Campus Corner: Kelly Named All-MAC Punter; Pataky Has 4-0 Weekend for PSU; Lytle Triple-Winner for ND; Hyrn Starting for UPG

 

MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Just days after being named 2008 Middle Atlantic Conference first-team punter, Tanner Kelly of Olanta (Clearfield Area High School) ran for 62 yards, passed for 129 yards and a touchdown and kicked six times for a 36.8 average as Albright rolled past Montclair State 42-14 in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III South Atlantic Bowl Saturday.

Freshman running back Josan Holmes carried 26 times for 172 yards and four TDs to spark a ground-oriented offense that, coupled with a stout defense that held the host Red Hawks to 135 yards, enabled the Lions to avenge last year\’s 17-13 loss South Atlantic Bowl loss with 1,134 fans on hand for their return to Sprague Field.

 

The MAC Rookie of the Year from Wissahickon High School near Philadelphia was named the game\’s Most Valuable Player after becoming Albright\’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 1995. He wound up with 1,087 yards.

 

Kelly directed an attack that rolled up a 21-0 lead on three Holmes TDs before he lost a fumble that led to Montclair State\’s first score and then had a pass intercepted and returned 54 yards to paydirt by New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Year Cornell Hunt with 1:22 left in the first half.

Tanner Kelly (Courtesy of Albright College Athletic Department).

Order was restored when Kelly guided the Lions 61 yards in 1:08 to expand the lead to 27-14 with a nine-yard pass to Nate Romig seven seconds before intermission. The redshirt junior completed three of seven passes for 42 yards and kept the ball twice, once for a 20-yard gain on third-and-11 to keep the drive alive.

 

Kelly ran for the two extra points following Albright\’s TD in the third quarter.

 

He completed 11 of 25 aerials and carried 11 times.

 

Albright, which had previously won ECAC bowls in 1995, 1997, 2001 and 2004, capped an 8-3 season that included a share of the MAC championship with Lycoming and Delaware Valley at 5-2.

 

Kelly, the MAC Rookie of the Year in 2006 and Offensive Player of the Year in 2007, was selected first-team punter for averaging 37.2 yards on 54 kicks, a season-best 57-yarder one of several boots 50 yards or longer. He pinned opponents inside their 20 with 16 punts. Five resulted in fair catches, five went for touchbacks and nine ended up out of bounds.

 

The 6-4, 221-pounder led the MAC with 183 completions in 294 pass attempts for an outstanding 62.2 percentage and a 123.6 passing efficiency rating. He ranked third with 1,795 passing yards and tied for third with 15 touchdowns. He was intercepted 10 times.

 

On the ground, Kelly netted 261 yards for 105 carries, but that total includes 166 yards lost on 30 sacks. He averaged 286.9 yards in total offense.

 

For his three-year career, Kelly has 567 completions for 6,586 yards and 59 touchdowns.

 

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CINCINNATI, Ohio – Pitt senior Connor Lee climbed another rung on the Big East Conference ladder of placekickers with the most consecutive extra points Saturday night, booting three out of the hold of redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Janocko of Clearfield in the Panthers\’ 28-21 loss to Cincinnati.

 

Lee, who has never missed in 108 career attempts, moved into second place.

 

A record Nippert Stadium crowd of 35,098 saw Cincinnati (9-2) win the River City Rivalry Trophy in addition to moving into first place in the conference at 5-1 in the battle of teams ranked either No. 19 or No. 20 in the BCS, Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches rankings.

 

Pitt slipped to 3-2 in the Big East and 7-3 overall for Friday\’s home game with backyard rival West Virginia that will be televised at noon on ABC.

 

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BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Redshirt sophomore 125-pounder Brad Pataky of Clearfield jump-started Penn State to a trio of wins at the Sunday\’s Sprawl and Brawl Duals to cap a 4-0 weekend in the Empire State.

 

The Nittany Lion bantam was one of only three winners Friday when No. 14 Penn State was bounced 24-10 by No. 4 Cornell at Ithaca.

 

Pataky was taken down twice by Cornell\’s Frank Perrelli but quieted the Newman Arena crowd of 4,239 late in the first period with a near fall after engineering a takedown of his own. Pataky also had three escapes and riding time for a 9-6 triumph.

 

On Sunday, Pataky blanked Ross Gitomer 3-0 in Penn State\’s 19-15 win over No. 24 Virginia, followed up with an 18-3 technical fall in 7:00 against Kyle Fluke in a 24-16 victory over No. 15 Edinboro and ended his day with a 16-0 technical fall in just 3:55 against Tyler Malmburg in a 36-8 win over host SUNY-Binghamton.

 

Pataky improved to 6-3 with a 4-1 record in duals.

 

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ITHACA, N.Y. – Army 149-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield was the No. 1 seed for the Body Bar Invitational hosted by Cornell Saturday, but the Cadet junior was nipped 4-3 by Boise State freshman Jason Chamberlain in the finals.

 

Kyler had advanced with major decisions over Cornell\’s Eric McGill 10-1 and Sacred Heart\’s Anthony Priore 14-4 and a decision over Buffalo\’s Desi Green 4-3.

 

Chamberlain, a four-time Utah high school state champion and also a high school national champion as a senior, won his second tourney title. Wrestling unattached, he captured top honors at Wyoming\’s Cowboy Open Nov. 15.

 

No. 13-ranked Boise State, the defending Pac-10 champion, won the team title with 125 points. Army and Bloomsburg tied for fourth place with 81.5 points.

 

Kyler began last week ranked No. 6 nationally by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 9 by USA Today/National Wrestling Coaches Association/InterMat and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and tuned up for the Body Bar Invitational by building a 9-1 lead before pinning Jay Tracy at the 2:31 mark in Army\’s 41-3 rout of Franklin Marshall at Lancaster on Nov. 18.

 

Kyler is 4-0 in duals and 10-2 overall.

 

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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – After missing two tournaments because of a groin injury, redshirt junior 165-pounder Kyle Keane of Bradford (Clearfield Area H.S.) won by decision as Pitt-Johnstown, ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division II, launched its dual meet schedule with an 18-16 squeaker at West Liberty (W.Va.) State Friday.

 

Keane, who is ranked No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in the NCAA Division II East Region, edged Seth Phalen 9-7.

 

Last season, Keane was the East Region champion and earned All-American honors by placing fourth at the NCAA Division II Tournament.

 

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GRANTHAM, Pa. – Sophomore 141-pounder Thomas Barger of Clearfield wrestled in only one of Lycoming\’s three matches at the Messiah College Duals Saturday, losing 7-5 to Taylor Ulm of York.

 

The Warriors sandwiched wins over York 19-17 and Kutztown 30-17 around a 27-9 loss to undefeated Shippensburg and now own a 4-2 record.

 

Barger is 2-2, including one major decision.

 

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – An outstanding performance by Notre Dame junior freestyle sprinter John Lytle of Clearfield went for naught as No. 11-ranked Ohio State departed the Rolfs Aquatic Center with a 172.86.5 win Friday night.

 

Lytle did all he could with victories in three individual events for 27 points.

 

He touched first in the 50-yard free in 20.84 seconds, the 100 free in 45.85 and the 200 free in a season-best 1:39.57.

 

In the meet\’s final event, the 400 free relay, Lytle gave the Fighting Irish the early lead with a 46.48 leg, but his teammates couldn\’t hold it and finished second in 3:05.52.

 

Lytle has 11 individual wins and two seconds in dual meets for the 3-3 Fighting Irish.

 

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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Senior Brandon Good of Clearfield earned points in one individual event and two relays for Lycoming Thursday evening, but the Warriors were dealt a 106-99 loss by visiting Misericordia.

 

Good placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly in 58.53 seconds and swam the third leg for the Lycoming \’B\’ 200 medley and 200 free relay teams. He posted a 23.65 fly leg in the medley and a 23.23 third leg in the free.

 

The Warriors are 2-3.

 

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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Sophomore John Bodle of Clearfield registered fifth-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly as Westminster lost 154-140 to Washington & Jefferson for a 1-1 Presidents\’ Athletic Conference record and beat Wooster (Ohio) 151-132 in road dual meets last week.

 

His times were 2:21.65 at W & J and a season-best 2:16.78 at Wooster.

 

Twin brother Chris Bodle was timed in 52.92 seconds for the second leg of the Presidents\’ \’C\’ 400 free relay quartet that placed sixth against W & J.

 

The Presidents have a 3-1 record.

 

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WASHINGTON, Pa. – Senior diver Ryan Sayers of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) recorded back-to-back season bests in two outings for Washington & Jefferson last week.

 

He placed third on the one-meter board with 179.55 points and third on the three-meter board with 162.30 points in the Presidents\’ 154-140 victory over Presidents\’ Athletic Conference rival Westminster on Wednesday.

 

In a quad meet hosted by Case Western Reserve at Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, Sayers totaled 188.20 points in one-meter competition and 182.00 points in three-meter diving.

 

He was third in both events against Kenyon (Ohio), fourth in both against CWR and fourth in the three-meter event and fifth in the one-meter event against Grove City.

 

W & J (4-2, 1-0 PAC) defeated Kenyon 151-138 but lost to CWR 183-116 and Grove City 206-92.

 

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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Todd Hryn of Clearfield is starting at guard for Pitt-Greensburg and responded with his first double-figure scoring effort Saturday in a 98-86 loss at Hiram (Ohio).

 

Hryn had two field goals, including his first three-pointer, and sank five of six free throws for 10 points in 33 minutes. He also had one rebound and one assist.

 

In a season-opening 92-61 setback at Mount Union (Ohio) on Nov. 18, Hryn hit three of six field goal attempts for six points and pulled down two rebounds. He was limited to 18 minutes after sustaining a cut.

 

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BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – Goalkeeper Amber Weaver of Clearfield played in only one game for Geneva in her senior season, making two saves and allowing one goal in 45 minutes.

 

The three-year letterwinner appeared in 51 games during her career and was accorded All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference honorable mention as a sophomore.

 

Sophomore Lauren Londino took over goalkeeping duties for the Golden Tornadoes and broke the school record with 10 shutouts for an 8-5-5 team.