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Morning Call: ESU grapplers heading to nationals

EAST STROUDSBURG – Brackets have been released for East Stroudsburg University's four qualifiers for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships, which will be held March 9-10 at Colorado State-Pueblo.

Redshirt senior Ed Ebewo, the Super Region 1 champion at 197 pounds, will be making his second trip to the NCAA Championships. He is joined by first-time national qualifiers redshirt sophomore Braden Turner (157), redshirt senior Thad Frick (165) and redshirt sophomore Brendan McKeown (174). Turner and McKeown were the runner-ups in their brackets and Frick won four straight consolation bouts to place third in last week's regional at UNC-Pembroke.

Two wins in the 16-man, double-elimination tournament will give a wrestler a top eight finish and All-America status. The Warriors have one All-American, 2010 runner-up Shane Mallory at 184, in their first two seasons in Division II. This year's contingent is the largest to take the trip to the NCAA's.

Ebewo, ranked No. 7 in the final Division II poll of the season, returns to the NCAA Championships with a 19-4 record after going 4-0 to win the regional title at 197. He is 12-1 against Division II competition, with his only loss coming by injury default to Seth Stonis (Mercyhurst) on December 17. Ebewo is 10-0 since that point of the season and won the region with a 3-2 decision over Shane Nolan (UNC-Pembroke).

Ebewo went 1-2 at the NCAA's last year, falling by a 4-3 decision to No. 4 Matt Baker (Nebraska-Omaha) before rebounding with a 3-1:sv decision over Lucas Munkelwitz (St. Cloud State). He lost a 14-9 decision to No. 6 Luke McPeek (Adams State) in his second consolation bout and has a potential quarterfinal match-up with McPeek, a two-time All-American, next weekend.

Ebewo takes on sophomore Steven Cooksley of Newman (Kan.) in his first bout. Cooksley is 10-12 and advanced out of the Super Region 3 Tournament with a fourth-place finish. Cooksley won all four of his bouts by fall, including three in the consolations, before falling by a 5-2 decision in the consolation final.

Turner is 23-13 and was the SR1 runner-up at 157 pounds, falling 6-4:sv to Jarrod Shaw of West Liberty in the final. Turner was the No. 6 seed and went through No. 3 Zach Lundgren (Pitt-Johnstown) with a 1-0 decision and No. 2 Taylor Knapp (Newberry) with a 4-3 decision to reach the final. Turner is 12-5 against Division II competition this season.

He will face sophomore Cory Dauphin of Central Oklahoma in the first round. Dauphin (20-8), a returning All-American, was sixth at last year's NCAA Championships and was third in the Super Region 2 Tournament last weekend. He took a 7-6 loss in the semifinals and came back with decisions of 6-0 and 5-4 to win the consolation final for the Bronchos, who had nine national qualifiers. Dauphin's brother, Cody, qualified at 285 pounds.

Frick rattled through the consolations at 165 with a perfect 4-0 record after an 8-1 loss to eventual champion Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) in the quarterfinals. He posted a 3-2 decision over Robert Blotzer (Gannon) to place third and move through to the NCAA's with a 24-9 record (11-4 DII). Frick follows his father, Mike, a three-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion at Lehigh, to the NCAA Championships and is a four-year starter for the Warriors.

He has a first-round match-up with freshman Blake Sorensen of Upper Iowa, the runner-up in Super Region 3, who won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by decision before losing by major decision in the final. Sorensen enters the NCAA Championships with a 20-10 record.

McKeown brings an 11-6 record (7-1 DII) into the NCAA Championships after an injury-shortened season for the Warriors. He missed two months of the season but is 6-1 since returning to the mat on February 10, with his only loss an 11-4 decision to Travis Sheehy (Newberry) in the regional final. He posted a 10-8:sv decision over No. 3-seed Travis McKillop (Pitt-Johnstown) in the quarters and 13-8 decision over No. 2 August Mizia (Mercyhurst) in the semifinals last weekend while wrestling out of the No. 6 seed.

He drew a first-round bout with sophomore Mark Fiala of Nebraska-Kearney, who wrestled at national champion Nebraska-Omaha for two years (including a redshirt season) before their program was terminated last March. Fiala is 20-13 and placed third in Super Region 4 with a pair of 3-1 decisions in the consolation semifinal and final.

Session 1 of the 2012 NCAA Division II Championships begins at 1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MT) on Friday, followed by Session 2 (first and second round consolations) at 8 p.m.

On Saturday, Session 3 begins at 12 p.m. and includes the championship semifinals, third round of consolations, consolation semifinals and 3rd, 5th and 7th place matches. Session 4, the championship finals, will get underway at 9 p.m.