WRESTLING
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – After being the victim of a defensive pin by eventual champion Preston Garner of Navy, Penn State 125-pounder Brad Pataky of Clearfield bounced back with five consecutive wins to place fifth at the 2008 Penn State Open in Rec Hall Sunday.
Lock Haven 174-pounder Derek Caldwell of Curwensville split his four bouts, while Pitt-Johnstown 165-pounder Kyle Keane of Bradford (Clearfield Area High School) lost his first match.
Pataky upped his redshirt sophomore season record to 12-4 with a 6-1 performance.
He shut out Cleveland State\’s Jordan Keller 4-0 in the first round before losing to Garner at the 3:12 mark.
Then, Pataky pinned Rutgers\’ Mike DeMarco in 2:16, rolled to a 16-1 technical fall in 4:39 over SUNY-Binghamton\’s Jason Malmberg, pinned Navy\’s Allan Stein at 5:13 and then beat Kent State\’s Troy Opfar 7-3 and Rutgers\’ Joel Langel 13-8. Opfar and Langel were competing unattached.
Caldwell defeated George Mason\’s Andrew Rock 9-5, lost 6-2 to Maryland\’s Corey Peltier, edged Navy\’s Mike Billings 9-7 and then was eliminated by Lehigh\’s Robert Hamlin 3-1. Rock and Hamlin competed unattached.
Keane dropped a 4-0 decision to Matt Pletcher of Rutgers. The Mountain Cat redshirt junior was ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II when he was upset 3-1 by No. 7 Justin Shannon of Findlay on Dec. 3. The Mountain Cats, who are ranked No. 9 in D-II, eked out a 21-19 win over the No. 16 Oilers.
Penn State, ranked No. 13 nationally, had five champions in Jake Strayer (6-0 at 133), Frank Molinaro (5-0 at 141), No. 2-ranked Bubba Jenkins (5-0 at 149), No. 8 Dan Vallimont (5-0 at 157) and John Laboranti (5-0 at heavyweight). Laboranti competed unattached.
Former Bald Eagle Area High School standout Quentin Wright, ranked No. 18 at 165, won four bouts before losing 12-6 to Maryland\’s Mike Letts in the finals. Letts, a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference champion, is red-shirting this season and competed unattached.
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LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Army junior Matt Kyler of Clearfield won four of six matches to place seventh at 149 pounds in the 27th annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Saturday and Sunday.
\”Kyler wrestled some tough bouts and fought very hard in a strong weight class,\” Cadet coach Chuck Barbee said, according to an Army Athletic Communications release.
Four of Kyler\’s opponents were Big 10 Conference wrestlers.
He beat Michigan\’s Mark Weber 6-1 and pinned Illinois\’ Troy Tirapelle in 2:35 before No. 4-ranked Lance Palmer of Ohio State dropped him into the consolation bracket with a 5-2 decision.
Kyler bested Arizona State\’s Vincent Varela 6-0, lost 7-4 to Purdue\’s No. 8-ranked Jake Patacsil and, in the match for seventh place, pinned Virginia Tech\’s Peter Yates at 3:04.
Palmer was pinned in the finals by No. 3 Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State, and Patacsil beat No. 6 Kyle Reuschell of Wisconsin for third place.
Kyler, now 15-4, went into the tourney ranked No. 7 by Amateur Wrestling News and No. 11 in the USA Today/Intermat/National Wrestling Coach Association and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine rankings.
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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Sophomore 141-pounder Thomas Barger of Clearfield was a decision winner for Lycoming in a 24-15 Empire Collegiate Conference loss at State University of New York-Brockport on Dec. 3.
Barger downed Josh Bellinger 11-8 to boost his record to 3-2.
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MEN\’S SWIMMING & DIVING
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior John Lytle of Clearfield competed in three individual events, posting season-low times in two, and five relays for Notre Dame in the 12-team Ohio State Invitational Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
He placed sixth in the 100-yard freestyle in 44.78 seconds, 14th in the 50 free in 20.82 and 18th in the 200 free in 1:40.58. The first two were his best times of the season.
Notre Dame\’s best effort in the relays was a fourth in the 200 free in 1:21.55 with Lytle swimming a 20.79 leadoff leg.
He turned in a 45.33 leadoff leg in the 400 free team\’s season-best 3:01.05 that was good for fifth place and a 1:39.28 third leg for the 800 free foursome\’s 6:40.14 that earned sixth place.
In the medley relays, Lytle anchored the sixth-place 200 quartet\’s 1:32.29 with a 19.90 leg and the ninth-place 400 foursome\’s 3:22.92 with a fast 44.47 trip.
The Fighting Irish totaled 398 points to finish fourth behind Big 10 Conference powers Ohio State (1,382.5), Minnesota (873.5) and Penn State (649).
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AKRON, Ohio – Sophomore Brandon Boyer of Clearfield recorded personal-bests in three individual events and helped four Clarion \’B\’ relay foursomes also earn points as the Golden Eagles just missed winning the Akron University\’s 10-team Zippy Invitational in Ocesak Natatorium last weekend.
The Golden Eagles, one of three Division II teams seven Division I squads, piled up 1,203 points to finish just four points behind Buffalo.
Boyer was 14th in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.84 seconds, 16th in the 100 back in 55.38 and 19th in the 100 free in 48.08.
In the relays, he posted a 21.49 second-leg for seventh-place 200 free quartet, a 25.50 leadoff leg for the eighth-place 200 medley foursome, a 1:48.12 anchor for the 11th place 800 free team and a 55.66 leadoff for the 15th place 400 free team.
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WOOSTER, Ohio – John and Chris Bodle of Clearfield lowered season marks in individual events as Westminster claimed third place with 1,244 points in the College of Wooster Invitational Thursday through Saturday.
The sophomore twins bettered their previous times in the 1,650-yard freestyle race, and John also had a season-best in the 100 fly.
In the preliminaries of the distance event, Chris touched in 18:37.90 to place 29th and John touched in 19:34.14 to place 35th among the 37 entries.
John\’s 59.58-second effort in the fly was good for 35th among 48 starters.
Chris also played 11th among 26 swimmers in the 400 individual medley with a 4:41.56 time and 27th among 39 entries in the 200 back with a 2:11.76.
John added a 20th in the 200 fly in 2:17.80 and swam the fly leg in 49.79 for the Titans\’ \’B\’ 400 medley relay team that placed third in 3:47.44.
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WOOSTER, Ohio – Brandon Good of Lycoming had season-best times in the preliminaries of two events at the 11-team College of Wooster Invitational last week.
He just missed the cut for the finals in the 100-yard butterfly, placing 27th among 48 swimmers with a time of 57.44 seconds.
The Warrior senior touched in 52.45 in the 100 free, finishing 42nd among 60 entries.
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GROVE CITY, Pa. – Senior diver Ryan Sayers of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) helped Washington & Jefferson finish second to host Grove City in the seven-team James E. Longnecker Invitational Friday and Saturday.
Sayers placed fifth in the three-meter competition with 174.70 points and seventh off the one-meter board with 136.50 points.
The Presidents registered 1,032 points. Grove City amassed 1,601.
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MEN\’S BASKETBALL
GREENSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Todd Hryn of Clearfield scored six points for Pitt-Greensburg in an 85-62 loss at Frostburg State in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference opener for both teams on Dec. 3.
Hryn, who made both of his field goal tries and both free throws, did not play Saturday when the Bobcats rebounded to down visiting LaRoche 64-53 in AMCC action for their first win in six games under first-year coach Jeromy Yetter.
Hryn also had two rebounds and one assist at Frostburg.
For the season, he has 26 points, a 5.2 average, six rebounds, three assists and one steal in 85 minutes.
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FOOTBALL
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. – Conor Lee continued his rise in the Pitt and Big East Conference record books with 10 points as the Panthers rolled past Connecticut 34-10 Saturday afternoon, and holder Andrew Janocko of Clearfield continues to share in the senior placekicker\’s success with his ability to handle Mark Estermyer snaps and position the ball.
The redshirt freshman quarterback was busy in the Big East finale in front of a crowd of 39,535 and an ESPN national telecast audience, holding a pair of 21-yard field goals and four extra points by Lee, now No. 3 on Pitt\’s career scoring list with 363 points.
Coach Dave Wannstedt\’s Panthers finished in a tie with West Virginia and Rutgers for second place in the Big East Conference at 5-2 and were 9-3 overall for Pitt\’s first nine-win season since 1982.
The Panthers, up three spots to No. 20 in this week\’s BCS rankings, were invited to play in the 75th annual Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, Dec. 31. They will meet Oregon State in a 2 p.m. (EST) kickoff that will be televised nationally by CBS. The Beavers are 8-4, including a 7-2 record for second place in the Pac-10 Conference.
Lee moved out of a tie with Carson Long for a school-record 20 field goals in one season. Already the career leader, he raised his record to 50.
He also extended his Pitt record for consecutive extra points to 113, just three away from the Big East record set by Art Carmody (2005-2007) of Louisville.
Lee has booted 38 PATs and 20 FGs in 23 attempts out of Janocko\’s holds to lead the Big East in PAT percentage, FG percentage (92.3), FGs per game (1.67) and total kicking points (98) and average (8.2).
He leads the nation\’s Division I-A placekickers in FG percentage and is tied for fifth in FGs. He\’s 15th in kicking points.
