UNIVERSITY PARK – Army 141-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield made an impressive run to the finals of the Nittany Lion Open Sunday before losing 3-1 in overtime to Penn State freshman Garrett Scott, a three-time PIAA Class AA champion at Juniata Valley.
Kyler pinned his way to the quarterfinals, decking Chad Mitchell (wrestling unattached) of Penn State, in 1:14, Tim Harner of Liberty in 5:56 and Owen Wilkinson (unattached) of Lock Haven in 3:37.
The next three bouts went overtime, a 3-1 sudden victory over Tyler Naumann (unattached) of Pitt and a 2-1 tiebreaker over Chris Bencivenga (unattached) of North Carolina-Greensboro getting him to the championship bout, where Scott prevailed 3-1 with a takedown.
Scott avenged the only losses of his high school career when he defeated Nittany Lions\’ No. 2-ranked Jake Strayer 7-3 in the semifinals. In 2003, Strayer beat Scott in the District 6 and Southwest Region tourneys but was upset in the PIAA Championships.
Scott walked off with the gold medal and repeated the next two years. He was denied the opportunity to become the 10th four-time state champ when he was declared ineligible the week of the tourney for violating his charter school’s Internet use policy.
Kyler, who won by forfeit in Army\’s 28-12 over Franklin & Marshall at Lancaster Friday evening, is 18-4 with 11 falls.
Black Knight teammate Fernando Martinez is 17-1 after winning the Nittany Lion Open 125-pound title. He is ranked No. 15 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association polls.
In addition to Scott, Penn State wrestler Bubba Jenkins at 149, Dan Vallimont at 157, David Erwin at 174 and John Laboranti at heavyweight also won crowns.
Pitt-Johnstown 165-pounder Kyle Keane of Bradford (Clearfield Area High School) also made it to the quarterfinals with wins over Penn\’s Zak Klinvex 7-3, Kent State\’s Kyle Haddox 10-1 and Penn State\’s Dave Rella 7-5.
The Panther redshirt sophomore was edged 3-1 by Matt Pletcher (unattached) of Rutgers and, in the wrestlebacks, 7-5 by Michael Chaires of Virginia.
Pletcher earned the bronze medal, while Chaires nipped Rella 5-4 for fifth.
Keane is 5-3, including a 6-3 loss to American University\’s 19th-ranked Mike Cannon in UPJ\’s 27-13 season-opening dual meet victory last Wednesday.
The Panthers were ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II, while American was No. 18 in Division I.
Pitt 125-pounder John Sutika of Grampian (Curwensville Area High School) picked up his first win of the season, 7-4 over Tim Trivisanno of Rider in the first round. Both were wrestling unattached.
Sutika, a sophomore, then lost 6-1 to Derrek Bosso of Pitt-Johnstown and 12-4 to James Knox (unattached) of Maryland.
Sutika\’s record is 1-6, all in tournaments.
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DUBOIS – Brittany Barrett of Grampian (Curwensville Area High School) scored 12 points to help the first Penn State-DuBois women\’s basketball team open its season with an historic 74-67 victory over Community College of Allegheny County-Boyce Campus last Wednesday night.
One of her field goals came in the Lady Lions\’ 9-0 run that produced a 66-59 lead late in the second half.
The 5-6 sophomore was the high scorer for the Lady Lions with seven points in their 77-31 loss to Penn College of Technology Friday night.
Penn State-DuBois rebounded with a 58-52 win over Penn State-York Saturday afternoon.
All but one of the nine Lady Lions hail from District 9. They are coached by former Cameron County High School girls coach Pat Lewis.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore John Lytle of Clearfield had two top-10 finishes in individual events and three relays for the University of Notre Dame swimming and diving team that wound up fourth in the Ohio State Invitational Friday through Sunday.
Lytle\’s 45.36-second time in the 100-yard freestyle, good for seventh place, was the 11th-best in the Fighting Irish program\’s history.
He was eighth in the 200 free in 1:39.72 and 14th in the 66-swimmer 50 free in 21.03. His 20.92 in the prelims marked the first time a Notre Dame swimmer has cracked the 21-second barrier. At the 2007 BIG EAST Championships, Lytle turned in a 20.70 that ranks ninth all-time for the Fighting Irish.
Lytle swam leadoff legs for the fifth-place 200 free relay, sixth-place 400 free relay and eighth-place 800 free relay teams. His times were 20.95, 45.87 and 1:41.15, respectively.
Denver edged Notre Dame 429-401 for third place behind No. 10 Minnesota (1,168 points) and Ohio State (1,074).
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GROVE CITY, Pa. – Brandon Boyer of Clearfield was a member of two Washington & Jefferson College relay teams that finished in the top three and also placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke as the President swimmers claimed second place among eight teams in the 11th annual James E. Longenecker Invitational at Grove City College Friday and Saturday.
In individual events, Boyer touched the wall in 58.68 seconds in the 100 back and 2:10.79 in the 200 back, placing ninth.
The freshman anchored the Presidents\’ \’A\’ 200 free relay quartet that was second with a 22.49 and led off with a 26.90 backstroke leg for the \’A\’ 200 medley relay team that finished third.
Boyer also posted a 51.53 leadoff leg for the sixth-place \’B\’ 400 relay team, a 59.25 leadoff leg for the eighth-place \’B\’ 400 medley relay foursome and a 1.52.68 second leg for the 10th-place 800 relay team.
Washington & Jefferson totaled 739 points to trail only nationally-ranked Grove City\’s 1,388.
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WOOSTER, Ohio – Former Clearfield Area High School swimmers Brandon Good of Lycoming and Chris Bodle of Westminster competed in last weekend\’s Wooster Invitational.
Good, a junior, placed 14th in 2:21.88 in the 200-yard butterfly preliminaries but did not swim in the \’B\’ finals.
Bodle, a freshman, was 20th in the 200 free in 1:57.32 and 36th in the 100 free in 53.54. He also swam a 24.10 leg for the Titans \’B\’ entry that placed ninth in the exhibition 200 medley relay race.
