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PEMBROKE, N.C. – Top-seeded redshirt senior Ed Ebewo (197) and No. 6-seeded redshirt sophomores Braden Turner (157) and Brendan McKeown (174) give East Stroudsburg University three semifinalists after the first day of the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Tournament at UNC-Pembroke.

Three other Warriors – redshirt senior Adam Hluschak (141), redshirt senior Thad Frick (165) and redshirt junior Joe Blaes (285) – are still alive in the consolations as they wrestle for one of four spots in each weight class to the NCAA Division II Championships.

ESU's semifinalists all won close matches to advance in the championship bracket.

Ebewo, ranked No. 7 in Division II, opened with a 19-0 technical fall of Ilie Cojocaru (American International) before edging No. 8 seed Jake Donley (West Liberty) with a 2-1 decision in the quarters. Ebewo earned a second-period escape and Donley escaped in the third period before conceding a point for stalling with both wrestlers on their feet.

Ebewo (17-4), the third-place finisher last year to earn a spot in the NCAA Championships, advances to face No. 4 seed Jon Moore (Pitt-Johnstown), who moved on with an 11-2 major decision of No. 5 Michael Pollard (Mercyhurst), in Saturday's semifinal round which begins at 11 a.m. In the bottom half of the 197-pound bracket, No. 2 Shane Nolan (UNC-Pembroke) faces No. 3 Zach Anderson (Newberry).

Turner posted a 1-0 decision over No. 3 Zach Lundgren (Pitt-Johnstown) in the quarters after an opening round bye. There was no scoring until Turner started on bottom and escaped about 20 seconds into the third period, and he held on to give the Warriors their first semifinalist. Turner (22-12) will face No. 2 Taylor Knapp (Newberry), who won by fall and major decision.

McKeown (10-5), who returned earlier this month after missing two months due to injury, was on the mat for two matches to set up his semifinal meeting with No. 2 seed August Mizia (Mercyhurst) on Saturday. He started with a 17-6 major decision of Seth Frisby-Jack (Ohio Valley) before earning a 10-8:sv1 decision over No. 3 Travis McKillop – his second win over McKillop this season, both in sudden victory.

McKeown led going into the third period and built his lead with an escape, before McKillop scored a takedown and back points to surge into control of the match. McKeown answered with a reversal to move within one and had the riding time advantage to force an 8-8 tie at the end of seven minutes. He won the bout with a takedown in the first sudden victory period, repeating his 6-4:sv2 win in a dual on December 7.

Hluschak, the No. 3 seed at 141, suffered a first-period pin (1:50) to No. 6 Daniel Ownbey (UNC-Pembroke) in the quarterfinals but rebounded with a 6-1 decision over Kyle Honeycutt (Ohio Valley) in his first consolation bout. The loss to Ownbey ended an 11-match winning streak for Hluschak.

A national qualifier and the regional runner-up as a sophomore, Hluschak will face Andrew Fisher (Seton Hill) in the consolation quarterfinals on Saturday morning. He lost a 5-4 decision to Fisher on December 17 before going on a 14-1 tear to finish the regular season. Hluschak takes a 29-7 record into Saturday.

Frick (21-9), seeded No. 8 at 165, drew a first-round match-up with two-time regional champ and returning All-American Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) in the quarterfinals. He lost an 8-1 decision to Williams but came back with a first-period pin in 1:14 of Dalton Harper (Anderson), and will take on Logan Shirey (Pitt-Johnstown) in the consolation quarters.

Blaes finished the night for the Warriors with an 11-3 major decision of No. 7 Blake Lucas (Ohio Valley) to extend his season. A 197-pounder who has wrestled up at 285 all season, Blaes took a first-period fall at the hands of No. 1 Jake Elkins (Newberry) in the first round before rallying to take down Lucas. He will face No. 6 Brandan Clark (Kutztown) in the consolation quarters and wrestled Clark tough in a 3-2 loss in the PSAC Championships in December.

ESU's other four entrants – freshman Zach Jones (125), freshman Chris Davis (133), redshirt senior Andrew Ritchie (149) and redshirt sophomore Will Esposito (184) – dropped both of their matches on Friday.

ESU is seventh in the region's team standings with 25.5 points going into Saturday, one point behind Gannon, a half-point ahead of American International and 1.5 points ahead of Shippensburg.

Newberry, the four-time defending region champion, has all 10 wrestlers alive, including seven in the championship round, for a commanding 66-51 lead over Pitt-Johnstown, which has five alive in the semifinals and four more in the consolations. Kutztown (39.0) is third, Mercyhurst (39.0) is fourth and West Liberty (34.5) is fifth.

The championship and consolation semifinals begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Championship action is slated for 2:30 p.m.




125 – No. 8 Zach Jones (8-17)
1st Round – Cory Monteforte (Anderson) dec. Jones, 6-4
Consolations – No. 7 Este Lara (AIC) maj. dec. Jones, 11-3

133 – Chris Davis (6-23)
1st Round – No. 2 Evan Yenolevich (Kutztown) pinned Davis, 0:37
Consolations – Doug Maiorana (UPJ) pinned Davis, 1:26

141 – No. 3 Adam Hluschak (29-7) – Consolations
Quarters – No. 6 Daniel Ownbey (UNC-Pembroke) pinned Hluschak, 1:30
Consolations – Hluschak dec. Kyle Honeycutt (Ohio Valley), 6-1
Next match – Andrew Fisher (Seton Hill)

149 – Andrew Ritchie (12-16)
No. 1 Deral Brown (Newberry) dec. Ritchie, 8-2
Consolations – Michael Griffith (Mercyhurst) dec. Ritchie, 7-1

157 – No. 6 Braden Turner (22-12) – Semis
Quarters – Turner dec. No. 3 Zach Lundgren (UPJ), 1-0
Semis – No. 2 Taylor Knapp (Newberry)

165 – No. 8 Thad Frick (21-9) – Consolations
Quarters – No. 1 Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) dec. Frick, 8-1
Consolations – Frick pinned Dalton Harper (Anderson), 1:14
Next match – Logan Shirey (UPJ)

174 – No. 6 Brendan McKeown (10-5) – Semis
1st Round – McKeown maj. dec. Seth Frisby-Jack (Ohio Valley), 17-6
Quarters – McKeown dec. No. 3 Travis McKillop (UPJ), 10-8:sv1
Semis – No. 2 August Mizia (Mercyhurst)

184 – Will Esposito (1-15)
1st Round – No. 5 Shiheen Bryant (UNC-Pembroke) maj. dec. Esposito, 13-2
Consolations – No. 3 Mitchell Brown (Newberry) maj. dec. Esposito, 14-3

197 – No. 1 Ed Ebewo (17-4) – Semis
1st Round – Ebewo tech. fall Ilie Cojocaru (AIC), 19-0; 7:00
Quarters – Ebewo dec. No. 8 Jake Donley (West Liberty), 2-1
Semis – No. 4 Jon Moore (UPJ)

285 – Joe Blaes (5-15) – Consolations
1st Round – No. 1 Jake Elkins (Newberry) pinned Blaes, 2:46
Consolations – Blaes maj. dec. No. 7 Blake Lucas (Ohio Valley), 11-3
Next match – No. 6 Brandan Clark (Kutztown)