Edinboro finished with 121.5 points to easily outdistance second-place and defending champion Rider (75 points). Lock Haven was third (71.5 points) in the seven-team field. Lock Haven's Ronnie Perry was selected as the Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 141 lb. title.
More importantly, seven Edinboro wrestlers accounted for the EWL's allotment of 17 automatic qualifiers and qualified for the upcoming NCAA Division I National Championships on March 16-18.
"We wrestled good," related Flynn. "We qualified seven guys for Nationals. We're real happy with that. It's hard to get wins in March. We were hungry. I thought we scored points when we had to, and a couple guys two when they were down. This is nice for the kids. They like to get their pictures up on the wall. We didn't win last year."
Redshirt sophomore Sean Russell (32-6), ranked ninth by InterMat, earned his second trip to Nationals after winning his second straight 125 lb. title thanks to an 11-3 major decision over Clarion's Jake Gromacki.
Patricio Lugo and Billy Miller will also be going to Nationals for the second time after winning their first EWL crowns. Lugo, a sophomore, finished a dominant day with a 17-2 technical fall (6:34) over Sahid Kargbo of George Mason at 149 lbs. Ranked ninth by InterMat, Lugo improved to 30-7 while winning twice by fall along with the technical fall.
Miller (31-9) had a much more arduous path to the heavyweight championship. He needed overtime in two of his three matches, winning a 7-3 decision in a tiebreaker over Thomas Haines of Lock haven in the finals. It marked the third time that Miller, ranked 12th, and Haines, ranked 11th, had met this year, with Haines winning the first two by identical 4-3 decisions. Miller trailed 3-2 after Haines escaped in the first 30 second tiebreaker, but Miller would grab a 4-3 lead just before the buzzer with a takedown. An escape and another takedown in the second 30-second session clinched the title.
Three other EWL champions will be making their first trip to Nationals. Redshirt freshman Korbin Myers (29-10), ranked 20th, also needed a tiebreaker to defeat Lock Haven's DJ Fehlman by a 7-4 decision. Myers won thanks to a reversal and penalty point in the second 30-second period.
With just one spot available at 174 lbs., Ty Schoffstall knew he needed to finish first to reach Nationals. The redshirt junior did just that, picking up a grueling 12-8 decision over Adam Mackie of Lock Haven. Schoffstall will take a 20-9 record to Nationalds.
Freshman Dakota Geer also competed in a weight class with just one automatic qualifier, and although he probably had a trip to St. Louis locked up, he left no doubt by winning a 6-3 decision over Cleveland State's Nick Corba in the finals at 184 lbs. Geer is ranked 15th and has a 29-8 record.
Austin Matthews is Edinboro's seventh national qualifier after finishing second at 165 lbs. The redshirt junior, ranked 11th with an 18-7 record, will make his third ytip to Nationals He went last year as the 157 lb. champion, and in 2014 while wrestling for Clarion. Matthews dropped a 9-5 decision to fifth-ranked Chad Walsh of Rider in a rematch of last year's 157 lb. finals which Matthews won.
Chase Delande (20-16) had a chance to make it eight qualifiers with a win at 157 lbs., but the redshirt junior lost a 9-1 major decision to Rider's B.J. Clagon, ranked 18th, for the lone qualifying spot. Redshirt freshman Dylan Reynolds (14-19) finished fourth at 197 lbs.
2017 EWL CHAMPIONSHIPS
FINAL TEAM SCORES
1. EDINBORO -- 121.5 points
2. Rider -- 75
3. Lock Haven -- 71.5
4. Clarioin -- 48.5
5. George Mason -- 27.5
6. Cleveland State -- 21
7. Bloomsburg -- 5.5
OUTSTANDING WRESTLER -- Ronnie Perry, Lock Haven (141 lbs.)
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES
133 lbs. -- Korbin Myers (EU) dec. DJ Fehlman (LHU), 7-4 tb1
141 lbs. -- Ronnie Perry (LHU) dec. Brock Zacherl (CU), 5-3
149 lbs. -- Patricio Lugo (EU) tech. fall Sahid Kargbo (GMU), 17-2 (6:34)
165 lbs. -- Chad Walsh (RU) dec. Austin Matthews (EU), 9-5
285 lbs. -- Billy Miller (EU) dec. Thomas Haines (LHU), 7-3 tb1
125 lb. -- Sean Russell (EU) maj. dec. Jake Gromacki (CU), 11-3
157 lbs. -- B.J. Clagon (RU) maj. dec. Chase Delande (EU), 9-1
174 lbs. -- Ty Schoffstall (EU) dec. Adam Mackie (LHU), 12-8
184 lbs. -- Dakota Geer (EU) dec. Nick Corba (CSU), 6-3
197 lbs. -- Ryan Wolfe (RU) dec. Dustin Conti (CU), 9-2
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