ABOUT THE DUAL

• No. 8 Millersville and No. 7 Pitt-Johnstown collide Friday in the first top-10 Division II match-up ever hosted in Pucillo Gymnasium. Both teams are unbeaten in PSAC competition, and Pitt-Johnstown boasts an 8-0 record coming off a second-place finish at the Midwest Classic. The dual features eight nationally ranked wrestlers, six former national qualifiers and two No. 1-ranked wrestlers in Millersville's Devin Flannery (133) and Pitt-Johnstown's Jacob Ealy (149). 

SCOUTING THE MARAUDERS

• Millersville is 6-2 overall and the lone losses have come against Division I George Mason and fourth-ranked West Liberty. Earlier in December, Millersville tied a school record for the most points scored in a dual with 59 against Emory and Henry. The Marauders already own two PSAC wins, beating Shippensburg 32-12 and East Stroudsburg 28-10. 
• Millersville's No. 8 ranking is its highest since it entered the Division II ranks. The Marauders cracked the top 10 on the strength of three wrestlers ranked in the top-10 of their respective weight classes. Devin Flannery is No. 1, boasting an 18-2 record, but he is undefeated against non-Division I competition, and one of those losses came when he wrestled at 141 pounds in last weekend's David H. Lehman Open. Flannery's loss to North Carolina's Lachlan McNeil Friday snapped a 14-match win streak--a run that included two pins and four tech falls. Flannery's dominance includes 10 bonus-point wins. Even while wrestling up a weight class at last weekend's open, Flannery still won three matches against Division I wrestlers. 
• The 149-pound Craig Cook is 12-4 and ranked No. 8 Division II, but he's been better than the record shows. Three of his losses have been to Division I opponents and one loss was when wrestling up a weight at 157 in the season-opening ESU Open. All four of those losses were by decision and by a grand total of 10 points. Cook is 7-0 against non-Division I opponents at 149 pounds. Cook boasts a 73-27 career record. The 149-pound match on Friday is a marquee bout as Cook takes on No. 1 ranked Jacob Ealy, who is 17-0. Ealy finished third at last season's NCAA Championships.
• Brandon Connor, ranked sixth at 165 pounds, is 11-3 overall with seven of those wins coming by fall, tech fall or major decision. Connor is 9-0 against Division II competition this season with three pins and a major decision. He sat out the recent David H. Lehman Open, and Friday will be his first action since Dec. 16. The 165-pound match is another clash of nationally ranked wrestlers as Connor takes on No. 11 Dillon Keane. The two are no strangers as Keane was the No. 5 seed at last season's NCAA Championships when Connor won their meeting 8-3 in the consolation bracket. Keane edged Connor 3-2 when the team's met in a dual in February of 2022. 
• Several other Marauders are producing solid results. The 174-pound Andrew Vogelbacher is 15-7 with five losses to Division I opponents. Vogelbacher has a knack for grinding out close matches as eight of his wins have been by decision and four of his losses have been by three points or fewer. At 285 pounds, Jordan Espinosa has pushed his record to 8-5. Ten of his matches have come against Division I opponents. Last weekend, he scored a 15-0 tech fall over Sacred Heart's Mat Walker. Espinosa draws a tough assignment Friday as he likely faces fifth-ranked Isaiah Vance. 
• Millersville will be short-handed Friday, wrestling without 2022 national qualifier Anthony Giampietro at 184 pounds as Giampietro suffered an injury and hasn't wrestled since Dec. 16. Freshman Braden Newby will get his first dual start. 
   

SCOUTING PITT-JOHNSTOWN

• Ealy and 157-pound Nate Smith (ranked No. 9) are returning All-Americans. Seven of the 10 starters listed in Friday's probably lineup boast double-digit wins. UPJ already owns two wins over nationally ranked opponents, defeating then No. 19 Lake Erie 29-15 to start the season and No. 17 Ashland 25-9 in December. The Mountain Cats defeated American International 39-0 in its last dual. 
• Pitt-Johnstown has been the bullies of the PSAC in recent years, winning at least a share of the PSAC Dual Championship six seasons in a row. The Mountain Cats are 42-2 in PSAC duals since 2015. 
• Ealy is the headliner for Pitt-Johnstown, and his season has been impressive to date. He's scored a team-high 60.5 team points with eight tech falls, two major decisions and one pin. Vance has been quick to finish opponents with nine pins in 12 wins. Brock Biddle is 16-4 and ranked eighth at 184. Biddle went 25-6 last season and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the fourth time. He's a three-time All-American. 

SERIES HISTORY

• Pitt-Johnstown owns an 11-2 edge in the all-time series which dates back to the 1983-84 season. Millersville won the first meeting in 1983-84 by a 32-12 score and won two of the first three meetings. But After UPJ's 19-12 win in 1987, the teams did not wrestle again until the Mountain Cats joined the PSAC in 2012-13. UPJ has won all nine duals since joining the league, but the Marauders came close to a win in 2016-17 (21-18). UPJ has scored 30 or more points in four-straight duals vs. Millersville. Millersville has won no more than two matches in the last three duals. 
• The Last Meeting: Pitt-Johnstown 37, Millersville 6 (Feb. 4, 2022):  The Marauders lone victory came in the form of a pinfall by Devin Flannery at 133 pounds. The pin was Flannery's third of the season and improved him to 11-4. He pinned Dajauhn Hertzog at 3:53. Returning Mountain Cats Alex Weber, Dakoda Rodgers, Oggie Atwood, Caleb Morris, Ealy, Smith, Keane and Biddle all won their matches.