Dec. 11, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Contact: Gene Natale, Jr.

Cleveland State Wrestling
Open Meet 5 - CSU Open

Date: Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Site: Woodling Gym - Cleveland, Ohio

SETTING THE SCENE: Following an idle week for final exams, the Cleveland State wrestling team hosts its second event of the 2007-08 season on Saturday (Dec. 15) as the CSU Open returns to the Woodling Gymnasium. First round action in the tournament, which is expected to include around 220 competitors hailing from between 20 and 30 colleges from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia, will begin at 9:00 a.m.

PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: The 2007-08 Vikings possess a nice blend of youth and maturity, as a seasoned core led by four wrestlers who have previously qualified for nationals in seniors Mike Hurley (0-1), Ryan Hurley (6-1), and juniors Rashard Goff (8-2), and Marcus Effner (14-3) are joined by a talented freshman class that has been showing flashes of brilliance early in the season. The starting lineup reflects this mix of youth and experience well, as one can see by the fact that four freshman currently project as starters alongside the upperclassmen. The lineup may change as the season wears on as other members of the team become eligible for competition and/or win starting positions, but no matter how the lineup changes the fact remains that the younger members of the team are critical to this year's success just as much as the upperclassmen. Currently the team's sophomores and freshmen have combined for 73 wins, which is two fewer than the entire team had at this stage of the season last year, a true testament to their importance.

THE HEAD COACH
Jack Effner (Indiana State `80)
At CSU: 68-80-3
Overall: 155-122-8

EFFNER ON THE VIKINGS: "Right now with finals, school is the top priority, but we would like wrestling to be a close second, and that makes this tournament a very important event for us. It's very nice to be able to get some mat time in against quality competition and not have to worry about traveling during finals week."

WINNING BIG: The Viking wrestlers have been racking up the victories this season, and the combined record of all wrestlers of 152-121 is double the victory total of the team's wrestlers last year leading up to the CSU Open. Contributing to this fact is five wrestlers with double digit victory totals, including Marcus Effner (14-3), Robbie Michaels (14-2), JT Miller 15-7), Antonio Nicholson (10-5), and Eric Schwartz (10-5).

MILLER TIME: Redshirt junior JT Miller is getting his first opportunity to start at 174 pounds this season, and he has been taking full advantage, winning 15 matches so far to lead the team in the category. "He's a former utility man type wrestler who has gotten the experience he needed to really have a break-out season," head coach Jack Effner said.

EFFNER ON FIRE AGAIN: According to Coach Effner, junior Marcus Effner finished the 2006-07 season on fire and was incredibly close to qualifying for the national tournament. So far that same quality has been carried into the beginning of this season, as the younger Effner has been dominant. He has placed at every open that the team has traveled to this season, including winning the title at 165 pounds at Ashland as well as his performance at Penn State where he was the team's top finisher with a fourth place at 165.

SCHWARTZ NO SLOUCH: After a season last year that saw him competing for time on the football field with Ohio State instead of wrestling at all, redshirt freshman has shown no signs of rust from his year away from the mat. To go along with his 10 victories on the season and his 5 pins, which are second on the team, he has also shown himself to be competitive amongst his fellow Vikings from the very beginning, as one was able to see in the annual Green and White scrimmage at the beginning of the year where he defeated both of CSU's upperclassman heavyweights, Jeff Schuller and three-time national qualifier Rashard Goff. Whether or not he will remain in the starting role at 285 for the entire season this year, one thing is for certain: he has a bright future as a Viking.

HURLEYS' LAST HURRAH: Seniors Mike and Ryan Hurley have both won many matches throughout their careers, and both have experienced state championships on the high school level. The both have represented Cleveland State at nationals and won matches, but so far neither has had the opportunity to attain All-American status. According to Coach Effner, winning big at nationals is just about the only thing that the Hurleys have not done in their careers up to this point, and the CSU Open will be yet another step in their journey this year. Mike Hurley made his season debut at Penn State a week ago, and hopes to have a healthy go at the rest of the season after a career plagued by injuries. He suffered a severe neck injury during the 2004-05 season that, according to Coach Effner, he only really started to rebound from last season, and was sidelined due to injury up until CSU's most recent competition.

BIG BENNY: Sophomore Benny Balogh, according to Coach Effner, is "built like a tank," and his short stocky frame makes him very difficult to score upon. With eight victories on the season he has already surpassed his total of seven from last year and is proving to be a quality contributor at 184 pounds after competing at 197 a season ago.

UP NEXT: The only remaining competition for 2007 on the schudule for the Vikings following the CSU Open is the Midlands Invitational in Evanston, Ill., which promises to be another of the tougher tournaments on the schedule. Hosted by Northwestern University on Dec. 29-30, it will commence at 9:30 a.m. EST.