WRESTLING
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Senior Matt Kyler of Clearfield moved into second place on Army\’s all-time win list en route to claiming the 2009 Southern Scuffle 149-pound championship in the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Black Knight co-captain was named Army Athletic Association Athlete of the Week for winning the prestigious title in the 32-team tournament in impressive fashion.
Kyler, ranked No. 9 by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 10 by InterMat and No. 11 by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine, major decisioned North Carolina State\’s Bobby Ward 10-2 and pinned Appalachian State\’s Savva Kostis in 4:44 on the first day.
After advancing to the finals with major decisions over John Nicholson of Old Dominion 17-7 and fifth seed Torsten Gillespie of Edinboro 15-7, he squared off against Penn senior Cesar Grajales, who had knocked him out of last year\’s NCAA Division I Tournament with a 3-2 decision in the third round of consolations.
Kyler worked a single-leg into the takedown midway through the first period and stood for a quick escape in the second period. Grajales suffered a knee injury trying to fight off another Kyler single-leg attempt at the end of the middle period and defaulted 22 seconds into the third period.
\”Matt wrestled hard,\” Army coach Chuck Barbee told Army Athletic Communications. \”He has been working on fundamentals and doing the little things right, and that certainly added up. He paid attention to the details and was rewarded.\”
Kyler improved to 14-2 and raised his career win total to 128, hurdling Brad Fenske (126-49, 1993-97) on Army\’s all-time list. The leader is Philip Simpson (134-19, 2001-05).
Thanks to Kyler\’s title and four bonus wins, Army wound up with 60 points to place a very respectable 12th in a tourney that featured 53 wrestlers ranked by InterMat, including four who were No. 1.
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WILKES-BARRE, PA. – Clearfield Area High School graduate Kyle Keane of Bradford was the runner-up at 165 pounds as one of three placewinners for Pitt-Johnstown at the 2009 Wilkes Open on Dec. 28.
The redshirt senior advanced to the finals by pinning Nassau Community College\’s Curran Digney at 5:41 and major decisioning Wilkes\’ Dustin Stough 11-2 and Pitt\’s P.J. Tasser 16-3.
Maryland freshman Jimmy Sheptock defeated Keane 8-2 for the gold medal. Sheptock, who wrestled unattached, was a District 11 and Northeast Region champion and PIAA bronze medalist for Northampton last year.
Keane, ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II, is 10-4.
Mountain Cat Patrick Walsh was the champion at 184 while No. 1-ranked Shane Valko was the runner-up at 133.
Lock Haven 174-pounder Derek Caldwell of Curwensville won his first-round match 9-5 over Evan Dill of Virginia Military Institute before being edged 5-4 by Jeff Harper of Pitt-Johnstown and 8-5 by Jesse Villella of Wilkes.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Brad Pataky of Clearfield registered a 50-second fall in the opening bout to set the tone for nationally-ranked Penn State\’s 32-6 win over Lock Haven in front of 1,915 fans in Thomas Fieldhouse Sunday afternoon.
The redshirt junior 125-pounder rolled George Ester to his back with a cement mixer to improve to 7-1 in dual meets and 14-4 overall. He is ranked No. 11 in the nation by InterMat.com and Amateur Wrestling News and No. 13 by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine.
At 174, redshirt junior Derek Caldwell of Curwensville made his season debut in the Lock Haven lineup and hooked up with Nittany Lion freshman Justin Ortega for the match\’s most exciting bout.
Caldwell earned a quick 4-0 lead with a takedown and near fall and led 4-1 after one period. Ortega escaped for the second time early in the second period and gained a 4-4 tie with a takedown at the buzzer.
In the third period, Caldwell reclaimed the lead with a quick escape but fell behind when Ortega countered his shot for a takedown with 50 seconds remaining. The Bald Eagle forced overtime by escaping with just three seconds left.
However, Ortega pulled out an 8-6 sudden victory by working behind Caldwell less than 10 seconds into the extra period.
Penn State, ranked No. 15 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll and No. 14 by InterMat
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MEN\’S BASKETBALL
GREENSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore frontliner Todd Hryn of Clearfield scored five points and pulled down four rebounds in two road games for Pitt-Greensburg last week.
The Bobcats (5-6) lost 85-60 to Bethany (W.Va.) Wednesday and 80-59 to Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Penn State-Behrend Saturday.
Hryn had two points and two rebounds against Bethany and hit a three-pointer and grabbed two missed shots against Penn State-Behrend.
Pitt-Greensburg is 3-3 and tied for seventh in the AMCC.
In 10 games, including two starts, Hryn has netted 48 points and corralled 48 rebounds. He also has two assists, five steals and two blocked shots.
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ERIE, Pa. – Matt Shiner of Clearfield saw late-game action for Penn State-Behrend in a 73-94 non-conference road loss to Cornell Wednesday and an 80-59 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory over visiting Pitt-Greensburg in the Junker Center Saturday afternoon.
The freshman guard has played in four games for the 6-3 Lions, who are tied for fifth in the AMCC at 3-2.
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FOOTBALL
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Redshirt sophomore quarterback/holder Andrew Janocko of Clearfield was able to handle a high snap and set it down in time for Dan Hutchins to kick a game-winning 33-yard field goal with 52 seconds left that gave No. 17-ranked Pitt a 19-17 win over North Carolina in the 2009 Meineke Car Care Bowl on Dec. 26.
A partisan-North Carolina crowd of 50,389 in Bank of America Stadium saw the Panthers, who were 9-1 before stumbling against West Virginia and Cincinnati with the Big East Conference championship at stake, crack the 10-win plateau for the first time since 1981 on Hutchins\’ school-record fourth field goal of the game.
His kick came after Pitt had paraded 79 yards in 16 plays and used up 8:47.
Facing fourth-and-one at the Pitt 30 with 6:36 remaining, quarterback Bill Stull made coach Dave Wannstedt\’s gamble pay off with a three-yard keeper.
Then, when the Panthers stalled on fourth-and-two at the NC-30 with 1:56 on the clock, Wannstedt sent out the field goal unit but instructed snapper John Fieger to take his time adjusting the ball a little longer in an attempt to draw the Tar Heels offsides. The strategy worked.
The ensuing penalty and three running plays moved the ball to the NC-16, setting the stage for the winning field goal try by Hutchins.
Earlier, he booted field goals of 31, 31 and 42 yards. His 13 points tied the Pitt bowl kick scoring record set by Eric Schubert (Fiesta, 1979) and tied by Dave Trout (Gator, 1980).
Dion Lewis scored the lone Panther touchdown and rushed for 159 yards to finish with 1,799 yards, surpassing Tony Dorsett\’s Pitt freshman record (1,686).
