ECWC Championship Central
2011 ECWC Final Bracket
ITHACA, N.Y. – Seniors Isaiah Britton (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalsock Township), Troy Hayre (Falls Church, Va./McLean) and Russ Korbul (Asbury, N.J./Northampton C.C.) each posted second-place finishes to lead the Lycoming College wrestling team to a fifth-place finish at the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Championships at Ithaca College’s Ben Light Gymnasium on Saturday, Feb. 26.
Fourth-ranked Ithaca won the tournament championship with 153 points and nationally-ranked SUNY Cortland (135), SUNY Brockport (90) and Messiah (90) rounded out the top four. Lycoming took fifth with 75 points as six wrestlers placed for the Warriors to help distance the team from SUNY Oneonta (65), SUNY Oswego (45.5), RIT (35.5) and SUNY Morrisville (2.5).
Britton came in second at the championships for the second straight year, as he posted a 19-2 technical fall over Oswego State’s Randy Sisenstein in the first round and added an 11-4 win over Oneonta State’s Daniel Graff in the semifinals.
In the championship match, Britton fired in with an underhook and spun around to get a takedown just 33 seconds into the match en route to a first period 4-2 lead, but Ithaca’s fourth-ranked Blaine Woszczak was able to use two third-period takedowns to take a 7-5 decision. In the true second-place match, Britton downed No. 5 seed Andre Berry of SUNY Cortland, 7-2.
Hayre made his first appearance in the ECWC finals, as he posted three wins en route to finals at 184 pounds, notching a fall in 1:31 in the first round against RIT’s Alec Humski and followed with another fall in 1:31 against Oswego’s Kevin Shirley. In the semifinals, he notched a 6-0 win over Ithaca’s Keith Dickey.
In the championship, Messiah’s Tim Stewart used a first-period takedown to take a 2-0 lead. Hayre got a pair of escapes to tie the match at two heading into the final period, but Stewart got an escape to clinch the title.
Senior Russ Korbul (Asbury, N.J./Northampton C.C.) made a surprising run to the finals at the tournament at 197 pounds, posting a 7-5 win over Oneonta State’s Derek Wignall in the quarterfinals before notching a 2-1 overtime win over SUNY Brockport’s second-seed Tom Voorhis. Voorhis was listed as a contender in the latest d3Wrestle.com individual rankings.
In the finals, fifth-ranked Jared Myhrberg used four takedowns to control the match with Korbul, taking the 9-3 decision.
Senior Mike Maurer (Towanda, Pa./Towanda) put in his second straight impressive performance at 141 pounds, taking third at the tournament after finishing second as a junior. Maurer started his run with a 12-1 win over SUNY Morrisville’s Dante Epps in the first round, however a loss in the quarterfinals forced him to run through the consolation bracket to place.
He began that run with a fall in 51 seconds against Kyle Travers before posting a 12-2 major decision against Josh Bressler of Messiah in the consolation semifinals. In the third-place match, Maurer defeated Oneonta State’s Michael Gregg, who beat him in the quarterfinals, 5-1. However, in the true second-place match Maurer fell to third-ranked Aljamain Sterling of SUNY Cortland, 4-2.
At 125 pounds, junior Stephen Hinton (Montclair, Va./Forest Park) posted an 11-3 major decision against Messiah’s fourth-seed Danny Lethbridge, 11-3, but he fell to SUNY Cortland’s top-seed Dave Colagiovanni in the semifinals to fall into the consolation bracket, where he finished sixth.
At 165 pounds, sophomore David Smith (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) earned a spot on the podium with a pair of wins to finish sixth. He posted a default win in the first round before falling to the wrestlebacks with a tough 3-1 loss to top-seed Justin James of SUNY Brockport. Smith posted a 7-2 win over SUNY Morrisville’s Nathaniel Cross in the consolation quarterfinals to ensure the first ECWC place finish of his career.
Sophomore Tyler Cunningham (Haddon Township, N.J./Haddon Township) posted a win in his first-round match at 174 pounds, downing SUNY Morrisville’s Jeremy Joyte, 11-10, but fell in the next two matches to miss placing.
The ECWC’s five wild-card selections for the NCAA Division III Championships are yet to be announced, but if any Warriors are chosen, the tournament at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse is set to start at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 11.
2/26/2011
ECWC Championships at Ithaca, N.Y.
Lycoming – 5th/9
Final Team Scoring
1. Ithaca, 153 points
2. Cortland, 135
T3. Brockport, 90
T3. Messiah, 90
5. Lycoming, 75
6. Oneonta, 65
7. Oswego, 45.5
8. RIT, 35.5
9. Morrisville, 2.5
Most Outstanding Wrestler: Seth Ecker (133 pounds), Ithaca
Coach of the Year: Marty Nichols, Ithaca
Lycoming Individual Wrestlers
125 Stephen Hinton – 1-3, sixth place
133 Terrell Nixon – 0-2, did not place
141 Mike Maurer – 4-2, third place
149 Isaiah Britton – 3-1, second place
157 Greg Wetzel – 0-2, did not place
165 David Smith – 2-2, sixth place
174 Tyler Cunningham – 1-2, did not place
184 Troy Hayre – 3-1, second place
197 Russ Korbul – 2-1, second place
HWT Chris Geisel – 0-2, did not place
