FOOTBALL
CLARION – Standout senior safety and team captain Nick Sipes of Curwensville and seven Clarion teammates were selected for the 2010 All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division Team announced last week. Sipes is a repeater on the second team after keying the Golden Eagle defense for the second year in a row with 107 tackles. “I’m very happy for all eight players who earned all conference honors,” said Clarion fifth year head coach Jay Foster. “They are great representatives of our team, especially since they are truly student athletes. They had great seasons and we’re proud to have them in blue and gold.”
The Golden Eagles won four of their final six games for a 4-7 record, with three of the losses to PSAC opponents that earned NCAA Division II playoff berths.
Sipes, who was third in tackles in the PSAC, was involved in 12 tackles for losses of 21 yards, had one sack, caused three fumbles, recovered one fumble, intercepted one pass and broke up another pass.
The 5-11, 225-pounder led Clarion in tackles in every game except one, attaining double digits in stops seven times.
Sipes ranks No. 18 in Division II with 9.73 tackles per game, is tied for 58th with 4.55 solo tackles per game and is tied for 36th in forced fumbles.
His 17-tackle performance against California on Sept. 25 is tied for 20th in D-II single game statistics.
Other Golden Eagles honored were senior Alfonso Hoggard, first team running back and all-purpose back and second team return specialist; senior Jaques Robinson, first team wide receiver; junior Barrington Morrison, first team defensive end; senior Ben Maund, second team defensive lineman; freshman Mike Felker, second team offensive tackle; senior Gerald Hudson, offensive guard, senior Robert Mamula, punter.
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WESTLAKE, Ohio – Sophomore right cornerback David Kalgren of Curwensville was one of seven Oberlin players named to the 2010 All-North Coast Athletic Conference Team announced by the league office Monday morning.
After being switched from defense to quarterback for the Yeomen because of injuries to teammates in his rookie season, the 5-11, 203-pounder returned to the secondary this year and led 4-6 Oberlin with 75 tackles, including 62 solo stops, and shared honors for interceptions with four.
He topped the Yeomen in tackles three times, including 14 against Wabash (Ind.) on Oct. 16 and 12 against Case Western Reserve (Ohio) on Oct. 9, and was second in three other games.
Kalgren ranked first among NCAC defensive backs in tackles and tied for eighth among all defensive players.
He shared the NCAC lead in interceptions and tied for third in passes defended with five.
According to the latest NCAA Division III statistics, Kalgren is tied for 39th in solo stops with 59. He also return 16 kickoffs for 333 yards, a 20.8 average, and 14 punts for 102 yards, a 7.3 average, both among the best in the NCAC. However, he didn’t have enough returns to qualify in either category.
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TAMPA, Fla. – Dan Hutchins kicked a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter and two extra points later out of the holds of redshirt junior quarterback Andrew Janocko of Clearfield as Pitt remained atop the Big East Conference with a hard-earned 17-10 win over South Florida before 43,844 fans at Raymond James Stadium Saturday.
Hutchins has converted all 32 PATs and has hit 15 of 21 field goals, one of his misses a 43-yarder that could have sealed it for the Panthers with 1:31 remaining.
Pitt is 4-1 in the conference and 6-4 overall for the 103rd “Backyard Brawl” with West Virginia at Heinz Field Friday. ABC will televise the game nationally, with kickoff set for noon.
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PITTSBURGH – Nick Redden of Clearfield played in five games, utilized on both the offensive and defensive lines as well as fullback, during his redshirt freshman season for Duquesne.
The Dukes capped a 7-4 season by beating Bryant 37-29 at Smithfield, R.I., Saturday with third place in the Northeast Conference on the line.
Duquesne, picked to finish seventh, won five of eight NEC games.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
NEW WILMINGTON – Danielle Struble of Curwensville was rewarded for an outstanding senior season at Westminster with second team laurels on the 2010 All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference Team announced last week.
The 5-7 forward was the Lady Titans’ No. 2 offensive threat with 10 goals and four goals for 24 points.
She had the game-winning goal in four of Westminster’s 10 wins and had the most shot attempts with 89, including 38 on goal.
Struble was second in the PAC in shots, tied for second in game-winning goals, sixth in points, tied for eighth in goals and tied for 10th in assists.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
MEADVILLE – Junior guard Todd Hryn of Clearfield had five points and three rebounds in seven minutes as Pitt-Greensburg salvaged third place in the Allegheny Gator Invitational by nipping Fredonia (N.Y.) State 62-60 Sunday after losing to the host team 71-67 Saturday.
He scored four points and pulled down four missed shots in 10 minutes Wednesday’s opener that the Bobcats won 80-60 over visiting Penn State Greater Allegheny.
Hryn appeared in 35 games, six as a starter, as a freshman and sophomore, accumulating 147 points for a 4.2 average and 106 rebounds. He also had eight assists and 11 steals.
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NEW WILMINGTON – Sophomore Matt Shiner of Clearfield scored three points and grabbed one rebound in 10 minutes of action last week as Westminster opened the season by splitting two games against Ohio teams.
The 6-3 guard, who transferred from Penn State Behrend where he appeared in 11 games as a reserve, hit a three-pointer in the Titans’ 78-72 loss at Oberlin Monday and pulled down a defensive rebound in their 79-77 win over visiting Mount Union Friday.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
WEST MIFFLIN – Senior Brittany Barrett of Mahaffey had her best overall game of the young season Saturday as Penn State DuBois evened its record at 2-2 by handing host Community College of Allegheny County-Boyce Campus an 80-61 setback.
The Curwensville Area High School graduate scored seven points, snared six rebounds, was credited with three assists and made two steals for the Lady Lions.
Three nights earlier, she tallied three points, three rebounds and three steals in a 91-49 loss at Mansfield.
On Nov. 15, Barrett had two rebounds, one assist and one steal in a 77-47 loss to Alfred (N.Y.) in the Lady Lions’ home opener in the Multipurpose Building Gymnasium.
Her season totals are 15 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and eight steals.
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WRESTLING
ALLIANCE, Ohio – A fall by sophomore 174-pounder Jeff Thomas of Curwensville clinched a milestone victory for Lycoming (5-5) coach Roger Crebs in the final round of the Mount Union Duals Saturday.
Thomas decked Justin Meineke of Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) at the 6:05 mark to give the Warriors a 25-9 lead in their 32-9 win that was No. 300 for Crebs in his 18th season at his alma mater.
Earlier in the day, Thomas lost an 11-2 major decision to Andrew Scavuzzo of Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) in Lycoming’s 25-17 win.
He did not wrestle in Warriors losses to No. 29-ranked Mount Union 26-12 and No. 19-tranked Ohio Northern 25-9.
Thomas is 4-3 with four falls.
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ITHACA, N.Y. – Lock Haven redshirt senior 174-pounder Derek Caldwell of Curwensville won two of four matches in the Body Bar Invitational hosted by Cornell at Newman Arena Saturday.
In his first bout of the season, the two-year letterman major decisioned Clarion’s Josh Sadler 12-4.
He was majored 15-6 by second-seeded and eventual runner-up Ben Bennett of Central Michigan in the quarterfinals but bounced back to pin Clarion’s Scott Joseph at 6:49.
Caldwell was eliminated by Kent State’s Brandon Johnson, who won 4-0 and went on to place fifth.
Lock Haven, 2-1 in dual meets, finished sixth in the 11-team field.
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MEN’S SWIMMING
NEW WILMINGTON – Senior twins Chris and John Bodle of Clearfield each competed in two events as Westminster (3-1) breezed past Wooster (Ohio) 173-109 in a non-conference meet at the Westminster Pool Saturday.
In the 200-yard butterfly, Chris placed fifth in 2:19.61 and John was sixth in 2:21.16.
Chris swam the opening backstroke leg in 29.95 seconds and John turned in a butterfly split of 26.57 for the Titan ‘C’ 200 medley relay team that wound up sixth in 1:52.71.
Last Wednesday, Chris posted two personal bests as Westminster went on the road and topped Washington & Jefferson 173-109 for its second Presidents’ Athletic Conference win.
He placed fifth in the 100 fly in 59.38 seconds and fifth in the 200 free in 1:57.02.
John was sixth in the 200 fly in 2:20.51.
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
CHICAGO, Ill. – Lincoln (Ill.) College freshman freestyle sprinter Brandie Centi of Clearfield established a new personal mark for the 100-yard freestyle with a 1:01.85 effort to finish 22nd among 44 starters in the preliminaries of the Phoenix Fall Classic hosted by the University of Chicago at the Myers-McLoraine Pool last weekend.
She also placed 24th in the 200 free prelims with a 2:23.96 and 26th in the 50 prelims with a 28.22.
The Lynx totaled 351 points for fourth place in the nine-team field, just five points behind third place Illinois-Chicago.
A week earlier, Centi swam the second leg for the victorious 400 free relay team as Lincoln dunked host Principia (Ill.) 149-39 for its second win in three dual meets.
She added points for the Lynx by taking third in the 200 free in a season-best 2:20.56 and fourth in the 100 free in 1:04.48.
Centi was fifth in both the 100 free in 1:04.21 and 200 free in 2:21.82 when Lincoln opened the season with a 124-64 loss at Eastern Illinois on Nov. 5.