CLARION WRESTLERS WIN PSAC TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
THOMAS (“OW), FLEMING, ABDURAKHMONOV WIN TITLES

(Bloomsburg, Pa.): Clarion’s Alex Thomas (So. Seaford, De.) took “OW”
honors winning at 197-pounds, and teammates James Fleming (So. West
Mifflin) at 157-pounds and Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Jr. Tashkent,
Uzbekistan) at 165 won individual titles, leading the Golden Eagles to
the 2010 PSAC Wrestling Team Title on Saturday at Bloomsburg.

Clarion fifth year head coach Teague Moore, who was brought in to
restore the Golden Eagles NCAA Div. I  wrestling tradition, was excited
with the team title. Clarion had not won a PSAC team championship since
1994.

“I have so much respect for the Clarion tradition and what this means
to our team, pin club, alumni and fans that I’m overwhelmed,” said
Moore. “We really wrestled as a total team today. Three champions, two
seconds, three thirds and a fourth showed our team balance. I couldn’t
be happier.”

Clarion won the team title with 135.5 points, Bloomsburg was second
with 110.5, Edinboro third at 109, Lock Haven fourth with 93 and Gannon
fifth with 54.5 Rounding out the ten team field were Millersville at
53.5, Mercyhurst seventh with 52.5, E. Stroudsburg eighth at 48,
Shippensburg ninth with 41 and Kutztown tenth with 35.

Thomas rolled through the PSAC field at 197-pounds pinning all four
opponents. In the finals he pinned Edinboro’s Shawn Fendone at 0:51
with a power half nelson. He pinned Fendone in the PSAC finals a year
ago. Thomas pinned Travis Stem (LH) in the opening round at 1:57, then
pinned Dan Cox (Mill) at 1:32, before pinning Mercyhurst’s Michael
Pollard at 5:56 in the semi’s. Thomas raised his season record to 7-3.

“I was really happy with my wrestling today, and winning the “OW” is
really an honor,” said Thomas. “I was looking for the half nelson
against Fendone and was able to use it to win the match”.

Fleming also looked masterful in winning at 157. He defeated
Edinboro’s John Greisheimer 10-2 in the finals. Fleming used a
five-point move in the second period to take a 5-0 lead. After escaping
to start the third, he again took Greisheimer to his back for a
four-point move and a 10-2 major decision. Fleming opened the PSAC’s
with a pin over Dakota Kuhn (Mill) at 2:30, then pinned Bloom’s Frank
Hickman at 5:58 in the semi’s. Fleming, ranked #13 in the country, is
now 14-1 on the season.

Abdurakhmonov posted a hard-earned 2-1 win in the finals over
Bloomsburg’s Josh Veltre. The first period showed no scoring, but a
one-minute flurry toward the end of the period had the Nelson
Fieldhouse fans on their feet. The Golden Eagle appeared to have a
takedown several times, but great counter wrestling kept the period
scoreless. Bekzod rode Velte the entire second period, escaped to start
the third, gave up a stall point in the final seconds, but won the
match with over 1:30 in riding time. He opened the PSAC’s with a pin at
2:19 over Jesse Dunn of E. Stroudsburg and then majored Zack McKendree
(Gannon) 8-0. Bekzod’s season record is now 12-2 and his is ranked 18th
in the latest poll.

Also taking second place were Joe Waltko (So. Allison Park) at 133 and
Cameron Moran (Jr. James City/Kane) at 141, while Anthony White (Fr.
Phila) at 149, Steven Cressley (So. Punxsutawney) at 184 and Quintas
McCorkle (Jr. Alexandria, Va.) at hwt were third and Scott Joseph (Sr.
Export) at 174 ended fourth.

Waltko lost 10-6 in the finals at 133 to Bloomsburg’s Nick Wilcox.
Waltko led 4-3 entering the second period, but Wilcox had a takedown
and three near fall points to put the match out of reach. Waltko pinned
Jordan Toledo (E.S.) at 6:40 and defeated Evan Kolb (LH) 5-3 to get to
the finals. He is 14-3 this season.

Moran lost in the finals at 141 to Bloom’s Derek Shingara 9-6. Moran
was leading 3-0 late in the second and gave up a takedown on the edge
to make it 3-2. Shingara countered a Moran third period single leg with
a Peterson roll that put Moran to his back for a five-point move and
fell behind 7-3. Moran reversed to make it 7-5, but couldn’t get any
closer. Moran pinned Arthur Scott (Gannon)  at 4:04, then decisioned
Justin Loudon (LH) 8-3 to get to the finals. Moran is now 7-4 this year.

White, only a freshman, was 3-1 in taking third place. He defeated
Shane Foster (Mercyhurst) 9-3 for third place. White opened with an 8-4
win over Tyler Wilton (ES), lost 3-2 to Ethan Swope (Gannon) and
wrestled back with a 7-5 win over Ken Stank (Shipp). White is now 12-6.

Cressley was 3-1 overall in placing third at 184-pounds. He defeated
Jacob Bachman (LH) 8-5 for third place. Steven opened with a 15-9 win
over Brendan McKeown (ES), then lost to Chris Honeycutt (ED) 11-2, and
wrestled back to defeat Jason Foor (Mill) 18-3 to get to third. He is
now 7-5.

McCorkle was also 3-1 in finishing third at heavyweight. McCorkle won
his third place match 5-1 over Bloom’s Zach Walsh. McCorkle opened with
a 7-3 win over Will Weaver (ES), then lost a 3-2 tb match to Edinboro’s
Ernest James, but rebounded for a 4-1 win over Stefan Tighe (Gannon).

Joseph was 3-2 in finishing fourth at 174-pounds. He opened with a 9-5
win over Chris Hrunka (ED), and 2-1 tb win over Jeff Jacobs (ES),
before losing to Shane Smith (Mill) by fall, then wrestled back and
defeated Hrunka 7-5 before losing 8-6 to Mike Khoury (LH). Joseph is
8-8 this year.

Also wrestling for the Golden Eagles was Thomas Gowing at 125. He was
0-2 in the tournament.

CLARION NOTES: The last Clarion PSAC title was in 1994 under then
coach Jack Davis… Before that Clarion posted 11 team titles under
legendary coach Bob Bubb, and the first came in 1965 under then coach
Frank Lignelli… Clarion’s 3 individual titles is the most since 1997
when Sheldon Thomas, Chris Marshall and Bryan Stout won titles… The 3
titles gives Clarion 111 individual champions in its history.

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

1. CLARION 135.5
2. Bloomsburg 110.5
3. Edinboro 109.0
4. Lock Haven 93.0
5. Gannon 54.5
6. Millersville 53.5
7. Mercyhurst 52.5
8. E. Stroudsburg 48.0
9. Shippensburg 41.0
10. Kutztown 35.0

“OW” – 197 Alex Thomas - Clarion

Championship Finals
125-Evan Yenolevich, Edinboro DEC Sean Boylan, Bloomsburg   5-1
133- Nick Wilcox, Bloomsburg DEC Joe Waltko, Clarion   10-6
141- Derek Shingara, Bloomsburg DEC Cameron Moran, Clarion   9-6
149- Torsten Gillespie, Edinboro MAJOR Ethan Swope, Gannon   12-2
157- James Fleming, Clarion MAJOR Johnny Greisheimer, Edinboro   10-2
165- Bekzod Abdurakhmonov, Clarion DEC Josh Veltre, Bloomsburg   2-1
174- Mike Dessino, Bloomsburg FALL Shane Smith, Millersville   F 2:51
184- Christopher Honeycutt, Edinboro MAJOR Nathan Graham, Bloomsburg  
12-4
197- Alex Thomas, Clarion FALL Shawn Fendone, Edinboro   F 0:51
285- Harry Turner, Lock Haven DEC Ernest James, Edinboro   7-3

THIRD PLACE
125- Jose Matos, Gannon DEC Ryan Bohince, Mercyhurst   7-6;tb
133- Evan Kolb, Lock Haven FALL Austin Williams, Kutztown   F 1:41
141- Mike Greck, Millersville FALL Adam Hluschak, East Stroudsburg   F
3:16
149- Anthony White, Clarion DEC Shane Foster, Mercyhurst   9-3
157- Frank Hickman, Bloomsburg DEC Brock Parker, East Stroudsburg   5-4
165- Zack McKendree, Gannon DEC Ricky Pena, Kutztown   5-1
174- Michael Khoury, Lock Haven DEC Scott Joseph, Clarion   8-6;tb *
184- Steven Cressley, Clarion DEC Jacob Bachman, Lock Haven   8-5
197- Michael Pollard, Mercyhurst TF Daniel Cox, Millersville   18-2;7:26
285- Quintas McCorkle, Clarion DEC Zachary Walsh, Bloomsburg   5-1

FIFTH PLACE
125- Alex Abramat, Millersville DEC Kyle Johnson, Kutztown   9-3
133- Simon Rice, Shippensburg MAJOR john fleming, Gannon   8-0
141- Justin Loudon, Lock Haven DEC Mitch Voelker, Kutztown   3-1
149- Keneth Stank, Shippensburg FALL William Randt, Lock Haven   F 2:34
157- Seth Creasy, Lock Haven MED Jordan Shields, Mercyhurst   med
165- Colton Spade, Lock Haven MED Josh Shields, Mercyhurst   med
174- Chris Hrunka, Edinboro DEC Jeff Jacobs, East Stroudsburg   6-5
184- Brendan McKeown, East Stroudsburg FALL Jason Foor, Millersville  
F 5:33
197- Tyler Zittle, Shippensburg MED Eddie Ebewo, East Stroudsburg   med
285- Stefan Tighe, Gannon MED Daniel Estricher, Shippensburg   med