Nov. 20, 2007

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State won nine of 10 matches, including back-to-back pins by 149-pounder Ryan Hurley and 157-pounder Rob Michaels, to claim a 34-3 victory over John Carroll in nonconference wrestling action on Tuesday night in Woodling Gym.

"I was confident coming into the match because our guys have been working so hard and we have faced some great competition early in the season," head coach Jack Effner said. "I knew that if we stayed solid and wrestled well that we would be fine."

The Vikings raced out to a quick 9-0 lead with three consecutive decisions to open the match. Ryan Riggs got things started at 125 pounds with an 8-2 win over Elie Naoum as he recorded a takedown in each period. Josh Palivoda kept the Vikings on a roll with a 7-1 victory over Adam Pizzurro, while Antonio Nicholson gave CSU a 9-0 advantage as he held on for a 4-3 win over Dominic Spitalieri. Nicholson had an early takedown and near fall, before Spitalieri made things interesting with a late takedown.

"It was important for us to get off to a good start tonight and the early part of our lineup really responded," Effner said. "John Carroll has a good team and some guys with some experience at this dual so getting out of the gates quickly was a big boost for us."

The Vikings put the match out of reach as Hurley and Michaels posted back-to-back pins with Hurley using a cement mixer for a quick pin of Dan Mizener in 1:01. Michaels extended the CSU advantage to 21-0 as he posted a pair of early takedowns before pinning Tyler Mickley with six seconds left in the first period.

Marcus Effner used eight takedowns at 165 pounds to earn a major decision and push the CSU lead to 25-0 and JT Miller earned CSU's seventh straight victory, 5-2, over Devon Jurczak at 174 pounds.

Ben Adams got the Blue Streaks on the board with an 8-2 triumph over Benny Balogh, but the Vikings came back to win the final two matches of the night with Alek Hughes earning a 5-2 win over Jim Nemunaitis with a late takedown and Eric Schwartz picking up a 9-3 win over Scott Marhofer at 285 pounds.

The Vikings are out of action until Dec. 2 when they travel to the Penn State Open. Action is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m.

MATCH RESULTS
125 - Ryan Riggs (CSU) dec. Elie Naoum (JCU), 8-2                                  3-0
133 - Josh Palivoda (CSU) dec. Adam Pizzurro (JCU), 7-1                          6-0
141 - Antonio Nicholson (CSU) dec. Dominic Spitalieri (JCU), 4-3                9-0
149 - Ryan Hurley (CSU) pinned Dan Mizener (JCU), 1:01                         15-0
157 - Rob Michaels (CSU) pinned Tyler Mickley (JCU), 2:54                       21-0
165 - Marcus Effner (CSU) major dec. Steven Bagnowski (JCU), 18-6         25-0
174 - JT Miller (CSU) dec. Devon Jurczak (JCU), 5-2                               28-0
184 - Ben Adams (JCU) dec. Benny Balogh (CSU), 8-2                             29-3
197 - Alek Hughes (CSU) dec. Jim Nemunaitis (JCU), 5-2                          31-3
285 - Eric Schwartz (CSU) dec. Scott Marhofer (JCU), 9-3                       34-3 CSU