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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University won seven of the 10 bouts, including first period pins from sophomore Eddie Stephenson (149) and redshirt junior Jeff Jacobs (165), and redshirt senior Shane Mallory (184) finished his career at Koehler Fieldhouse with his 75th career victory by rallying to defeat No. 6 Tim Darling by a 8-6 decision as the Warriors took down No. 18 Kutztown, 29-11, on Tuesday night.

The Golden Bears were ranked 18th nationally in Division II and fifth in the East Region, while ESU was ranked seventh in the region, but the Warriors took the action to the visitors after Kutztown opened a 9-3 lead through the first three bouts.

Junior Ed Ebewo opened the night with a 3-1 decision in the first sudden victory period of his 197-pound bout with Scotty Snyder, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II East Region, but the Golden Bears countered with a 5-2 decision from Kevin Bolinsky (285, No. 2) and a third-period pin by Chris Sheetz (125, No. 3).

The momentum began to turn with redshirt sophomore Andrew Arnold's 13-4 major decision over Clayton Youtz at 133, and clearly swung in the Warriors' favor when redshirt sophomore Adam Hluschak handed John Paukovits just his third loss of the year with a 7-6 decision at 141. Paukovits tossed his head gear after the bout for a one-point team deduction and the Warriors led 10-8.

ESU continued to roll at 149, where Stephenson pulled off perhaps the upset of the night – bigger than Mallory's win over Darling, who was undefeated at 10-0 – with a first-period pin in 1:56 of Brett Martinez (East Region No. 6) that gave the Warriors a 16-8 margin.

Redshirt sophomore Thad Frick improved to 22-10 with a 20-8 major decision of Anthony Frost at 157 to give ESU a 20-8 lead.

The Warriors put the match away at 165 pounds in a bout that was expected to be extremely competitive, with Jacobs entering at 20-12 and David Zeek bringing a 14-5 record and the No. 3 ranking in the East Region into the night. Jacobs recorded his third pin of the year, decking Zeek in 1:41, to give his team an insurmountable 26-8 advantage.

After a 6-1 decision by Kutztown's Alex Depew over redshirt sophomore Ken Monarque, Mallory and Darling took the mat in the most anticipated bout of the night even though the team result was already decided.

Mallory faced a 5-0 deficit after a first period that saw Darling post a takedown and three near-fall points, but responded with a takedown in the second period. Darling escaped and went into the third period with a 6-2 lead.

Darling took nearly a minute of injury time before the period began and Mallory pressed the action and went to work. Darling was hit with a point for stalling and Mallory scored a takedown to make it 6-5, with Darling using 25 more seconds of injury time immediately following Mallory's two points.

Darling was called for stalling again in the final minute to even the score at 6-6, and Mallory came up with another takedown, his third of the match, with 20 seconds to go and kept Darling down for the 8-6 victory. Mallory improves to 21-6 on the season and 13-2 in duals, and has career marks of 75-44 overall and 41-22 in dual competition.

ESU finishes its dual schedule with a 9-8 record, including 5-1 against Division II competition in its first season after reclassifying from Division I. Kutztown, ranked No. 18 in the nation, falls to 16-4. The two PSAC rivals were wrestling for the first time since 2002-03.

Mallory and David Luthy (125) were honored before the match as the Warriors' two seniors. Luthy was a two-year starter in the ESU lineup, and Mallory started all four years of his career at 174 through 197.

ESU will head to Pitt-Johnstown next weekend for the NCAA Division II East Regional, with the top four finishers in each weight class punching a ticket to Omaha, Nebraska for the Division II Championships on March 12-13.


ESU 29, Kutztown 11

197 - Ed Ebewo (ESU) dec. Scott Snyder, 3-1 sv1 (ESU 3-0)
285 - Kevin Bolinsky (KU) dec. Erik Schaffer, 5-2 (tied 3-3)
125 - Chris Sheetz (KU) pinned David Luthy, 5:37 (KU 9-3)
133 - Andrew Arnold (ESU) maj. dec. Clayton Youtz, 13-4 (KU 9-7)
141 - Adam Hluschak (ESU) dec. John Paukovits, 7-6, KU deducted one team point (ESU 10-8)
149 - Eddie Stephenson (ESU) pinned Brett Martinez, 1:56 (ESU 16-8)
157 - Thad Frick (ESU) maj. dec. Anthony Frost, 20-8 (ESU 20-8)
165 - Jeff Jacobs (ESU) pinned David Zeek, 1:41 (ESU 26-8)
174 - Alex Depew (KU) dec. Ken Monarque, 6-1 (ESU 26-11)
184 - Shane Mallory (ESU) dec. No. 6 Tim Darling, 8-6 (ESU 29-11)


NCAA Division II East Region Rankings
125 - No. 3 Chris Sheetz (KU)
133 - No. 5 Austin Williams (KU
141 - No. 6 John Paukovits (KU)
149 - No. 6 Brett Martinez (KU)
157 - No. 5 Thad Frick (ESU)
165 - No. 3 David Zeek (KU)
174 - No. 4 Ken Monarque (ESU)
184 - No. 1 Tim Darling (KU); No. 6 Shane Mallory (ESU)
197 - No. 5 Scotty Snyder (KU)
285 - No. 2 Kevin Bolinsky (KU)