MARTINEZ & TESTA EARN ALL-AMERICA HONORS

CLARION 26TH AT NCAA DIVISION I WRESTLING NATIONALS

        Clarion's Rad Martinez (Sr. West Jordan, Utah) and John Testa (Sr. Newark,

De.) earned NCAA Division I All-America honors and helped the Golden Eagles

placed 26th at the Division I Wrestling Nationals which concluded on

Saturday.

        Held at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, Oklahoma State won the

team title going away with 143 points, while two-time defending champion

Minnesota finished second with 104.5 and Oklahoma wa third with 78.

Rounding out the top five were Lehigh in fourth place with 69 points, and

Arizona State fifth with 65. Clarion finished in 26th place scoring 22

points with only four wrestlers qualifying for nationals.

        Rad Martinez soared to a fifth place finish at 133-pounds while posting an

impressive 4-2 record, and John Testa placed eighth at heavyweight while

going 3-3.

        Also wrestling at the NCAA's for Clarion were Eric Mausser (Sr. Sharon) at

197 and Frank Edgar (So. Toms River, N.J.). Mausser posted 3-2 and narrowly

missed an All-America placing while Edgar was 0-2.

        "I thought our guys showed they were well prepared and wrestled a good

tournament," said Clarion's sixth year head coach Ken Nellis. "I was very

pleased with our performance."

        Martinez entered the tournament unseeded, but that didn't deter the Golden

Eagle senior from coming within one point of going to the finals. In the

opening round Martinez scored a major decision over Oregon's Jason Harless

9-0. In round two he posted a 5-2 decision over Evan Sola of North

Carolina, then in the quarterfinals he notched an impressive 8-3 win over

WVU's Brandon Lauer. In the semi's Martinez faced #1 seed Johnny Thompson

of Oklahoma State. Leading Thompson 2-1 in the third period after scoring a

reversal, Martinez rode the eventual NCAA Champ until a controversial

stalling call tied the score at 2-2 with 23 seconds remaining. Thompson

scored an escape with 10 seconds remaining to win the bout 3-2. Martinez

lost to Penn State's Josh Moore 10-3 in the wrestle backs, but rebounded

with a strong 4-0 win over Iowa's #2 seed Cliff Moore to take fifth place.

        Rad, who became Clarion's 41st D-I All-American, finished the season with

a 41-10 overall record, the fourth winningest season in school history.

Also winning the PSAC title this season and placing third at EWL's, Rad

upped his career record to 98-27. In 2002 he was 28-7 overall, 0-2 at the

NCAA's and second at the EWL's and PSAC's. In 2001 he fashioned a 29-10

slate, placed 2nd at PSAC's and 4th at EWL's and also was 0-2 at the NCAA

Tournament.

        Testa, also a senior, earned his All-America honors with a 3-3 NCAA

record. Seeded #9, John opened the tournament with an 8-4 win over Tomas

Rodriguez (Kent State), then defeated #8 seed Garrett Lowney (Minnesota)

7-3. In the quarterfinals Testa met #1 seed Steve Mocco of Iowa and lost

7-1. In the All-America wrestle back round Testa scored a convincing 15-5

major decision over #10 seed Paul Hynek (Northern Iowa) before losing 12-4

to Boise State's Boe Rushton and 8-6 to Pennsylvania's Matt Feast to end

his season with an 8th place nationals finish.

        Testa finished his season with a 43-5 overall record, tied Mark Angle for

the second best single season win total behind Mike Cole's 48 wins in 1989.

Testa also won EWL and PSAC titles his season and was selected to the NWCA

All-Star match to establish himself as one of the top heavyweights. He

became only the 12th wrestler in PSAC history and the first heavyweight to

win 4 titles. He posted a 34-7 record in 2002 and was 2-2 at the NCAA's,

while also going 29-6 in 2001 and 1-2 at the NCAA's, and 28-11 in 2000 and

3-2 at the NCAA's. He finished his Clarion career with an overall record of

134-29 and ranks third in career wins behind Wade Schalles (153-5-1;

1970-74) and Mike Cole (150-31-2; 1984-89).

        Mausser, also a senior, again narrowly missed earning All-America status

at the NCAA's at 197-pounds. Unseeded, Mausser drew #2 seed Muhammad Lawal

(Ok. St.) and lost 13-3. In the wrestle backs Mausser defeated Greg Sawyer

(Rider) 6-0, Chris Jones of Drexel 5-0 and Anton Talamantes (Ohio State) ye

medical forfeit. In his next match he lost to Marcio Botelho (Boise State)

9-6 to end his career. Mausser was 37-9 in 2003, was 3-2 at the NCAA's,

placed third at EWL's and third at PSAC's. In 2002 he was 34-9 overall, 3-2

at the NCAA's and won the EWL and PSAC titles. In 2001 Eric 29-11 overall,

2-2 at nationals, third at EWL's and 4th at PSAC's, while in 1999 he was

25-16 overall, 0-2 at nationals and second at EWL's and PSAC's. Eric

finished his career with a record of 125-46. His 125 wins tied him for 5th

on the all-time list with Chuck Coryea (125-15, 1972-76) and Jim Beichner

(125-22; 1982-86).

        Edgar, a sophomore, went to the NCAA's for his second time and was 0-2. In

the opening round he drew #4 seed Jason Mester (Central Michigan) and lost

a hard fought 3-2 decision. In the wrestle backs he lost a 5-3 decision to

Ron Tarquinio (Pitt). Frank ended his season with a strong 26-18 overall

record, a 4th palce finish at EWL's and 5th at PSAC's. Edgar was 18-19

overall as a freshman in 2001 and was 4th at EWL's and PSAC's and selected

as an NCAA wild card to nationals. He was 1-2 at nationals as a freshman,

then sat out the 2002 season. Frank's career record is 42-35.

        CLARION NOTES: The Golden Eagles were 10-9 in matches at the NCAA's and

now have a 37-year NCAA record of 299-253 at nationals... Clarion now has

42 NCAA-I All-Americans including 8 NCAA Champions ... The titles came in

1972 (Garry Barton, Wade Schalles), 1973 (Don Rohn, Wade Schalles, Bill

Simpson), 1990 Kurt Angle, 1992- Kurt Angle and 1996 Sheldon Thomas... Mike

Cole wrestled the most matches by a Clarion wrestler at 183 ... Mausser was

second with 170 and Testa third with 160, while Schalles was fourth with

159... Clarion's three NCAA seniors (Martinez, Mausser, Testa) combined for

a season record of 121-24 and a career record of 357-101... The Eastern

Wrestling League had 7 All-Americans including two each from West Virginia

and Clarion, with one coming from Edinboro, Pitt and Lock Haven... Under

Ken Nellis the Eagles have been 24th at NCAA's in 1998, 27th in 1999, 26th

in 2000, 42nd in 2001, 41st in 2002 and 26th in 2003 ... Clarion finished

the regular season with a dual meet record of 9-8... Nellis' six-year

record is 40-51-2.