Feb. 23, 2007

PEMBROKE, N.C. - After the first two sessions of the NCAA East Regional, the Mercyhurst College wrestling team sits in third place in the 13-team field, behind only Pitt-Johnstown and West Liberty State. Six Lakers are still alive in the championship bracket, with the other four working their way through the wrestlebacks.

Payne Lint, J.J. Zanetta, Don Cummings, Andy Lamancusa, Hudson Harrison and Zack Schafer all wrestled through the opening rounds unscathed. Braxdon Scaletta, Gerred Tolson, Trevor Gallo and Kenny Bluska have been bumped to the consolations, but remain alive in the tournament. Mercyhurst and UPJ are the only two school's in the tournament to advance all 10 wrestlers to day two.

Lint and Schafer have cruised through the first two bouts, picking up two bonus wins apiece. Lint, seeded fourth, opened up at 125 with a 16-1 technical fall in 4:29 over Kyle Craver of St. Andrews. He then followed with a pin in 4:39 over the five-seed, Chris Santucci of Gannon.

Schafer, the top seed at 174, has a pair of major decisions to his credit. He dispatched American International's Nick Laurino 13-2 in the first round, then defeated Belmont Abbey's David Hoggard, the eight-seed, 12-1 in the second round.

Zanetta has defended the top seed at 141 with a pair of wins by decision. He defeated Appolon Jean-Paul of Belmont Abbey, 9-6, in the opener, before taking down the eight-seed, Kutztown's Bret Martinez, 8-2 in round two.

The No. 1 seed at 149, Cummings also has two decisions to his credit. He shut out Gannon's Ted Hoag, 3-0, then beat the eight-seed from Pitt-Johnstown, Adam Whetstone, 6-5.

Lamancusa, seeded first at 157, defeated unseeded Brian Leggett of West Liberty State, 5-1, in the second round after receiving a first round bye. Harrison also received a bye in round one, then picked up a 6-1 decision in round two over Brandon Kelly of Newberry.

At 133, Scaletta had a bye in round one, before falling 6-4 to the No. 3 seeded Reimark Neidermeier of Belmont Abbey. In the wrestlebacks, Scaletta defeated Gannon's Ed Marshall, 10-2, by major decision.

Tolson dropped a first round match at 184, 12-4, to AIC's Wanzer Morgan, then scored a 7-2 decision over the eight-seed, Jared Skinner of Anderson in the wrestlebacks.

Gallo won by fall in the first round, pinning Mike Walsh of Limestone in 4:34. In round two at 197, however, the No. 2 seeded wrestler, Pitt-Johnstown's Michael Fowler, outlasted him 4-1. Gallo then rebounded with a 15-2 major decision over AIC's Dan Puchinni in the consolations.

After a first round bye in the heavyweight bracket, Bluska dropped a narrow 2-1 decision to UPJ's Christopher Dempsey. Bluska then scored a pin in the wrestlebacks, taking Gannon's Greg Brown to mat in 6:39.

Pitt-Johnstown currently leads the team standings with 67 points. West Liberty State has 57.5, good for second place. The Lakers, with 51 points, are third. Shippensburg (43) and Newberry (41) round out the top five.

The action resumes Saturday morning at 10:00 AM. Below is a list of Lakers' first opponents on day two.

Championship Semifinals:
125- #4 Payne Lint vs. #1 Derrek Bosso (UPJ)
141- #1 J.J. Zanetta vs. #4 Doug Surra (WLSC)
149- #1 Don Cummings vs. #5 Chris Chambers (KU)
157- #1 Andy Lamancusa vs. #4 Adam Phillips (BAC)
165- #5 Hudson Harrison vs. #1 Kevin Kalbach (KU)
174- #1 Zack Schafer vs. #4 Eli Garshnick (UPJ)

Wrestlebacks:
133- #6 Braxdon Scaletta vs. Darren Murray (SU)
184- #7 Gerred Tolson vs. #5 Roy Gecelosky (KU)
197- #7 Trevor Gallo vs. #6 Kyle Davis (KU)
Hwt- #5 Kenny Bluska vs. #8 Kelvin Valencia (AIC)