Bloomsburg Wrestling Downs Lock Haven

BLOOMSBURG -- Dennis Bermudez's (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) sudden overtime victory against ninth-ranked Seth Martin propelled the Bloomsburg University wrestling team to a 24-9 win over Lock Haven in Friday night Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action at the Nelson Field House. The win came on Senior Night for the Huskies.

In a rematch of the 125-pound Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship bout, #10 Mike Sees (Northumberland/Shikellamy) fell to #12 Obeson Blanc of Lock Haven. Sees fell behind 5-0 on a takedown and a nearfall in the closing seconds of first period and only managed two escape points over the remaining periods to fall 8-2. With the win, Lock Haven jumped out to a 3-0 team lead.

At 133 pounds, Bloomsburg tied the match 3-3 with a 5-2 win from Ricky Donald (Millville/Bloomsburg) over Lock Haven's Nick Hyatt. With the match tied 2-2 after the first period, Donald recorded a takedown to gain a 4-2 advantage in the second and added a point from riding time to take the match 5-2.

The Huskies took their first lead of the night in the 141-pound match when Darren Kern (Pennsburg/Upper Perkioman) defeated Lock Haven's Zach Kell. After jumping out to a 5-0 lead on a takedown and a nearfall in the first period, Kern held on for a 6-4 win.

At 149 pounds, Matt Moley (Phoenixville/Spring-Ford) earned a 7-0 decision over Lock Haven's Donnie Ament. Moley took a 2-0 lead in the first period on a takedown. In the second, he extended his lead to 6-0 and then finished the match with a point from riding time to take the match 7-0 and give Bloomsburg a 9-3 lead.

In the most exciting match of the night, Bermudez upset the ninth-ranked Martin to earn a 9-7 sudden overtime victory at 157 pounds. Martin scored first in the match on a takedown but Bermudez countered with a takedown of his own to tie the match 2-2. Later in the first, Martin added an escape and a takedown to push his lead to 5-2 but Bermudez recorded an escape in the closing seconds of the period to bring the score to 5-3. Each wrestler added two points in the second to set the score to 7-5. In the third period, Bermudez scored on an escape and added a point from riding time to send the match into overtime where he won on a takedown.

In the 165-pound match, Ricky Schmelyun (New Oxford/Bermudian Springs) fell to the Bald Eagles' Landis Wright by a score of 8-4. Schmelyun took a 4-2 lead in the first period, but Wright scored on two takedowns in the second to gain the 6-4 advantage. Wright added another takedown in the third period to win the bout and close the Bloomsburg lead to 12-6.

At 174 pounds, Andrew Jordan (Newark, DE/St. Marks) defeated Michael Metzger of Lock Haven to extend the Bloomsburg lead to 15-6. Jordan took a 5-1 lead in the first period and held on to earn a 9-6 victory.

Nate Shirk (Middleburg/Middleburg) recorded a 7-4 win over Tom Kocher of Lock Haven at 184 pounds to push the Bloomsburg lead to 18-6. Shirk held a 2-1 advantage after the first period and then extended his lead to 5-2 in the second. In the third, Kocher pulled to within one point (5-4) on an escape and a stall point before Shirk closed out the period with a takedown to earn the 7-4 decision.

At 197 pounds, Lock Haven's Jeremie Cook came back from a 5-0 first period deficit to earn a 9-7 sudden overtime win over P.J. DiStefano (Whitehall/Whitehall-Coplay). Cook started his comeback in the second, closing the score to 6-2 before tying it up 7-7 in the third and earning the 9-7 win in overtime. The Lock Haven victory cut the Bloomsburg lead to 18-9.

In the final match of the night, 11th ranked heavyweight Mike Spaid (Perkiomenville/Boyertown) pinned Ben Hepburn of Lock Haven 1:38 into the bout. The pin was the 13th of the year for Spaid and it gave the Huskies a 24-9 win over the Bald Eagles.

With the loss, Lock Haven drops to 7-6, 1-4 EWL while the Huskies improved to 11-9 on the year, 4-2 in the EWL. Bloomsburg will be back in action on Sunday at 1:00 when the Huskies travel to East Stroudsburg for their last dual match of the season.

Bloomsburg 24, Lock Haven 9

February 16, 2007

Bloomsburg University, Nelson Field House

Senior Justin Thomas with Coach Stutzman
(Click for larger image)