Thursday's match will be broadcast live by Shippensburg University student radio station WSYC 88.7 FM and will also be available on the internet at http://www.wsyc.org/webcast.html. The pre-match broadcast will begin at 6:55 p.m., with Bill Morgal handling the play-by-play.
The matchup will not only feature two of the top teams in the nation, but also two of the best teams in the NCAA Division II East Region. At last year's East Region championship, Shippensburg finished third in the tournament with 94.5 points while Pitt-Johnstown won the event with 143.0 points. Mercyhurst College was second with 132 points.
The two teams had a total of 11 wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships last season, including six from Shippensburg and five from Pittsburgh-Johnstown. All but three of those wrestlers are back this year with all eight of them scheduled to compete on Thursday night.
Thursday's competition will also feature nine wrestlers who are currently ranked among the top-eight in their respective weight classes. Among the five individually-ranked wrestlers, two of them won national championships last year and another finished as the runner-up.
Senior Corey Jacoby (Hanover, Pa./Delone Catholic) won the Red Raiders' first national championship a year ago, capturing the title at 197 pounds. For UPJ, senior Thad Benton was the 2005 NCAA champion at 141 pounds while senior Ryon Mazzocco was the runner-up at 125 pounds. All three are ranked No. 1 in their weight class. In addition, Mountain Cat sophomore Mike Corcetti is ranked No. 1 at 184 pounds.
In addition to Jacoby, Shippensburg has three other ranked wrestlers including senior Jamie Thomas (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) who is No. 3 at 125 pounds, junior Mark Murphy (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York) who is ranked No. 2 at 184 pounds and senior Jake Lininger (Camp Hill, Pa./Lower Dauphin) who is No. 7 at heavyweight.
Other ranked wrestlers for Pittsburgh-Johnstown include junior Eli Garshnick and senior Zach Machocha who were each ranked No. 6 at 174 pounds and heavyweight, respectively.
The highlighted matches of the evening are at 125 and 184 pounds, as well as heavyweight. At 125, Mazzocco and Thomas will both be looking to gain an advantage in their competitive rivalry after the two split their two meetings against each other last year. Thomas won the first meeting between the two in a dual meet on December 1, 6-4, before Mazzocco won the second meeting 3-2 on January 21 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals.
Thomas earned All-America honors for the second-straight year last season at 125 pounds, finishing sixth at the NCAA championships after earning a fourth-place finish at the NCAA East Region championships. Mazzocco, the 2005 East Region champion at 125, finished second at the NCAA championships.
Murphy will be trying to avenge one of just four losses he suffered at 184 pounds a year ago when he faces UPJ's Corcetti in a match-up of the top two wrestlers in Division II. On Feb. 26, 2005, Corcetti edged Murphy at the NCAA East Region championships, 6-5. Murphy placed fourth at the East Region championships a year ago and fifth at the NCAA championships. Meanwhile, Corcetti finsihed third and fourth at the East Region and NCAA championships, respectively.
In a memorable season last year, Jacoby faced UPJ four times en route to his 197-pound national championship. He went 3-1 against the Mountain Cats, defeating Mike Fowler twice and Howard Bell once. Bell was able to hand Jacoby one of just three losses during a 34-3 record last year, defeating him 3-2 in the championship match at the East Region championship.
With Bell lost to graduation, Jacoby will face Fowler, now a junior, who split time with Bell at 197 last year. Jacoby edged out a 1-0 decision on November 7 at the West Virginia University Open before taking an 8-4 victory on December 1 in the teams' dual meet. Fowler posted an overall record of 21-8 last year with 12 pins.
Another key match on Thursday will be at heavyweight where Lininger will meet UPJ senior Zach Majocha. Majocha qualified for the NCAA championships last season, but an injury prevented him from wrestling. After spending the previous three seasons in Division I with the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Minnesota, Lininger placed second on November 19 at the East Stroudsburg University Open in his first competition with Shippensburg.
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