Fleming 3rd, Waltko 4th, Harrison 5th, Podish 6th
ITHACA, NY – Clarion University freshmen wrestlers James Fleming (West Mifflin) and Joe Waltko (Allison Park, North Allegheny) along with veterans Hadley Harrison (Sr. McKean, General McLane) and Clint Podish (So. Sycamore, Waynesburg Central) were placewinners on Saturday at the Body Bar Invitational held at Cornell University.
Hosted at Newman Arena, Kent State won the team competition with 147.5 points, Cornell and Maryland were second with 109, Wyoming was fourth with 92 and Binghamton was fifth with 61.5 points. Clarion ended seventh with 51.5 points in the 12 team field.
\”Overall I am very pleased with our performance today,\” said fourth year head coach Teague Moore. \”Our freshmen came out and wrestled like veterans showing a lot of poise under fire. The veterans also wrestled well,\” he continued. \”This was a very strong tournament field and we gained a lot of valuable experience today.\”
Freshman James Fleming was Clarion\’s top placewinner taking third at 149-pounds. He put together a 4-1 record starting with a 15-2 win over Nick Standish (Columbia), then a 10-4 win over #6 seeded Jon Kohler (Maryland). He then defeated #3 seed Desmond Green (Buffalo) 5-3 in the second sudden victory period, before losing to Matt Cathell (Kent) 2-0. In his match for third he defeated Steve Santos (Columbia) 3-0.
Waltko, another strong freshman, took fourth at 125-pounds. He won his first two matches over Tyler Biscaha (Cornell) Fall at 4:27, and #4 seed James Knox (Maryland) 6-1. He lost to the #1 seed Michael Martinez (Wyoming) 6-0, then lost to Troy Opfer (Kent) 3-0 to finish fourth.
Harrison, a senior at 157, has a strong day in placing 5th at his weight class. Hadley defeated Matt Dunn (Columbia) 7-6, then lost to Justin Lister (Binghamton) 8-4. In the wrestle backs he defeated Will Horvath (Ithaca) 3-0, Derek Brenon (Ithaca) by injury def. at 6:21 and #2 seed Kyle John (Maryland) 7-4 to finish fifth.
Podish was 3-2 in finishing 6th at 184-pounds. He opened with a 5-2 win over Mike Moore (Cornell), lost to #2 seed and #2 ranked Dustin Kilgore (Kent state) 19-3 at 6:16; then bounced back to defeat Bradley Nelson (Maryland) 10-2 and Colin McDonald (Cornell) by fall at 1:55, before losing to Nate Holley (Cornell) 6-5.
Other Eagles participating in the tournament saw Trey Hicks (Fr. Amityville, N.Y.) go 0-2 at 125, Jay Ivanco (Jr. Monroeville) go 0-2 at 133, Mike Horne (Fr. Atlantic) go 0-2 at 141, Tyler Bedelyon (Fr. Lewistown, Indian Valley) was 1-2 at 141, Greg Lewis (Sr. New Providence) was 2-2 at 149, Nick Milano (Fr. Erie, Cathedral Prep) won his first two matches, but lost his next two at 165, Justin McCrillis (Fr. Greenville) was 0-2 at 165, Steven Cressley (Fr. Punxsutawney) was 1-2 at 174, Joshua Sadler (Neshanic Station, N.J.) was 0-2 at 174, Alex Thomas (Fr. Seaford, De.) won his first two matches, then lost his next two at 197, and Quintas McCorkle (So. Alexandria, Va.)was 1-2 at heavyweight.
Clarion is next in action on Saturday, December 5th, when the Golden Eagles participate in the PSAC Wrestling Championships. They will be held this year at Edinboro.
