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Final Bracket  l  Team Scores  l  ESU Friday Recap

PEMBROKE, N.C. – Redshirt senior Ed Ebewo won the regional title at 197 pounds and redshirt senior Thad Frick (165) and redshirt sophomores Braden Turner (157) and Brendan McKeown (174) also earned spots in the NCAA Division II Championship field on Saturday at the Super Region 1 Tournament at UNC-Pembroke.

Ebewo became ESU's second regional champion in two years – and earned his second straight trip to the NCAA's – with a 4-0 weekend in the only bracket to hold true to form, with all four of the top seeds in the semifinals.

He won a 2-1 decision over No. 8 Jake Donley (West Liberty) in the quarterfinals on Friday night, then came back with a 7-3 decision over No. 4 Jon Moore (Pitt-Johnstown) in the semis. He posted a 3-2 decision over No. 2 Shane Nolan (UNC-Pembroke) to join Jeff Jacobs, last year's 174-pound champion, as Warriors to earn regional titles in Division II.

Turner and McKeown, both No. 6 seeds, were the runners-up in their brackets after going through the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed in the semifinals to punch their tickets to Colorado State-Pueblo, where the NCAA Championships will be held March 9-10.

Frick, seeded No. 8, wrestled back through four consolation bouts to place third and give the Warriors four national qualifiers, matching their total from the last two years. ESU is one of four schools in the region to send four wrestlers to the NCAA Championships and finished sixth out of 13 schools in the team standings.

The Warriors' three semifinalists – Turner, McKeown and Ebewo – all had outstanding mornings on Saturday to advance to the NCAA's.

Turner, who upset No. 3 Zach Lundgren (UPJ) with a 1-0 decision in the quarters, earned a 4-3 decision over No. 2 Taylor Knapp (Newberry) in the semis. He had a first-period takedown, built his riding time in the second period, and used the riding time point to secure the victory after Knapp had a takedown and Turner escaped in the third.

Turner fell 6-4:sv1 to No. 4 Jarrod Shaw (West Liberty), a national qualifier at 165 last year, in the final after Turner led 1-0 through two periods. Turner gained two back points in the third before Shaw escaped and earned a takedown to even the bout at 3-3. Shaw picked up his fourth point on a stalling call, and Turner had the riding time advantage to send it to sudden victory at 4-4 before Shaw won it with a takedown.

At 174, McKeown followed his 10-8:sv1 decision over No. 3 Travis McKillop (UPJ) in the quarters with a 13-8 decision over No. 2 August Mizia (Mercyhurst) in the semis. McKeown, who entered the regional with an 8-5 record after missing two months due to injury, had two takedowns and a three-point cradle in the first period, then scored three more takedowns in the final two periods to build his lead.

In the final, McKeown fell to No. 1 seed Travis Sheehy (Newberry), the team champion, by an 11-4 score. The Wolves had three champions, another finalists and seven total national qualifiers in winning their fifth straight regional title by a 131-100.5 margin over Pitt-Johnstown.

Ebewo, the third-place finisher at 197 last year, went through UPJ's Jon Moore, the No. 4 seed, with a 7-3 decision in the semis on the strength of three takedowns and an escape. He won the regional title with a first-period takedown and two escapes for a 3-2 margin over Nolan, a 2010 national qualifier, in the final.

Frick won three matches on Saturday to go 4-0 overall in the consolations after falling 8-1 to No. 1 Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke), the eventual 165-pound champion, in the quarterfinals on Friday night.

Frick sealed his trip with a 3-2 decision over Robert Blotzer (Gannon) in the consolation finals, using a first-period takedown to take control of the bout and finish third in the region. He advanced to that bout by injury default over No. 6 Neil Grudi (Shippensburg) after taking Grudi down twice in the first period. He opened the day with an 8-2 decision of Logan Shirey (UPJ) in the consolation quarters after posting a first-period pin in 1:14 of Dalton Harper (Anderson) in his first consolation bout on Friday.

ESU had two other wrestlers, No. 3 seed Adam Hluschak (141) and redshirt junior Joe Blaes (285), who saw their seasons end on Saturday.

Hluschak, a national qualifier as the regional runner-up two years ago, lost a 7-1 decision to Andrew Fisher (Seton Hill) in their consolation quarterfinal match-up in the morning session. Hluschak finishes the season with a 29-8 record with 17 bonus point wins (five falls, four tech. falls and eight majors) and was 16-2 in duals for the Warriors. He had 79 career wins and posted 21, 26 and 29 wins over his last three seasons.

Blaes lost a 6-3 decision to No. 6 Brandan Clark in the consolation quarters after upsetting No. 7 Blake Lucas (Ohio Valley) with an 11-3 major decision in his first consolation bout on Friday night. Blaes wrestled up at 285 all season after entering the year as Ebewo's backup at 197.

Seven ESU wrestlers have qualified for the NCAA Championships in its first three seasons in Division II. Shane Mallory, the national runner-up at 184, and Hluschak went in 2010 and Ebewo and Jacobs went last year.


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 (29-8)
Quarters – No. 6 Daniel Ownbey (UNC-Pembroke) pinned Hluschak, 1:30
Consolations – Hluschak dec. Kyle Honeycutt (Ohio Valley), 6-1
Cons. Quarters – Andrew Fisher (Seton Hill) dec. Hluschak, 7-1

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 (23-13) – 2nd (National Qualifier)
Quarters – Turner dec. No. 3 Zach Lundgren (UPJ), 1-0
Semis – Turner dec. No. 2 Taylor Knapp (Newberry), 4-3
Finals – No. 4 Jarrod Shaw (West Liberty) dec. Turner, 6-4:sv1

165 – No. 8 Thad Frick (24-9) – 3rd (National Qualifier)
Quarters – No. 1 Mike Williams (UNC-Pembroke) dec. Frick, 8-1
Consolations – Frick pinned Dalton Harper (Anderson), 1:14
Cons. Quarters – Frick dec. Logan Shirey (UPJ), 8-2
Cons. Semis – Frick over No. 6 Neil Grudi (Shippensburg), injury default
Cons. Final – Frick dec. Robert Blotzer (Gannon), 3-2

174 – No. 6 Brendan McKeown (11-6) – 2nd (National Qualifier)
1st Round – McKeown maj. dec. Seth Frisby-Jack (Ohio Valley), 17-6
Quarters – McKeown dec. No. 3 Travis McKillop (UPJ), 10-8:sv1
Semis – McKeown dec. No. 2 August Mizia (Mercyhurst), 13-8
Finals – No. 1 Travis Sheehy (Newberry) dec. McKeown, 11-4

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 (19-4) – 1st (National Qualifier)
1st Round – Ebewo tech. fall Ilie Cojocaru (AIC), 19-0; 7:00
Quarters – Ebewo dec. No. 8 Jake Donley (West Liberty), 2-1
Semis – Ebewo dec. No. 4 Jon Moore (UPJ), 7-3
Finals – Ebewo dec. No. 2 Shane Nolan (UNC-Pembroke), 3-2

285 – Joe Blaes (5-16)
1st Round – No. 1 Jake Elkins (Newberry) pinned Blaes, 2:46
Consolations – Blaes maj. dec. No. 7 Blake Lucas (Ohio Valley), 11-3
Cons. Quarters – No. 6 Brandan Clark (Kutztown) dec. Blaes, 7-3