Campus Corner: Quality Win Earns Kyler a Third All-Academy Championship

Matt Kyler (Photo courtesy of Army Sports).

LEXINGTON, Va. – Army 149-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield extended his current winning streak to 19 matches by edging defending champion Bryce Saddoris of Navy 4-2 in a showdown of nationally-ranked underclassmen that was one of the highlights of the finals at the 15th annual All-Academy Championships in Virginia Military Institute\’s Cocke Hall Saturday.

 

A takedown with 12 seconds remaining gave Kyler his third All-Academy title in as many years. He won at 133 as a freshman and at 141 last year.

 

The Black Knight junior pinned Norwich\’s Nick Monaco in 4:28 and Merchant Marine\’s Dan Twitto in 2:20 to carry a 32-4 record into the duel with Saddoris, a four-time Nevada state champion who entered the match 35-3 with Eastern Michigan Open, Navy Classic and Reno Tournament of Champions crowns.

 

The Nittany Lion Open and Southern Scuffle runner-up, whose 35 wins last season made him only the third freshman in Navy\’s 30-Win Club, was ranked sixth in the InterMat/National Wrestling Coaches Association/National Wrestling Media Association poll, seventh by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and eighth by Amateur Wrestling News. 

 

The second-seeded Kyler was right behind Saddoris in the WIN rankings and 11th in the other two polls.

 

Army was unable to defend its team championship even though Casey Thome at 141, Rudy Chelednik at 157, Richard Starks at 197 and Michael Sprigg at 285 also won individual honors.

 

Navy, with three champs and five-runners-up, topped the eight-team field with 105 points. Army was second with 90.

 

Kyler leads the Cadets in wins and falls (17). He also has five major decisions and one technical fall.

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Brad Pataky of Clearfield split his two bouts in what was a very rough weekend for No. 22-ranked Penn State, beaten 33-7 by No. 6 Ohio State and 31-6 by No. 1 and undefeated Iowa in Big Ten Conference matches.

 

The Nittany Lion redshirt sophomore 125-pounder took down Ohio State sophomore Nikko Triggas (16-12) five times in a 14-3 major decision in front of 2,297 Rec Hall fans Friday night but was taken down four times by Iowa senior and No. 4-ranked Charlie Falck (17-1) in a 9-3 loss that was one of the featured bouts for Sunday\’s crowd of 5,050.

 

Against Triggas, Pataky led 7-1 through two periods and added the team bonus point with a reversal and two takedowns in the final two minutes, the second with 13 seconds left. He had 2:57 in riding time for another point.

 

Freshman Quentin Wright of Wingate (Bald Eagle Area High School) accounted for the other Penn State points with a 3-2 victory over former Nittany Lion Dave Rella at 174.

 

On Sunday afternoon, Pataky surrendered the initial takedown for the first time in six Big 10 matches this season when Falck, a four-time Iowa state champion, shot a low double.

 

Ahead 4-1, Falck scored takedowns with 15 seconds gone and six seconds left in the middle period for an 8-3 advantage. The two-time NCAA All-American chose neutral for the third period and blocked all of Pataky\’s shots for his 86th career win.

 

Hawkeye sophomore Colby Covington upset No. 16-ranked Wright 3-2 for his first college victory.

 

Freshmen Tim Darling at 157 and Cameron Wade at heavyweight were the only winners for Penn State, 0-4-2 in the Big 10 and 7-10-2 overall, as Iowa moved to 4-0 and 20-0 with its 34th consecutive dual meet win.

 

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CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – Lycoming 141-pounder Tom Barger of Clearfield was 1-1 against NCAA Division I opponents as the Warriors were beaten in their final dual meets of the season in Shenendehowa High School Sunday.

 

The sophomore, one of only four Warriors to win in the tri-meet, bested Boston University\’s Abbie Rush 6-3 and lost 11-4 to SUNY-Binghamton\’s Kareen Naguib.

 

Lycoming lost 37-9 to Boston (5-5-1) and 31-3 to SUNY-Binghamton (11-12) to finish with a 13-9 record.

 

Barger, 13-8 in duals, will take a 15-8 log into the Empire Collegiate Conference Championships Feb. 21.

 

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EDINBORO, Pa. – Lock Haven junior 174-pounder Derek Caldwell of Curwensville went 2-2 in the Edinboro Open Saturday.

 

After losing 7-2 to Jamestown Community College Tournament champion Mathew Bogardus (unattached) of Buffalo in the first round, Caldwell pinned Samir Soriano of Lehigh in 3:00 and won by forfeit over Tony Petrella (unattached) of Gannon.

 

He then lost 18-2 to Cody Waters of Michigan. Waters placed sixth.

 

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GREENSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Todd Hryn of Clearfield scored 10 points in 12 minutes as Pitt-Greensburg defeated Mount Aloysius 75-51 at Cresson Wednesday to halt a four-game losing streak, but the Bobcats had their Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference playoff hopes dimmed by Medaille in an 81-66 loss at Buffalo, N.Y., Saturday.

 

Hryn made all four of his shots against Mount Aloysius, putting the Bobcats in front three times, 19-16 with a three-pointer, 28-27 with a jumper late in the half and 66-64 with another trey with 3:30 remaining. The Bobcats never trailed again.

 

Against Medaille, Hryn had one point, four defensive rebounds and one steal in 20 minutes.

 

He\’s played 18 games with 81 points, a 4.5 average, 41 rebounds, five assists, four steals and one blocked shot.

 

UPG (6-15) is tied for seventh in the AMCC at 5-9 and would have to sweep its last four games to have a slim shot at finishing sixth.

 

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Junior John Lytle of Clearfield competed in only one event, the 200-yard medley relay, as Notre Dame back-ups got their opportunity to race and helped the Fighting Irish win every event in a 173-103 victory over Olivet (Mich.) College Saturday.

 

Lytle led off for a foursome that placed third.

 

Meet times were unofficial because of problems with the timing system in Rolfs Aquatic Center.

 

Notre Dame ended the dual meet season with four consecutive wins for a 7-6 record and will set its sights on defending its Big East Conference championship next week at Indianapolis, Ind.

 

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BEREA, Ohio – Westminster senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield ran in two events at the Baldwin-Wallace Indoor Meet Friday night.

 

The three-year letterwinner ran the 800 meters in 2:36.93 to finish 14th in a field of 27 runners and carried the baton on the second leg of the 4×400 relay for the Titan \’A\’ foursome that placed sixth among 13 entries.

 

Shiner has won Presidents\’ Athletic Conference individual titles in each of her three seasons for the Titans and owns the school and PAC records for the outdoor 800 at 2:18.67. She also is in the Westminster record book for both the indoor and outdoor 1600 relay.