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ESU Preview

KUTZTOWN - Redshirt junior Braden Turner (157) and freshman Tyson Searer (197) are both seeded No. 1 in their weight classes, and redshirt junior Brendan McKeown is the No. 2 seed at 174 going into the Super Region 1 Championships, which will be held at Kutztown on Friday and Saturday.

ESU has two other seeded wrestlers in sophomore Anthony Marino (125) and redshirt sophomore Luke DeLuise (184), who are both seeded 8th in their weight classes.

The top four finishers in each weight class will earn a trip to the NCAA Division II Championships, which will be held March 8-9 in Birmingham, Alabama.

ESU has had eight national qualifiers, including Turner and McKeown last year, in its three seasons in Division II. The Warriors have also had two regional champions in Jeff Jacobs (174) in 2011 and Ed Ebewo (197) last winter.

Turner, ranked 5th in Division II, was last year's regional runner-up and an All-American after a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. He enters the weekend with a 17-5 record (12-1 vs. DII, 10-0 vs. SR1). He has a first-round match-up with Eli Stewart (Ohio Valley) and a potential quarterfinal meeting with 8th-seeded Matt Martoccio (Kutztown).

Searer, ranked 6th in DII, is 14-7 overall, 11-2 against DII competition and 9-1 against SR1 competition at 197 pounds. He faces Brian Beattie (Mercyhurst) in the first round and could see 8th-seeded Brach Walker (UNC-Pembroke) in the quarterfinals.

McKeown, also a returning regional runner-up, is one of three former national qualifiers at 174 pounds. He is 16-1 (10-1 DII, 10-1 SR1) with a 12-match winning streak going into the regional and will take on Zachary VanEss (American International) in the first round. He may face 7th-seeded Angelo Bortoluzzi (Mercyhurst) in the quarters, and if the seeds hold, could face 3rd-seeded Gary Lantz (UPJ) in the semis. McKeown's only loss came to Lantz by injury default on December 4.

DeLuise opens at 184 against Zackery Farmer (Anderson), who he pinned in 1:33 at the SR1 Duals on January 26. He could take on top-seeded Travis McKillop (UPJ) in the quarters and lost to McKillop by major decision, 13-3, on December 4. DeLuise is 13-9 overall (8-6 DII, 7-5 SR1) with a team-high seven pins entering the regional.

Marino has a first-round bye and likely match-up with top-seeded Jeffrey Vesta (Newberry), ranked No. 4 in Division II, in the quarterfinals. Marino is 1-4 (1-2 DII, 1-2 SR1) since joining the Warriors for the second semester.

At 133, freshman Devin Holmes faces top-seeded Dylan D'Urso (Mercyhurst), who he lost to by technical fall on December 15. Freshman Joe Welk (149) also has a rematch in his first-round bout against 3rd-seeded Nick Nichols (Seton Hill), who won an 8-0 major decision on January 20.

Freshman Nate Silverthorn, who has wrestled at 149 through 165 this season, takes the mat at 165 against 2nd-seeded Zach Pincus (Mercyhurst).

Redshirt senior Joe Blaes anchors the lineup at 285 and has 2nd-seeded Mike Carpenter (West Liberty) in the first round.

The tournament begins Friday at 3 p.m. when the region's 14 schools will wrestle down to the four semifinalists at each weight class, with four more wrestlers alive in the consolations. The Saturday morning session begins at 11 a.m. and will include the championship and consolation semifinals. The championship and consolation finals will begin at 3 p.m.

The tournament's 10 No. 1 seeds come from six schools. UNC-Pembroke, ranked 5th in the region and No. 18 in Division II, leads the field with three No. 1 seeds in Daniel Ownbey (ranked 1st nationally) at 141, Robert Shade (6th in DII) at 165 and Mike Williams (1st in DII, reigning DII champ at 165) at 174.

ESU (Turner at 157, Searer at 197) is one of two schools with two No. 1 seeds, along with Newberry, the defending regional champion which is ranked 5th nationally. Jeff Vesta is seeded No. 1 and ranked 4th in DII at 125, and Deral Brown is the top seed and ranked 7th in DII at 149.

Three schools have one No. 1 seed in Mercyhurst's Dylan D'Urso at 133, Pitt-Johnstown's Travis McKillop (ranked 6th in DII) at 184, and Kutztown's Ziad Haddad (6th in DII) at 285.


First Round Matches
125 - No. 8 Anthony Marino vs. No. 1 Jeffrey Vesta (Newberry) / Samuel Oberlander (Millersville)
133 - Devin Holmes vs. No. 1 Dylan D'Urso (Mercyhurst)
141 - no entry
149 - Joe Welk vs. No. 3 Nick Nichols (Seton Hill)
157 - No. 1 Braden Turner vs. Eli Stewart (Ohio Valley)
165 - Nate Silverthorn vs. No. 2 Zach Pincus (Mercyhurst)
174 - No. 2 Brendan McKeown vs. Zachary Van Ess (AIC)
184 - No. 8 Luke DeLuise vs. Zackery Farmer (Anderson)
197 - No. 1 Tyson Searer vs. Brian Beattie (Mercyhurst)
285 - Joe Blaes vs. No. 2 Mike Carpenter (West Liberty)