ERIE, Pa. -- The No. 10 Mercyhurst College wrestling team will battle rival Gannon in the War at the Shore IV on Friday, December 12 at the Erie Civic Center.  The event begins at 8:15 p.m. and tickets are $10. 

ABOUT THE MATCH
• This is the fourth time the teams have met in the War at the Shore, with Gannon holding a 2-1 advantage. Each of the Golden Knights' two victories have been by one point while the Lakers victory in 2006-07 was a 32-6 decision. 

SERIES HISTORY
• The two teams have met seven times, with Gannon owning a slight advantage in the series history, 4-3.
• The Lakers will look to avenge a one-point loss to the Golden Knights last year.
• No team has won more than two consecutive contests, with Gannon winning the first two in the series (2001-03) and Mercyhurst taking the next two (2003-05). 

THE LAST WAR AT THE SHORE 
• The No. 13-ranked Mercyhurst wrestling team held a 23-18 lead heading into the heavyweight bout, but Gannon's heavyweight Frank McGrath got just what the Golden Knights needed--a fall-- to give Gannon a 24-23 win. It was the Golden Knights second win in three years at the meet, also taking a one-point decision in 2005-06, 19-18. The Knights won just four matches, but all were by fall as Corey Bowers defeated Lance Pitcel at 133, Kevin McElhaney pinned Braxdon Scaletta at 141 and Brandon Monin pinned Andy Lamancusa before the heavyweight matchup. 

DECEMBER DUALS 
• The Mercyhurst Lakers will compete in three dual meets during the month of December. After taking on Gannon, the Lakers prepare for Mercyhurst Northeast and Seton Hill on Dec. 18.

JANUARY TRAVELS
• The Lakers are home just once in the month of January when they host No. 9 Pitt-Johnstown on Jan. 17. The Lakers will first travel to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the NWCA Duals, then head to Laurinburg, N.C. for the East Regional.

NATIONALLY-RANKED
• In the first rankings of the season, the Mercyhurst College wrestlers are ranked 10th, three spots up from their preseason rankings. The Lakers will face three more top 20 teams in dual meets, including Pitt-Johnstown, Findlay and Ashland.

• Three Lakers are ranked in the top eight of the nation for their respective weight class, led by Josh Shields No. 2 ranking at 165. Freshman Michael Baxter checks in at No. 6 in the 133 lb weight class while Andy Lamancusa ranks eighth at 157 lbs.

WEIGHT-BY-WEIGHT PREVIEW
125 - Payne Lint
• Lint owns four major decisions on the year with two falls and two technical falls. He is coming off a fifth-place finish at the PSAC Championships where defeated Gannon's Arthur Baron twice, posting a 19-4 (6:10) technical fall in the first round before pinning Baron (6:04) in the championship finals.

133 - Michael Baxter
• Baxter is a perfect 5-0 against Gannon wrestlers this season. At the Buffalo Open, he won by a 7-6 count over Chris Santucci while recording a 5-2 win over Ethan Swope. En route to a first-place finish at the National Catholic Invitational, Baxter picked up a fall (4:01) over Santucci while adding a 4-3 and 7-4 decisions over Mike Sanders and Swope, respectively.

141 - Lance Pitcel
• Pitcel is 6-11 on the year but has faced some tough competition at a deep weight class. His most recent action was at the PSAC Championship, falling to Clarion's Sal Lascari and Kutztown's John Paukovits.

149 - Lenny Calhoun
• Calhoun owns a 1-2 record in dual meets this season, with his only win coming against Limestone's Dustin Baynes by a 6-1 margin. However, his two losses have been to nationally-ranked Newberry and Latra Collick (5-2) before falling to regionally-ranked Kayne Melko of West Liberty St., 2-0.

157 - Andy Lamancusa
• Lamancusa has not placed lower than fifth all year, including a Laker=best fourth=place finish at the PSAC Championships. He is 2-0 against the Golden Knights this season, including a technical fall (22-5, 7:00) over Sean Floor and a 6-2 decision over Brandon Monin in the conference championship.

165 - Josh Shields
• Shields has seen limited action in 2008 and owns a 4-1 record. His only loss came in the opening bout of the 2008-09 campaign when Shields fell 8-4 to Ohio State's Colt Sponseller en route to a second-place finish at the National Catholic Invitational. In his only dual meet action on the year, Shields defeated West Liberty's Seth Phalen, 11-5.

174 - Kevin Hardy
• Hardy competed at 157 for his first nine of 11 matches but has since spent the last five matches at 174. He is 9-7 on the year, with five of his losses coming against Division I talent. The other two tournament losses have been to Lamancusa. Hardy owns a 3-0 dual meet record, posting wins over Limestone, Newberry and West Liberty St.

184 - Bryan Wolff
• Wolff started the 2008-09 campaign winning 10 of his 14 matches but has since gone 3-3 in his last six meetings. He placed third in the Buffalo Open, defeating two tough Division I opponents in Lock Haven's Tom Kocher (7-3) and Bloomsburg's Jacob Dabishinsky (8-5).

197 - Trevor Gallo
• Gallo owns a 4-6 overall mark, inlcuding a 1-2 dual meet record. Against Gannon a year ago, Gallo posted a 9-5 win over Jacob Tazzi to improve his record to 2-1 at the War at the Shore. His only in the series came in 2006, falling 7-2 to Pino Scavella at 184 lbs.

HWT - Kenny Bluska
• Bluska owns an even 6-6 record after posting a sixth-place finish at the PSAC Championships. He is winless against his last three opponents, all from Division I. In his only matchup against Gannon's Frank McGrath, Bluska fell 2-0 in the title bout of the National Catholic Invitational.