December 17, 2008
EAST STROUDSBURG - Redshirt junior Shane Mallory moved into the WrestlingReport NCAA Division I rankings at 197 pounds and collected ABC Trophy, Inc. Athlete of the Week honors at East Stroudsburg University following his performance for the Warriors last weekend.
Mallory (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) went 5-1 over two days at the Bloomsburg Duals and Lock Haven Duals to improve to 10-2 on the season and 7-1 in dual matches.
He is ranked 27th in his weight class, with 33 wrestlers listed at each weight, the number that will compete at the NCAA Championships in March. His only loss came to Drexel's Jon Oplinger, who is ranked 10th by WrestlingReport and eighth in the USA Today/Intermat top 20.
Mallory's weekend included a 3-2 decision over Lock Haven's Ben Hepburn, who dealt him his only other loss this season in the PSAC semifinals, and a 5-3 decision against Karim Mahmoud of Rutgers. Mahmoud was ranked fifth in the EIWA at 197 last week, with Mallory checking in at sixth.
The redshirt junior has moved up two weight classes to compete at 197 this year. He was 19-15 overall wrestling primarily at 174 last season and finished third in the PSAC and advanced to the second day of the EIWA Championships. He was also the runner-up at the ESU Open and Wilkes Open.
Mallory and the Warriors will travel to UNC Greensboro to take on some of the top competition in the nation at the Southern Scuffle on Dec. 29 and 30.
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