Three Individual Titles Help Bring Home Team Championship for JCU Wrestlers at RIT Invitational

(Dec. 2)

No matter what else happens to the John Carroll wrestling team for the rest of the season, they can lay claim to having made history this year.

Sparked by individual titles from sophomore Dan Kull (165), senior Pat Porowski (184) and junior Eric Urdzik (Hvy), John Carroll won its first title in the 35-year history of the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational.

The Blue Streaks, who had finished second on three other occasions during the run of the tournament, finished atop the standings this time around with 139.50 points, followed by Ithaca (132.00), Oswego (117.00), RIT (84.50), Case Western Reserve (81.50), Cortland State (70.00) and Wesleyan (44.50).

Kull, who was seeing his first action of the 2000-2001 season, went through a solid weight class to earn the title. His semifinal round victory and championship match victory were both by a single point. Kull defeated Bill Parry of Ithaca, 6-5, in the title bout. Barry had knocked off nationally ranked Noah Seitel of Oswego in the semifinals.

Porowski had a very unconventional run through the 184-pound weight class, having to defeat a pair of JCU wrestlers in his final two matches. Porowski pinned fellow Blue Streak Pat deHaven in the semifinals, then upset top seed Mitch Kusmier, 4-2, in the final.

Urdzik impressed once again in the heavyweight class. After two realtively easy wins, Urdzik faced fellow Division III All-American Jason Turner of Oswego (4th in the nation last year, currently ranked 3rd this year) in the championship match. Urdzik battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation, then won 3-1 with a takedown in the tiebreaker. Urdzik is now 6-0 this year.

Other placewinners for JCU included Matt Simmons (2nd, 125), Brett Purcell (5th, 125), Gary Beckley (3rd, 133), Jim Cook (2nd, 141), David Lance 2nd, 174), Mitch Kusmier (2nd, 184), Pat DeHaven (4th, 184), Thad Poweski (4th, 197) and Nick Porowski (5th, 197).