Dec. 30, 2002

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State wrestler Gerald Harris (Tulsa, Okla./East) finished third at 184 pounds at the 40th Midlands Championships at Northwestern University's Welsh-Ryan Arena over the weekend.

The defending champion Iowa Hawkeyes, who are ranked second nationally in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, won the event for the eighth time in 13 years with 129.5 points. The Vikings finished 18th among the 50 collegiate teams with 26 points.

Harris, who is ranked 10th nationally, upset second-ranked Greg Parker of Princeton in the quarterfinals with a pin in 1:21 to advance to the semifinals. Earlier, the senior opened with an 11-4 decision over Penn's Ethan Bullock and followed by handing seventh-ranked Ryan Willman of West Virginia an 8-1 loss. Although Harris fell to Cornell's third-ranked Clint Wattenberg 5-1 in the semifinals, he rebounded to beat fifth-ranked Mark Becks of Penn State 4-3 in the third-place bout.

Others scoring for the Vikes by winning at least one match included #8 Phil Mansueto (Middltown, N.Y./Middletown) at 133 pounds, Matt DePolo (Bellevue, Ohio/Bellevue) at 141 pounds, Anthony Coleman (Bellevue, Ohio/Bellevue) at 149 pounds, Jason Effner (Garfield Heights, Ohio/Garfield Heights) at 165 pounds, Stipe Miocic (Willowick, Ohio/Eastlake North) at 197 pounds and Russ Davie (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) at heavyweight. Mansueto, Effner, Miocic and Davie all posted wins in the championship bracket before being eliminated. Davie was knocked into the consolation bracket by eventual heavyweight champion and #1-ranked Steve Mocco of Iowa.

Cleveland State returns to the mat on Saturday, January 4 when the Vikings travel to Columbus for the Buckeye Invitational at The Ohio State University. CSU opens its home season on Wednesday, January 8 when Kent State University visits for a 7:30 p.m. match at Woodling Gymnasium.