WRESTLING
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army 149-pounder Matt Kyler of Clearfield and teammate Richard Starks were named to the Wrestling-Report.com’s inaugural All-Patriot League Team.
Army is one of five Patriot League schools that compete in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, the nation’s oldest and largest NCAA Division I wrestling conference. Navy, Lehigh, Bucknell and American are the others.
Kyler was cited for winning his second EIWA title and finishing in the top 12 at the NCAA Division I championships. Many consider losers in the Round of 12 as Honorable Mention All-Americans.
The senior co-captain topped the Cadets in wins with his 32-5 record and bonus point wins with 20. He led in major decisions with nine and was second in pins with 10.
Kyler, a four-time EIWA finalist and 2008 NCAA All-American, became Army’s all-time wins leader during his outstanding 146-33 career that included four New York State Championships and three All-Academy Championships titles.
Starks, a senior 197-pounder who placed third in the EIWAs to become a three-time NCAA qualifier, overcame a heart condition early in the season to post a 26-4 record for a career mark of 105-25 that earned him seventh place on the Academy’s all-time win list.
Bucknell senior Andy Rendos of Brockway was selected as the All-Patriot League 165-pounder.
The four-time District 9 Class AA champion and two-time Northwest Region titlist won the 2010 EIWA gold medal, a first for the Bison program, and was a two-time NCAA Division I All-American.
He placed sixth at nationals, finishing 33-7 for a 121-32 career record that is No. 1 on Bucknell’s all-time win list.
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SOFTBALL
WILLIAMSPORT – Freshman pitcher-outfielder Holly Lansberry of Curwensville picked up her fourth win with a shutout and had three hits while freshman catcher Ashley Demchak of Curwensville chipped in with two hits and one run batted in for Lycoming last week.
Lansberry (4-6) hurled a four-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks in blanking Commonwealth Conference opponent Arcadia 1-0 Sunday.
She was tagged with the 3-0 loss to Misericordia Friday, though allowing only four hits and two earned runs in six innings. She struck out four and walked four.
At the plate, Lansberry had three singles in eight at-bats, two of the hits as the starting left fielder in the Lady Warriors’ 4-3, 10-inning nightcap win over Arcadia.
Demchak was the designated hitter in that game and had a single. She did the catching in a 10-0 victory over Misericordia, socking a double and scoring two runs.
Demchak, who is hitting .308 with eight safeties and five RBIs, leads Lycoming in slugging percentage at .500 because of two doubles and two of the team’s three home runs.
She has started seven games as the catcher or designated hitter and come off the bench a team-high nine times.
In 17 games, 12 as the starting pitcher or left fielder, Lansberry has collected 11 hits for a .379 average that is the third highest for the Lady Warriors.
She is second in walks with seven, tied for second in on-base percentage at .500 and fifth in slugging percentage at .448.
Lycoming is 2-2 in the conference and 7-13 overall.
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LOCK HAVEN – Junior first baseman Brittany Pataky of Clearfield enjoyed the first three-hit game of her career and recorded 18 putouts in another game during a week that defending NCAA Division II champion Lock Haven saw its early-season struggles continue with five losses in eight games.
Pataky singled twice, doubled, drove in a run and scored a run as the Lady Eagles extended their Lawrence Field winning streak to 79 games with a 7-6 extra-inning victory over Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Central Division rival Mansfield Wednesday.
Her busy defensive game occurred in the nightcap of Saturday’s non-conference twinbill at Gannon, a 1-0 loss in eight innings.
Lock Haven (9-12) swept Mansfield, winning the opener 9-0, but dropped PSAC-Central doubleheaders to No. 13 Bloomsburg 10-4 and 11-6 Tuesday and Indiana 6-4 and 4-1 Sunday.
Pataky was 6-for-23 with two doubles and four RBIs for the week.
She is second on the team in hits (17), total bases (24) and doubles (4), third in RBIs (8) and fifth in batting average (.279) and runs (6).
Her fielding average is .994 for 159 chances in 20 games, 18 as the starter at first base.
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ALTOONA – Sophomore second baseman Alanna Luzier of Frenchville cracked her first career home run, a solo shot in a losing cause against Westminster, but that was her lone hit of the week for Penn State-Altoona.
The Clearfield Area High School graduate and freshman utility player Jenessa Stiles of Curwensville are hitting .222 and .188, respectively for the Lady Lions, who boast a 7-4-1 record.
After losing a non-conference doubleheader to Westminster 4-2 and 8-6 Wednesday, Penn State-Altoona bounced back to beat Penn State-Behrend 6-2 and 4-1 in its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference openers Sunday at Stewart Athletic Field.
Luzier is 8-for-36 in 10 games and Stiles, who has started six games at four different positions, is 3-for-16. They have three runs batted in apiece.
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BASEBALL
SLIPPERY ROCK – Junior shortstop Adam Jury of Clearfield stretched his hitting streak to eight games as Slippery Rock split a twinbill on Gannon’s home field Friday and then swept the Golden Knights at home Saturday to climb into third place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
It’s the third time in two seasons the former Clearfield Area High School standout has hit safely in at least eight consecutive games.
Jury’s four singles in 11 official at-bats lifted his batting average to a season-high .241.
He had a two-run single and a sacrifice fly for a third RBI in The Rock’s 10-9 victory in the series finale.
The Rock also defeated the Golden Knights 4-1 and 7-4 and lost 1-0 for a 13-11 record, including 7-5 in the PSAC-West.
Jury has 20 hits, with three doubles and one triple, and 12 RBIs. He has scored 13 runs.
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BRADFORD – Seniors Philip Solley of Grampian and Bart McGary of Curwensville have fared much better than the Pitt-Bradford team in the first month of the 2010 season.
They rank second and fourth in hitting for the 5-8 Panthers with averages of .400 and .386, respectively.
Prior to last week’s three losses, Solley was tied for ninth in average at .444 and ninth in runs batted in with 13 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
Pitt-Bradford was beaten 8-6 by host Penn State-Beaver on Wednesday and then lost 11-4 and 10-0 to LaRoche in its AMCC openers Saturday.
Solley had two hits, three walks and one RBI, while McGary had four hits and three RBIs during the week.
McGary singled twice and doubled, driving in two runs, in Game 1 against LaRoche.
He is tied for the team lead in hits (17), tied for second in doubles (3) and third in runs scored (10), RBIs (13) and walks (5).
Solley is tied for first in RBIs (14) and walks (6) and third in hits (14).
Freshman Ben McGary of Curwensville closed out two games, working four innings and lowering his earned run average to 4.35. He gave up two hits and two runs, one earned.
The left-hander has pitched 10.1 innings in six games with eight strikeouts and three walks. He’s allowed 16 hits and 13 runs, eight of which were unearned.
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ERIE – Junior first baseman Kyle Kline of Clearfield singled in both games as Penn State-Behrend opened defense of its Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championship by sweeping Penn State-Altoona 6-1 and 13-5 Saturday.
Kline also walked twice, registered the first stolen base of his career and scored three runs for the 10-2 Lions.
He hiked his average to .381, fourth highest on the team.
Kline has a .953 fielding average for 64 chances and has participated in seven double plays.
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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
WHEELING, W.Va. – Michael Johnson of Clearfield raised his personal record in the high jump to six feet, three-quarters of an inch while junior classmate John Bowman of Clearfield placed in the top 10 in two events to help Penn State-Behrend finish fourth with 90 points in the 14-team Bill Van Horne Invitational hosted by Wheeling (W.Va.) Jesuit Friday and Saturday.
Johnson’s previous best high jumps were 6-0 outdoors at the Salisbury (Md.) University Spring Classic earlier this month and 6-1/2 indoors at the Cornell’s Robert J. Kane Invitational in mid-February.
He also ran the second split for the Penn State-Behrend ‘A’ 4×400-meter relay team that place fifth in 3:30.46, its fastest time of the season.
Bowman placed fourth in the javelin throw with a fling of 47.40 meters (155-6), ninth in the hammer throw with a toss of 36.39m (119-4) and 22nd in the discus with a 33.15m (108-9) effort.
Freshman Grier Walker of Clearfield was 24th in the 800m run in 2:04.71.