March 8, 2007

ERIE, Pa. -

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SETTING THE SCENE: Six members of the Mercyhurst College wrestling team head to Kearney, Nebraska for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. Payne Lint (125), J.J. Zanetta (141), Don Cummings (149), Andy Lamancusa (157), Hudson Harrison (165) and Zack Schafer (174) will represent the Lakers.

TRI CHAMPS: Three of the Mercyhurst wrestlers who advanced to the NCAA Championships did so by winning their weight class at the NCAA East Regional. Payne Lint won at 125, despite holding the No. 4 seed, and Don Cummings (149) and Andy Lamancusa (157) defended their No. 1 seeds.

NOT THE FIRST TIME: Five of the six Lakers at this year's NCAA Championships have previously made the NCAA Championships. Below is a table of the previous qualifiers:

	Wrestler		Weight		Previous Years Qualified
	Payne Lint		125		2006
	J.J. Zanetta		141		2005, 2006
	Don Cummings		149		2005, 2006
	Hudson Harrison		174		2006
	Zack Schafer		165		2004, 2005, 2006

ALL-AMERICAN HEROES: Three Lakers competing at the 2007 NCAA Championships are former All-Americans. J.J. Zanetta (141), Don Cummings (149) and Zack Schafer (174) have all wrestled their way to All-American staus in the past.

	Wrestler		Year		Finish (Weight)
	J.J. Zanetta		2006		7th (141)
	Don Cummings		2005		5th (149)
	Zack Schafer		2005		4th (165)
				2006		2nd (165)

RACKING UP WINS: Zack Schafer became just the third member of the 100-win club in Mercyhurst history with a major decision (16-5) over Ashland's Justin Ferguson on January 27. Since that time he has won six more matches, giving the senior an impressive career mark of 106-35.

CENTURY MARK: With Mercyhurst's impressive 32-6 win over rival Gannon on December 1, Head Coach Tony Cipollone picked up his 100th career coaching victory. The only coach in Mercyhurst history, he has tallied a 66-41-1 record since the inception of the program in its first five years of existence. He tallied a 44-49 mark in five years as the top man at Baldwin-Wallace before coaching the Lakers and has a career record of 110-90-1 in 10 years as a head coach.

STREAKING: After starting the season 2-6, the Lakers finished the season 9-0-1 with nine straight wins until a season-ending tie with Pitt-Johnstown. The Lakers then finished second to UPJ at the NCAA East Regional.

Several of the NCAA Qualifiers for Mercyhurst also went on big win streaks down the stretch. J.J. Zanetta (141) had a 15-match win streak snapped in the finals of the East Regional. Zack Shafer (174) won 16 in a row before a loss in the regular season finale. Don Cummings (149) has won 13 in a row entering the NCAAs.

BACK IN TIME: Although the program is in just its fifth season, six Lakers have tallied a total of 11 All-American honors. Justin Mautz was three-time All-American from 2001-02 thru 2003-04. Mercyhurst's school record is four All-Americans at one NCAA Championship, which occurred in the 2004-05 season when Ben McAvinew, Ricky Randazzo, Zack Schafer and Don Cummings all earned the honor.

FROM YOUR LIVING ROOM: The Laker faithful will have several chances to see the finals on television. Comcast SportsNet West (Northern California), Cox Sports TV (Rhode Island and Connecticut), Catch 47 (Tampa Bay, FL), Metro Sports (Kansas City) and Sports Time Ohio will carry the events live. Altitude (3/10, 10:30 pm), CSTV (3/11, 8:00 pm), Comcast Local (MI) (3/11, 1:00 pm), Cox Sports (AR, TX, LA, FL) (3/13, 10:00 pm), Fox Sports Net North (3/11, 1:00 pm), Fox Sports Pittsburgh (3/12, 11:30 am), Sun Sports (Florida) (3/13, 10:30 am)