ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WRESTLING
Satur day, February 19, 2005

Elizabethtown Finishes 6th At MAC Championships; Kyle Hart Wins 157-lb. Title, Advances to NCAA Championships; Rob Bozart 2nd at 149 lbs.; Eric Walker Tri-Coach of the Year

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College's wrestling team, which had not finished higher than eighth at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships since 2001, had not had a wrestler make the NCAA Division III Championship field since 2000, and had not had a wrestler earn an individual MAC title since 1998, accomplished all of those things Saturday. Finishing sixth out of eight teams with 46.5 points, the Blue Jays defeated both the University of Scranton and Albright College, two teams to which Etown had lost during the dual match season when the Blue Jays had to forfeit several weight classes due to a lack of healthy competitors.

Highlighting the day's performances was the 157 pound MAC Championship won by Etown junior and first-year wrestler Kyle Hart (Marlton, NJ). Hart, who posted a 9-9 record during the season prior to the MAC Championships, went 3-0 for the day, knocking off Anthony Dill of Messiah College 9-4 and nationally eighth-ranked Nick Barber of the University of Scranton 5-2 to reach the championship bout against Drew Dehaut of King's College. There, he defeated Dehaut, who was last year's fourth-place finisher, on a 10-8 decision in overtime.

Not only is Hart Etown's first MAC individual champion since 1998, by virtue of the MAC Championship's status as an NCAA Division III Championship qualifying tournament, he will also become the first Etown wrestler to go the national championships since 2000. The winners of each weight class at the MAC Championships automatically go on to the NCAA Championships, along with two wild card NCAA berths from the MAC.

At 149 pounds, Etown sophomore Rob Bozart (Champ Hill, PA/Cedar Cliff) became Etown's first second-place finisher at the MAC Championships since 2001. Bozart, who finished fourth as a first-year student last year, defeated Chris Sullivan of King's 3-2 in the opening round, won 9-7 over Scranton's Donell Young in the second round, and lost to Rick Frondorf of Delaware Valley College in 3:10 technical fall in the championship bout.

Also winning a bout for Etown was first-year student Jason Bell (Perry Hall, MD/Calvert Hall College), who won on a pin in 3:17 against Zach Dietrik of King's in the first round of the consolation bracket at 174 pounds. He went on to place sixth after narrowly losing a 3-2 decision to Tony Valenti of Messiah in the next round.

Etown head coach Eric Walker, an Elizabethtown, Pa. native who took the reins of the program in the summer of 2003, shared MAC Tri-Coach of the Year honors with Brandon Totten of MAC Championship winner Delaware Valley College and Bryan Brunk of Messiah College.

The NCAA Division III Championships will be held March 4 and 5 at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.

at Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
2005 Middle Atlantic Conference Wrestling Championships
Team Standings:
1. Delaware Valley College, 175.00 points
2. Lycoming College, 131.50 points
3. Messiah College, 117.00 points
4. King's College, 95.00 points
5. Wilkes University, 87.50 points
6. Elizabethtown College, 46.50 points
7. University of Scranton, 40.50 points
8. Albright College, 23.50 points

Etown individual results:
125 – Jeremy Mayer (Wilkes) dec. Peter Achilles (E), 6-1
125 – Rich Russell (Scranton) pinned Peter Achilles (E), 2:56
133 – Geoff Harner (Messiah) tech. fall Justin Martin (E), 4:08
133 – Wade Ginter (Albright) pinned Justin Martin (E), 6:01
Justin Martin places sixth at 133 lbs.
141 – Joe Leva (Scranton) dec. Tom Elicker (E), 10-8
141 – Eric Snyder (Lycoming) tech. fall Tom Elicker (E), 6:22
149 – Rob Bozart (E) dec. Chris Sullivan (King's), 3-2
149 – Rob Bozart (E) dec. Donell Young (Scranton), 9-7
149 – Rick Frondorf (Delaware Valley) tech. fall Rob Bozart (E)
Rob Bozart is the 2005 MAC Runner-up at 149 lbs.
157 – Kyle Hart (E) dec. Anthony Dill (Messiah), 9-4
157 – Kyle Hart (E) dec. Nick Barber (Scranton), 5-2
157 – Kyle Hart (E) dec. Drew Dehaut (King's), 10-8 (OT)
Kyle Hart is the 2005 MAC Champion at 157 lbs.
165 – Derek Ricker (Messiah), default win over Eric Kelley (E)
165 – Tom Leggio (Wilkes), default win over Eric Kelley (E)
174 – Kyle Lenio (Wilkes) pinned Jason Bell (E), 1:45
174 – Jason Bell (E) pinned Zach Dietrick (King's), 3:17
174 – Tony Valenti (Messiah) dec. Jason Bell (E), 3-2
Jason Bell places sixth at 174 lbs.
184 – Tim Pentz (Messiah), default win over Dan Stoner (E)
184 – Paul LaPlaca (Albright), default win over Dan Stoner (E)
197 – Kevin Colton Craig (Lycoming) pinned Chad Bartholomew (E), 0:57
197 – Jason Reilly (King's) pinned Chad Bartholomew (E), 0:26
Chad Bartholomew places sixth at 197 lbs.
Hwt – Matt Carey (Wilkes) pinned Paul Mazzei (E), 0:43
Hwt – Ethan Bucarey (Messiah) pinned Paul Mazzein (E), 4:50
Paul Mazzei places sixth at heavyweight