for the NCAA Championships during their careers, won all five of their bouts as they claimed the individual titles.

The freshmen class had another outstanding showing with three athletes placing.. Rob Michaels went 3-0 at 157 before falling from the main bracket because of a medical forfeit. He bounced back however to claim third place on a medical forfeit as well.

Freshman Alek Hughes went 3-1 en route to a third place finish at 197 and heavyweight Eric Schwartz went 4-1 in grabbing his bronze medal.

Senior Ryan Riggs won his first three matches at 125 before Effner pulled him from the meet because of injury. "Ryan could have continued, but it wasn't worth risking him getting hurt," Effner said. "He was pretty banged up and honestly, he didn't have anything else he needed to prove."

Junior J.T. Miller suffered an early loss in the open but bounced back to go 5-1 overall to finish in fifth place at 174.

The Vikings placed in six of the nine weight classes. Besides Riggs at 125, junior Antonio Nicholson at 141 and freshman Derek Cummins at 184 wrestled well but failed to place, posting 4-2 marks at their respective weight classes.

The Vikings have little time to rest, returning to action on Tuesday, Nov. 20 when they host John Carroll beginning at 7:00 p.m. in Woodling Gym. The match will serve as the annual Alumni Night with members of prior Vikings squads gathering for a post-match reception.