MEDIA – Freshmen Runners-up Andrew Spicer and Shawn Hall of Clearfield were two of Penn State-DuBois’ six placewinners who lifted the Lions to the team title at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Pennsylvania State Championships hosted by the Williamson School of Mechanical Trades Saturday.
The Lions, who had one champion in 197-pounder Joe Shields of Brookville, accumulated 80 points.
The Williamson School of Mechanical Trades nipped NCAA Division III No. 5 Delaware Valley 66.5-65.5 for second place. Northampton Community College was a close fourth with 62.5 points, and the Penn State Club Team wound up fifth with 49.
Spicer (9-13) was beaten by Northampton sophomore Tony Fusco in the title bout at 125, while Hall (8-3) was defeated by Penn State Club Team senior Brian Goeringer in the 184 finale. Fusco is Northampton’s top wrestler at 8-1.
The other placewinners for coach Matt Park’s first-year Penn State-DuBois team were runner-up Kasey Haines (149) of New Bethlehem (Redbank Valley High School) and third placers Chris Downer (235) of El Paso, Texas, and James Mosher (285) of Sheffield.
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UNIVERSITY PARK – Brad Pataky of Clearfield got the 4,408 fans in Rec Hall revved up Friday night by continually piling up the points for a technical fall in the opening bout, and Penn State went on to beat Big 10 Conference foe Michigan State 26-12 in its home finale.
The redshirt junior 125-pounder took down Brenan Lyon three times and put him on his back for three points to lead 9-2 after one period. He repeated that feat in the middle two minutes to double his advantage.
After Lyon escaped in the third period, Pataky received a penalty point for stalling calls and then ended the match with his seventh takedown at the 5:56 mark for a 21-5 bonus win.
Pataky (23-6, 16-3 in dual meets) was ranked No. 11 by Amateur Wrestling News, No. 12 by the Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine rankings and No. 13 by InterMat.
The Nittany Lions, No. 10 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll and rated No. 11 by InterMat, are 5-2 in the Big 10 and 13-5-1 overall after their fourth win in a row.
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WEST POINT, N.Y. – Co-captain Matt Kyler of Clearfield was one of four seniors honored before Army’s final home dual meets in Gillis Field House Saturday afternoon.
However, because of stomach illness, Kyler wasn’t able to contribute to the Black Knights’ victories over Millersville 37-6 and Sacred Heart 46-3.
He also missed wins over Brown and Harvard in late January because of a minor knee injury.
His last matches were Jan. 23-24 when he won his fourth New York State Championships title, which earned him Eastern Wrestling Intercollegiate Association (EIWA) Wrestler of the Week honors.
Last week, Kyler (27-2) was ranked No. 7 at 149 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News and Wrestling Insider Newsmagazine and No. 8 by InterMat.
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LOCK HAVEN – Derek Caldwell of Curwensville suffered another narrow defeat in Lock Haven’s 22-15 Eastern Wrestling League loss to Bloomsburg in Thomas Fieldhouse Friday night.
The redshirt junior (3-17) was edged 5-3 by Nate Graham (25-8), the Huskies’ second winningest wrestler, in the 174-pound bout.
The Bald Eagles are 2-8 with a 1-4 EWL log.
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GREENSBURG – Clearfield Area High School graduate Kyle Keane of Bradford bounced back from a close loss to the No. 1-ranked wrestler in NCAA Division II with a technical fall to help jump-start No. 4-ranked Pitt-Johnstown’s 35-6 win over host Seton Hill Sunday.
Keane, a redshirt senior 165-pounder who is ranked No. 3 in the nation, shut out Randall Wagner 15-0 after Zach Lundgren of DuBois teched Josh Voelker 17-2 at 157, giving the Mountain Cats a 10-0 lead.
On Senior Night and Breast Cancer Awareness Night in UPJ’s Sports Center Friday, Keane lost 3-1 to defending D-II champ Josh Shields of Mercyhurst.
Shields (30-3) and Keane (23-7) are No. 1 and No. 2 in the D-II East Region.
Last year, Shields bested Keane by identical 7-0 scores in their dual meet and Super Region 1 finals encounters.
Pitt-Johnstown (13-2) beat Mercyhurst 31-9, with Lundgren dropping an 8-6 decision to Andy Lamancusa, who moved to the top of the Lakers’ all-time win list with career No. 110.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
DUBOIS – Curwensville Area High School graduate Brittany Barrett of Mahaffey scored two points for Penn State-DuBois in a 69-40 loss to Penn State-Beaver in the Multi-Purpose Building on Saturday.
The Lady Lions (7-13) are 4-8 in the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference West Division.
Penn State-Beaver (20-3) leads the West at 11-1 and is ranked No. 1 in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
ERIE – Freshman Matt Shiner of Clearfield played in his eighth game for Penn State-Behrend in a 77-61 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference win at Pitt-Bradford on Feb. 10.
On Saturday the Lions (14-7) were upset 52-48 by visiting LaRoche and slipped to fourth place in the conference at 11-6.