FOOTBALL
CLARION, Pa. – Junior strong safety Nick Sipes of Curwensville was one of three Clarion gridders named to the 2009 Don Hansen Football Gazette NCAA Division II All-American Team on Monday.
Sipes and senior tight end Matt Foradora of Falls Creek (Brockway Area High School) received honorable mention, while junior all-purpose back Alfonso Hoggard of Philadelphia (Caravel Academy) was selected to the third team.
“I’m proud to see these three players earn All-America honors,” Clarion head coach Jay Foster was quoted on the school’s athletic website. “They had tremendous individual seasons and were very instrumental in helping us to an 8-3 season. We are proud to have them representing Clarion University.”
Sipes, a 5-11, 215-pounder who moved back to defense after playing running back his sophomore season, previously was honored as a Super Region 1 first teamer by both the Football Gazette and Daktronics, which is selected by the region’s sports information directors.
Sipes also was named to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference All-Western Division second team.
He was the leading tackler in PSAC games with 77 stops for an average of 11.0.
Counting all games, Sipes was third in the PSAC with 112 tackles, including 52 solo stops, for a 10.18 average that ranked No. 24 nationally in Division II.
In the PSAC, he trailed only East Stroudsburg linebacker Matt Freed (132 tackles in 12 games) and Bloomsburg linebacker Anthony Smith (114 tackles in 11 games).
Sipes had 12 tackles for losses of 36 yards with six sacks. He also caused one fumble and broke up one pass.
His top performances included 19 hits, two tackles for losses and one sack against Indiana, 14 stops with one 1 sack against California, 13 tackles with one sack against Fairmont (W.Va.) and 12 stops against Edinboro.
Sipes began his career at safety in 2007 and recorded 71 tackles.
A PSAC and Clarion Scholar-Athlete majoring in Biology/Pre-Med, he is the son of Leland and Tammy Sipes.
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MEN’S GYMNASTICS
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Freshman Scott Rosenthal of Clearfield was one of three members of the No. 5-ranked Penn State team who joined two of their coaches to compete against the nation’s top American gymnasts in the 2010 Winter Cup Challenge in the Las Vegas Sports Center last week with roster spots on the U.S. Senior National Team at stake.
Rosenthal, who has been a fixture in the Nittany Lions still rings lineup, finished in 35th place with a score of 13.050 in Thursday’s preliminaries, a respectable showing in his first appearance at the prestigious event.
Assistant coach and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Kevin Tan was one of 17 hopefuls to make the team after Saturday’s finals. Since graduating from Penn State in 2005 as a two-time NCAA champion and six-time All-American, he has become one of the country’s top rings competitors with three VISA Championships in addition to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials and 2007 Internationaux da France titles. The five-time Winter Cup still rings champ, who is still attempting to regain his top form following post-Olympic shoulder surgery, had a strong showing in his signature event, finishing fourth with a score of 14.900.
His work with Rosenthal paid immediate dividends when the two-time Junior Olympic national qualifier and national still rings semifinalist made an auspicious Rec Hall debut Jan. 9 with a 15.050 performance as the Nittany Lions opened the season with a 341.000-314.350 win over Army.
The following weekend, Rosenthal was in the middle of a top-three still rings sweep that keyed Penn State’s 12th consecutive championship effort at the West Point Open in Army’s Christl Arena. Sophomore Miguel Pineda (15.000), Rosenthal (14.900) and redshirt sophomore Colin Hill (14.550) combined for 44.450 of the Nittany Lions’ 349.850 points. Temple was second with 338.700.
In the individual competition on Jan. 16, Penn State again dominated with five winners, including Pineda with a 14.500 on the rings. Rosenthal again was second with a 14.300 score.
On Jan. 31, Rosenthal tied for ninth on the rings with a 12.100 as the Nittany Lions defeated No. 15 William & Mary 341.450-321.400 in Rec Hall.
Randy Jepson, in his 19th year as Penn State head coach, has high hopes for Rosenthal, who trained at Gemini Gymnastics in Altoona.
“Scott is one of the most physically strong freshmen we have ever had here,” Jepson stated in the preseason for Rosenthal’s bio on the Penn State men’s gymnastics website. “I am hard pressed to find a stronger freshman rings man anywhere in the country.
“However, he has a lot to make up for in terms of presentation, body lines, and flexibility. He did have a bicep injury at the end of the junior national season and is still feeling the repercussions from that.
“But we are being very patient with him. If all goes well, he should figure prominently in our rings lineup.”
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WRESTLING
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Redshirt junior 125-pounder Brad Pataky of Clearfield padded his Big 10 Conference record to 5-1 with a trio of bonus-point wins as Penn State bounced back from a 29-6 loss at No. 1-ranked Iowa on Jan. 29 to reel off three victories.
Pataky triggered the Nittany Lions’ big 22-15 win at Wisconsin on Jan. 31 with an 11-3 major decision over Drew Hammon. Leading 2-1 via an early takedown, Pataky came off the bottom in the second period to reverse the Badger senior and turn him for two near fall points. Two takedowns in the third period plus a riding time point provided Penn State with the bonus point.
In front of 3,841 Rec Hall fans Friday night, Pataky set the tone for Penn State’s 31-10 rout of Northwestern with a 15-0 technical fall over freshman Levi Mele. He took down the three-time Utah state champ 34 seconds into the opening bout and proceeded to put him on his back four times for a 13-0 bulge. Mele chose neutral for the second period, and Pataky needed only 14 seconds to record a single-leg takedown for the early finish.
The Penn State bantam, ranked No. 11 by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 12 by Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and No. 13 by InterMat, made it a dominating weekend with another shutout Sunday as the No. 11 Nittany Lions entertained the partisan crowd of 4,511 with a 29-10 victory over Michigan. Pataky scored a quick takedown on Wolverine freshman Sean Boyle and added a near fall for a 4-0 lead with 2:48 in riding time going to the second period. He was limited to an escape by the two-time Massachusetts state champ and two-time Blair Academy national prep champ before exploding in the final minute. Pataky finished strong with a takedown and a pair of turnovers for a 13-0 major decision.
Against Iowa, undefeated redshirt Hawkeye freshman Matt McDonough lived up to his No. 4 ranking by winning the takedown battles with Pataky three times for a 7-2 win. The Nittany Lion managed only two escapes against the three-time Iowa state champ, who had nearly four minutes of riding time.
A Carver-Hawkeye Arena crowd of 8,923 saw Iowa notch its 55th consecutive dual meet win.
Penn State is 4-2 in the Big 10 and 12-5-1 overall.
Pataky owns a 22-6 record with a 15-3 dual-meet log.
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JAMESTOWN, N.Y. – A runner-up finish by freshman 184-pounder Shawn Hall of Clearfield was the highlight for Penn State-DuBois at the Jamestown Community College Jayhawk Open on Jan. 30.
Hall reached the finals with a 10-2 major decision over Tiffin’s Nate Strickland and a 3:36 fall over SUNY-Cortland’s Will Parks.
In the title bout, Hall (7-2) was pinned at 1:54 by Jamestown freshman Eric Mazgaj.
Andrew Spicer and Holden Lowe of Clearfield and Jeff Smallwood of Curwensville, all freshmen, were other Penn State-DuBois wrestlers who competed in the 15-team tourney.
Smallwood (4-4) was 1-2 at 133, with a 10-4 victory over Jamestown’s Anthony Mirra. He lost 9-3 to Chris Santucci of Clarion and was pinned at 2:53 by Lion teammate David Hommell.
Spicer (8-12) fell to Alfred’s Cody Dill 16-5 and Gannon’s Peter Mosher 6-1 at 125.
Lowe (3-3) was edged 6-4 by Matt Housbrouck of Monroe Community College and then lost 15-3 to Tyler Bedelyen of Clarion at 141.
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JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Clearfield Area High School graduate Kyle Keane of Bradford came through with a key decision to help Pitt-Johnstown, ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II, get past Division I Clarion 18-15 Friday night in the Sports Center.
The redshirt senior, who is ranked No. 3 at 165 pounds, decisioned Justin McCrillis 10-6 to improve to 12-1 in dual meets and 20-5 overall.
Keane major decisioned Peter Lewis 10-0 in the 11-2 Mountain Cats’ 27-15 win at Ashland (Ohio) on Jan. 29.
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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Lock Haven junior 174-pounder Derek Caldwell of Curwensville came out on the short end of three close decisions in a span of seven days, including a 4-0 duel with 16th-ranked Shane Riccio of Bucknell on Friday.
Caldwell was beaten 7-4 by Cleveland State’s Marcus Effner and 9-5 by West Virginia’s Matt Weston in back-to-back Eastern Wrestling League matches Jan. 30-31.
Lock Haven (2-7) handled Cleveland State 33-6 but fell to West Virginia 32-12 and Bucknell 25-12.
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MEN’S SWIMMING
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior John Lytle of Clearfield ended his dual-meet career for Notre Dame by sweeping the three freestyle individual events against Denver and winning two against Missouri in the 2009 Shamrock Invitational at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Jan. 29-30.
The Fighting Irish defeated Denver 245-124 and lost to Missouri 197-173 and Iowa 197-171 for a 5-6 finish.
Lytle, a tri-captain, touched the wall in 21.02 seconds in the 50-yard free, 45.16 in the 100 free and 1:40.80 in the 200 free.
He won the 100 and 200 and was third in the 50 free against Missouri and second in the 100 free, third in the 50 free and fourth in the 200 free against Iowa.
Lytle also swam on five Fighting Irish relay teams that were first or second against all three opponents.
He anchored the 200 and 400 medley foursomes with race-best 20.15 and 44.37 splits, respectively, and led off in the three freestyle events, posting a 21.03 leg in the 200, a 45.28 in the 400 and a 1:41.55 in the 800.
Notre Dame’s relay wins were in the 200 (1:32.48) and 400 (3:21.02) medleys and 200 (1:22.68) and 400 (3:01.48) freestyle races against Denver and the 400 free against Missouri.
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MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Freshman Mark Krchnak of Clearfield placed third against West Virginia and fifth against Virginia Tech in both breaststroke events in Duquesne’s final dual meets on Jan. 30 in the WVU Natatorium.
The Dukes lost 138-126 to West Virginia and 142-119 to Virginia Tech for an 8-6 record.
Krchnak’s times were 59.36 seconds for the 100-yard race and 2:11.44 for the 200.
He also had a 26.95 split for the Duquesne ‘B’ 200 medley relay team that placed fourth against Virginia Tech and fifth against West Virginia.
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NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Junior twins Chris and John Bodle of Clearfield made contributions as Westminster wound down the dual-meet season by sandwiching victories at Saint Vincent 140-101 on Jan. 30 and at Mount Union (Ohio) 171-128 Sunday around a loss to Grove City.
The Titans finished 6-3 and had to settle for second place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference at 2-1 after Grove City left the Westminster Natatorium with a 171-126 win on Feb. 4.
Chris Bodle registered a personal-best at Saint Vincent, knocking almost three seconds off his 100-yard backstroke mark with a 1:01 effort that was good for fourth-place points. His previous best was 1:03.91 in his freshman season.
He also was third in the 200 back in 2:12.49.
John Bodle claimed fourth place in the 200 butterfly in 2:24.58 and also turned in a 32.54-second breaststroke split for the Titan ‘C’ 200 medley relay team that placed fourth in 1:50.31.
Against Grove City, Chris Bodle finished fifth in the 200 fly in 2:20.64 and John Bodle posted a 59.61 fly leg for the ‘C’ 400 medley relay quartet that wound up sixth in 4:01.68.
At Mount Union, John Bodle took fourth in the 200 fly in 2:19.11 while Chris Bodle was sixth in the 1650 freestyle in 19:40.29.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
ERIE, Pa. – Freshman Matt Shiner of Clearfield saw late-game action for Penn State-Behrend in Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference wins over D’Youville (N.Y.) 90-68 on Jan. 27 and Frostburg (W.Va.) State 77-58 on Jan. 30.
Shiner has played in seven games for the 13-6 Lions, who slipped from second to third place in the AMCC at 10-5 with losses to front-running Medaille (15-2) 76-74 on Feb. 3 and 71-67 at Pitt-Greensburg 71-67 Sunday.