WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army 149-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield extended his junior season winning streak to 21 matches with two decisions last weekend.
He beat Scott Heckman 11-4 in the Black Knights\’ 15-15 tie with visiting East Stroudsburg Friday night and edged No. 14-ranked Trevor Chinn 3-1 in a 27-12 loss to Lehigh at Bethlehem Saturday.
A takedown at the edge of the mat in the final 10 seconds gave Kyler his victory over the No. 14-ranked Mountain Hawk redshirt senior, a two-time NCAA qualifier with a 24-7 record. Chinn was a four-time New York state finalist in high school, winning two championships.
Kyler, ranked No. 7 by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and Amateur Wrestling News and No. 10 by InterMat/National Wrestling Coaches Association/National Wrestling Media Association last week, is 17-0 in dual meets and 35-5 for the season.
The 2005 PIAA Class AAA champ at 103 pounds as a Clearfield Area High School junior, Kyler has steadily climbed Army\’s Top 10 lists for career wins and pins after breaking into them earlier this season.
He is fifth in wins with 109 and third in falls with 37.
Army goes into its final dual meet against Navy Saturday at 10-5-2 with a 4-2-1 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association record.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Brad Pataky\’s exciting 11-9 squeaker over Michael Watts in a duel of nationally-ranked 125-pounders was one of the few highlights for No. 24 Penn State Saturday when No. 17 Michigan avenged a 21-18 loss in January\’s national duals with a convincing 31-6 Big Ten Conference win.
The Nittany Lion redshirt sophomore from Clearfield raised his record to 26-6, including 18-3 in dual meets, by escaping with 50 seconds and adding a point for 1:27 in riding time advantage.
Pataky, who was ranked No. 10 by WIN, No. 11 by AWN and No. 13 by Inter-Mat/NWCA/NWMA, worked two takedowns for a 4-2 lead an 1:55 in riding time after one period, but a lateral drop worth four points gave Watts a 6-5 edge midway through the second period.
After a Watts escape at the start of the third period, Pataky hit a cement mixer for two-and-two. Then, the Wolverines\’ three-time Utah state champion reversed for the 9-9 deadlock before Pataky broke free for the winning point.
On Friday night at East Lansing, Pataky put Michigan State\’s Eric Olanowski on his back for the fourth time at the end of the second period to notch a 17-2 technical fall that set the tone for a 28-12 Penn State win.
Pataky surrendered the initial takedown on a counter by the Spartan freshman, but he was in command at 8-2 after three minutes via an escape, takedown and two turnovers. He pulled away with a takedown, penalty point and two near falls in the next two minutes.
Penn State finished 1-5-2 in the conference and takes an 8-11-2 record into its final dual meet Friday night, when Penn visits Rec Hall for a seven o\’clock start.
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MEN\’S SWIMMING & DIVING
GROVE CITY, Pa. – Washington & Jefferson diver Ryan Sayers of Frenchville (Clearfield Area H.S.) earned 28 points in his two events and Westminster swimmer Chris Bodle of Clearfield picked up 19 points by placing in three races at the 2009 Presidents\’ Athletic Conference Championships hosted by Grove City Saturday.
Grove City repeated as champion with 949 points, Westminster was runner-up with 805.5 and W & J finished third with 612 in the five-team field.
Sayers ended his collegiate career by placing fourth in three-meter dives with 304.35 points and sixth in one-meter dives with 315.75 points.
Bodle touched eighth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:11.93, 10th in the 400 individual medley in 4:34.49 and 16th in the 1,650 free in 18:12.11. All three times were personal bests for the Titan sophomore, shattering his previous marks of 2:19.92, 4:41.49 and 18:48.99, respectively.
He also swam exhibition in the 100 fly with a 58.78 effort.
Twin brother John Bodle swam exhibition in three events, posting a 58.86 in the 100 fly, 2:16.09 in the 200 fly and 2:13.18 in the 200 individual medley.
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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Senior Brandon Good of Clearfield closed his Lycoming career by placing in two individual events and helping two relay teams place fifth as the Warriors claimed fourth place at the 2009 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships in the Catholic Youth Center pool Friday and Saturday.
The Warrior tri-captain finished eighth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:15.48 after qualifying for the \’A\’ finals with a personal-best 2:07.96 and 15th in the 100 fly in 59.21 after a season-best 56.90 in the prelims.
In the relays, Good contributed a 23.01-second third leg, his fast split of the season, for Lycoming\’s 200 freestyle foursome and a 51.76-second anchor leg for the 400 free team.
In all, the four-year letterman earned 17 points for the Warriors, who totaled 393 points to finish behind Widener (807), Albright (637.5) and Misericordia (493) in the 10-team field.
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WOMEN\’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GAMBIER, Ohio – Westminster senior Rebecca Shiner of Clearfield crossed the finish line first in the Kenyon Indoor Meet 800-meter run.
The Titans\’ three-year letterwinner stopped the clock at 2:32.13 in besting five other runners.
Shiner also ran the second leg for the Westminster 4×200 relay team that finished fourth.
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MEN\’S BASKETBALL
GREENSBURG, Pa. – Freshman Todd Hryn of Clearfield saw limited action for Pitt-Greensburg in two Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference games last week.
The Bobcats defeated Hilbert 73-66 at Buffalo Wednesday night but had their playoff hopes snuffed out at home Saturday in a crushing 70-65 loss to Pitt-Bradford after leading by 11 points with 8:24 remaining.
Hryn\’s 20-game totals are 81 points, 41 rebounds, five assists, four steals and one blocked shot in 260 minutes for the Bobcats, who are 6-10 in the AMCC and 7-16 overall.
