WEST POINT, N.Y. – Senior captain Matt Hamilton of Curwensville helped the Army rifle team win the President\’s Trophy Match title for the third consecutive year on Nov. 3 and then posted a personal best 579 in air rifle Sunday as the Black Knights swept a Great America Rifle Conference triangular meet for an undefeated finish to the fall portion of its 2007-08 schedule.
With five shooters for each discipline in the 10th annual President\’s Trophy Match at Annapolis, Md., Army breezed to its fourth championship in six years with a 5817. Trailing were host Navy (5736), Air Force (5656) and Coast Guard (5566).
Hamilton posted a 566 for the fourth-highest score on Army\’s smallbore team.
Six-time All-American Chris Abalo led the Black Knights with a 590 that broke by one point the NCAA record set last year by Jacksonville State\’s Joe Hall in addition to raising his personal and West Point Military Academy standards.
Eight days after registering the country\’s top aggregate score in a 4678-4601 win over Texas Christian, Army turned in a 4660 Sunday at home in defeating Nebraska (4584) and North Carolina State (4505) to end its fall slate 4-0 in the GARC and 6-0 overall.
Army’s 2357 mark in air rifle edged the school mark by a point set last year against NCAA defending champion Alaska-Fairbanks. The Black Knights swept the first five spots, and Hamilton placed eighth in a field of 24 shooters.
Hamilton placed 10th among 23 shooters in smallbore with a 569.
The Black Knights may be headed for the greatest season in history after already breaking school records in both disciplines and aggregate as well as setting NCAA season highs in smallbore (2337) and aggregate.
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Matt Kyler of Clearfield registered a major decision for what proved to be the winning points in the Army wrestling team\’s 19-14 victory over Bucknell on Nov. 20.
The sophomore 141-pounder defeated freshman Eric Harris 13-3 to boost his record to 12-3 and give the Cadets a 15-3 lead.
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LOCK HAVEN – Two former Curwensville Area High School wrestlers, sophomores Derek Caldwell of host Lock Haven University and John Sutika of Pitt, competed in the 2007 Mat Town Open Saturday.
Caldwell was 1-2 in his season debut at 165 pounds, major decisioning Charles Walls of Team Walls 12-4 before losing 6-2 to Matt Pletcher of Rutgers in the quarterfinals and 6-1 to David Morey of Millersville in his first consolation bout.
Pletcher, wrestling unattached, finished third after dropping a 6-2 decision to eventual champion Quentin Wright of Team Wright in the semifinals.
Wright is Bald Eagle Area High School senior who won the PIAA Class AAA 160-pound title in March for a 41-0 record after losing in the finals as a sophomore. Last year, he competed against collegians in three tournaments, winning the crown in the Hitchcock Open at Millersville and earning runner-up honors in the Mat Town Open and Nittany Lion Open at Penn State.
Sutika, wrestling unattached, was pinned by Millersville\’s John Andel in 5:20 and major decisioned by Maryland\’s Wil Sharbaugh 12-2.
The Panther 125-pounder is 0-4.
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ASTON, Pa. – Clearfield native Ruth Williamson of State College (DuBois Central Catholic High School) joined her Susquehanna University teammates in a cold shooting game on Nov. 20 as the Crusaders suffered a 48-47 loss when Neumann\’s Ashley Pearson hit the back end of a two-shot foul with 1.1 seconds remaining.
The host Knights led throughout the second half, but Williamson got the Crusaders even for the fourth time at 47-47 by grabbing an offensive rebound and then tossing in a lay-up five seconds with 1:09 remaining.
Williamson, a 50 percent shooter in the first two games, hit only three of 10 shots, one-for-four from three-point range, to finish with seven points. She had four rebounds, one assist and one turnover.
The senior co-captain has 32 points, nine rebounds, four assists and one steal in three games.