Edinboro's champions included Paul Donahoe (below right) at 125 lbs., Ricky Deubel (left) at 133 lbs., and Gregor Gillespie (below left) at 157 lbs. Kyle Fluke finished second at 125 lbs., with Jarrod King second at 165 lbs. Eric Morrill, who is redshirting this year, was fourth at 125 lbs. Shawn Fendone was fourth at 184 lbs., while teammate Chris Honeycutt was sixth. Torsten Gillespie placed seventh at 149 lbs.
Donahoe and Fluke squared off in the finals at 125 lbs. Donahoe, a transfer from Nebraska who was a two-time All-American and a national champion in 2007, was making his debut as a Fighting Scot. He improved to 17-0 with a technical fall over Fluke, winning 21-5. Fluke continued his recent resurgence after a slow start and is now 17-9 with the second place finish.
Deubel may have been the biggest surprise of the tournament, and may have turned in the best wrestling of his career. The senior was the fifth seed, and won all five of his matches, with a pair of big upsets on Tuesday. He used a third period takedown for a 2-1 win over tenth-ranked and third-seeded Lou Ruggirello of Hofstra. In the semifinals he upset the top seed, Mike Grey of Cornell, 6-4. Deubel is now 16-8 and has a 90-46 career record.
Gregor Gillespie met a familiar foe in Bloomsburg's Matt Moley. Gillespie came in as the top-ranked wrestler at 157 lbs., while Moley is ranked ninth. The two had met in the PSAC Championships earlier this month, with Gillespie prevailing 3-0. The three-time All-American captured his first Southern Scuffle title with a 5-1 decision. Gillespie is now 23-0, moving him to 134-10 for his career. He moved past Matt King and Shawn Bunch into fourth place in career wins, and is now just 12 wins shy of breaking the school record.
Jarrod King just missed joining this trio as a champion and also posting one of the big upsets of the tournament. He led Cornell's Mack Lewnes, the top ranked wrestler at 165 lbs., late in the match, but Lewnes registered a late takedown for a 3-2 win. King came in ranked sixth. He defeated 19th-ranked Keegan Mueller of North Carolina, 7-4, in the semifinals. He is now 21-2 on the season.
Edinboro had a pair of competitors reach the semifinals at 184 lbs. in Chris Honeycutt and Shawn Fendone. A year ago Honeycutt, a true freshman, turned in a memorable showing as he took home third place after coming in as the backup. This year's Southern Scuffle could prove memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. In his consolation semifinal he lost by injury default at 3:30 to 17th-ranked Justin Kerber of Cornell. He then gave up a medical forfeit to Tommy Spellman of Virginia Tech in the fifth place match.
A long-term injury could prove very costly for the Fighting Scots with regulars Phil Moricone (174 lbs.) and Pat Bradshaw (197 lbs.) already out. Honeycutt, who came in ranked tenth, falls to 17-4.
Fendone stepped up for the second time this year after previously finishing second at the Oklahoma Gold Classic. The sophomore took home fourth place, suffering a 7-2 loss to Kerber in the third place match. The match before that he handed Spellman a 12-0 defeat. Fendone is now 7-3.
Morrill and Torsten Gillespie completed the group of placewinners. Morrill dropped the third place match to Kent State's Nic Bedelyon, 4-2. Gillespie placed seventh thanks to a 10-2 major decision over Frankie Gayeski of Liberty. Ranked 15th at 149 lbs., Gillespie finished 5-2 to boost his season record to 20-8.
Joey Fendone failed to place while competing in a loaded heavyweight field. The senior picked up a pair of wins on Monday, but lost both of his matches on Tuesday. Ranked eighth, he dropped a 5-3 decision to 12th-ranked Scott Steele of Navy in the quarterfinals, then lost by fall in 40 seconds to Cornell's Zach Hammond, ranked 12th. Fendone is 16-3.
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