Super Region 1 Bracket / UPJ tournament central page

JOHNSTOWN – East Stroudsburg University will have six seeded wrestlers take the mat when the Warriors open the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Championships on Friday at Pitt-Johnstown after the seeding for the tournament was held Thursday night.

The first round, quarterfinals and first and second rounds of consolations will be held on Friday, with the remainder of the championship action scheduled for two sessions on Saturday. The top four finishers at each weight class will punch their ticket to the NCAA Division II Championships on March 12-13 at Nebraska-Omaha.

Redshirt junior Jeff Jacobs (165) is the Warriors' top-seeded wrestler, landing at No. 3 in his bracket, after compiling a 21-12 record this season. He will face Randall Wagner of Seton Hill in his first match. Jacobs has wrestled each of the top three seeds in his bracket – No. 1 Josh Shields (Mercyhurst), No. 2 Kyle Keane (Pitt-Johnstown) and No. 4 Dave Zeek (Kutztown), including a first-period pin of Zeek in the Warriors' win over the Golden Bears last week.

Two Warriors are seeded fourth, redshirt sophomore Thad Frick (157, 22-10) and redshirt senior Shane Mallory (184, 21-6). Both have been very good in tournament action during their careers, as Frick finished fourth at the Wilkes Open this year and wrestled into the second day of the EIWA Championships and the Southern Scuffle as a redshirt freshman. Mallory's career includes three straight top-three finishes in the PSAC, where he was the runner-up this year, and second-place finishes in the ESU Open and Wilkes Open.

Redshirt sophomore Adam Hluschak (141, 17-13) and junior Ed Ebewo (197, 16-13) are both seeded fifth in their brackets. Hluschak placed fifth in the PSAC this year and Ebewo was third in the Wilkes Open and advanced to the second day of the EIWA Championships last winter.

Sophomore Eddie Stephenson (149, 8-14) is seventh and rounds out ESU's six seeded wrestlers. He faces Brett Martinez of Kutztown in the first round, a rematch of Stephenson's first-period pin (1:56) of Martinez in last week's dual.

Redshirt junior David Luthy (125, 2-18), redshirt sophomore Andrew Arnold (133, 15-15), junior Jesse Dunn (174, 3-3) and freshman Erik Schaffer (285, 4-5) complete the Warriors' entrants. Arnold has a team-high six pins and 12 bonus point wins and faces No. 2 seed Sheridan Moran of Newberry, ranked fourth in Division II, in his first match. Schaffer takes on No. 3 Fred Hale of Mercyhurst in the first round and is coming off a 5-2 loss to No. 2 seed Kevin Bolinsky of Kutztown in his only dual action of the year.

First Round Matches
125 – David Luthy vs. No. 8 Este Lara (American International)
133 – Andrew Arnold vs. No. 2 Sheridan Moran (Newberry)
141 – No. 5 Adam Hluschak vs. Wesley Whitman (UNC-Pembroke)
149 – No. 7 Eddie Stephenson vs. Brett Martinez (Kutztown)
157 – No. 4 Thad Frick vs. Mikel Bush (Limestone)
165 – No. 3 Jeff Jacobs vs. Randall Wagner (Seton Hill)
174 – Jesse Dunn vs. No. 7 Lewis Spadaro (Seton Hill)
184 – No. 4 Shane Mallory vs. No. 5 Landon Hall (Limestone)/Greg Polhemus (St. Andrew's Presbyterian)
197 – No. 5 Ed Ebewo vs. Greg Vanucci (Seton Hill)
285 – Erik Schaffer vs. No. 3 Fred Hale (Mercyhurst)