Millersville Wrestlers Prep for Home Stretch (Video with Mike Greck)

Friday, January 15

Pucillo Gymnasium

7:30 p.m.

Millersville University

Duquesne

Millersville Wrestlers Prep for Home Stretch (Video with Mike Greck)

1/15/2010 10:40:12 AM | Wrestling

THE MATCHES
Duquesne (1-2) vs. Millersville (2-4-1)
Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 - 7:30 p.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium

Millersville at Elizabethtown/NYU
Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 - 2 p.m.
Elizabethtown, Pa.

"Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic
Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010 - 9 a.m.
Pucillo Gymnasium

TICKETS (Home matches)
Adults - $5
Students/Seniors - $3
Students with I.D. - Free

Live Stats vs. Duquesne

ABOUT THE MATCHES
• The Millersville wrestling team begins a busy weekend Friday at home against NCAA East Region rival Duquesne. The following day, the Marauders make the short trip to Elizabethtown to face the Blue Jays and New York University in a tri-meet. Then on Sunday, Millersville plays host for the seventh annual "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic at Pucillo Gymnasium. Wrestling action starts at 9 a.m.
• Fans unable to make it to Pucillo Gymnasium Friday evening can follow the match on live stats. The match will also be taped for tape delayed broadcast on Blue Ridge Cable Channel 11 as well as Comcast stations in Lancaster, Lebanon and Berks counties. Friday is the first of four Millersville dual meets that will be broadcast on these stations. For a complete list of air times, click here.
• Millersville and Duquesne meet for the 23rd time Friday evening in Pucillo Gymnasium. Millersville enters with a 2-4-1 record and is coming off a 2-2 record at last weekend's Virginia Duals. The Marauders topped Davidson 25-17 and Stevens Tech 24-18 for their first dual wins of the season. Both of Millersville's losses at the event were to SUNY-Brockport. The Marauders managed to finish fourth despite wrestling without the help of former national qualifiers Jeremy Brooks (165) and Ray Bennett (197). Jarrett Hostetter (157) also missed the second day of competition.

THE MARAUDERS
• Several Marauders are having outstanding seasons. Smith, coming off a 32-15 record and East Region Freshman of the Year honors in 2008-09, is 13-4 with a second-place finish at the Wilkes Open and a fourth-place finish at the ESU Open. Smith is second on the team in wins but leads the team with an impressive eight pins. He has won eight of his last nine matches, five of which have come by fall.
• Junior Mike Greck (141) enters on a roll as well. He has won five-straight matches to boost his record to 12-6. At the Virginia Duals, Greck won one match by fall, one by major decision at won each of his three decisions by at least three points.
• Senior Jarrett Hostetter (157) owns a team-best 14-4 record and has won eight-straight matches and 10 of his last 11. He placed second at the PSAC Championships and first at the Wilkes Open. Last week, he was ranked No. 20 in the nation in his weight class, and two of his losses have come against Bloomsburg's Matt Moley, who is also nationally ranked. Hostetter now has 91 career victories, ranking seventh in school history. He needs just 18 more to tie Randy March's school mark.

THE OPPONENT
• Duquesne enters today's dual with a 1-2 record, having earned a 21-18 win over Division II Seton Hill on Nov. 25 and falling 31-15 against Columbia and 25-15 to George Mason on Jan. 9. The Dukes have not fared well in tournaments, either, placing six out of seven teams at the National Catholic Invitational and seventh of nine teams at the Navy Classic.
• The Dukes are led by outstanding sophomore Josh Pascazi at 149, who has opened the season at 20-12.He placed fifth at the National Catholic Invitational, fourth at the Washington & Jefferson Open. Of his 18 wins, 12 are decisions, and he has two pins and four major decisions. Pascazi placed third at the NCAA East Regional last year at 141 pounds. He topped Millersville's Mike Greck in the consolation bracket, 5-3.
• Duquesne head coach John Hartupee is in his 13th season and has accumulated more than 100 career victories. He was the 2005 East Region Coach of the Year and has sent at least one wrestler to the NCAA Championships each year of his tenure.

THE SERIES
• The Dukes hold a slight 11-9-2 mark in the series. The two programs have met at least once each year since 1991. Millersville won the first meeting 43-10 but has not topped the Dukes since 2004-05. Since then, the Marauders are 0-3-1 against Duquesne.
• Last year, a banged-up Marauders' club forfeited at 197 and heavyweight and fell 25-21. Millersville won four of the seven matches contested, but only four of the seven Marauders that wrestled in that dual are on this year's team.
• There is a possibility of seeing three repeat match-ups. In last year's dual, Mike Greck defeated Josh Pascazi 2-1 (tb) at 141. Matt Gregg edged Jeremy Brooks 14-11 at 165, and Shane Smith won 4-3 over Ryan Sula at 174.