WRESTLING
WILLIAMSPORT — Lycoming 157-pounder Nolan Barger (Clearfield) knocked off two higher seeds to become the lone freshman to win a title at the 23rd Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships January 18.
He followed up with three more wins at the Mel Berry Duals hosted by Thiel College in Greenville Friday.
Those performances resulted in Barger receiving back-to-back ECWC Rookie of the Week honors, his second and third of the season.
Seeded No. 4 in the 12-man bracket at the conference tourney in Lycoming’s Lamade Gym, Barger received a bye and then edged State University of New York Oneonta’s Samuel Rachman 11-9 to advance to the semifinals, where he bested No. 1 seed James Ondris of Cortland State 4-3.
In the finals, Barger was paired against teammate Brian Watkins, the No. 3 seed, and claimed the gold medal with a 4-1 win.
They were two of a record nine Warriors who placed in the top six and accounted for the majority of the 101.5 points that tied Lycoming with Oneonta for fourth place behind No. 13-ranked Ithaca (142.5), SUNY Cortland (124) and SUNY Brockport (123) in the eight-team field.
Barger padded his record to 21-10 at the Mel Berry Duals.
He decked Garrett Chase at 2:24 for one of three falls that made the difference in a 24-21 victory over Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio).
Against Mercyhurst North East, Barger moved up to 165 and registered a 6-4 decision over Cole Shirey (Redbank Valley) as the Warriors triumphed 33-15.
Back down at 157, Barger was one of only three Warriors to win in a 29-11 loss to No. 24-ranked Thiel, rolling up a 16-1 technical fall in 6:52 against Brandan Collins.
Barger’s dual meet record is 8-5.
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MILLERSVILLE — Wrestling unattached, West Virginia freshman 141-pounder Christian Stone (Clearfield) won two of four matches in the Floyd “Shorty” Hitchcock Memorial Classic at Millersville University January 19.
After being shut out 9-0 by Maryland’s R.J. DeGeorge, Stone ousted Penn State’s Devon Bentley 8-3 and Millersville’s Michael Lenihan 11-2.
Virginia Tech’s Nick Anderson then eliminated Stone with a 12-4 major decision and went on to place fourth.
Stone has a 3-4 record.
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MEN’S SWIMMING
YORK — Penn State Altoona sophomore Alex Fisher (Clearfield) was named Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Men’s Swimmer of the Week for the third time this season following his three wins in a tri-meet hosted by York College January 17.
Fisher touched in 1:01.37 in the 100-yard breaststroke, matching his previous best time for the season to win by more than nine seconds, and 2:03.19 in the 200 individual medley, a new mark for the season. Both times are No. 2 in the AMCC.
In addition, his 26.77-second breaststroke split was more than three seconds faster than his opponents and keyed the Lions 200 medley team to victory by 3.03 seconds in 1:45.14.
The Lions defeated Gallaudet 145-51 and lost to York 118-86 to finish the dual meet portion of their schedule with a 5-2-1 record.
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
CALIFORNIA, Pa. — Freshman Krystal Wriglesworth (Clearfield) swam on two California University of Pennsylvania relay teams that were victorious in the Vulcan Dual Meet Challenge Friday and Saturday.
She turned in a 25.99-second third leg for the 200-yard freestyle foursome that posted a 1:41.39 and a 29.43 backstroke split for the 200 medley relay quartet that won in 1:52.27.
Wriglesworth fared well in two individual events, finishing second in the 100 back in 1:02.54 and third in the 200 back in 2:24.55.
Her 1:02.42 leadoff leg helped the 400 medley team to a second-place 4:08.44 clocking, and she recorded a 1:00.11 split for the Vulcan ‘C’ 400 freestyle relay foursome that placed sixth.
California piled up 671 points to outdistance Mansfield (397), Lock Haven (393) and Chatham (114).
In a 124-71 win over Lynn University at Boca Raton, FL, Wriglesworth placed fourth in the 200 back in 2:45.81 and fifth in the 50 free in 26.95 and contributed a 1:05.91 backstroke split for the 400 medley foursome that was second in 4:14.36.
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WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Clarion freshman Jessica Shomo (Clearfield) missed qualifying for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Championships in the triple jump by less than an inch at Youngstown University’s College Invitational Friday.
Her effort of 33 feet, 4¾ inches was good for 13th place in the field of 28 jumpers.
Shomo also bettered her personal records in the long jump with a leap of 16-3¼ to place 20th among the 45 entries and in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.45 seconds to place 36th among 63 sprinters.
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UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State senior Gwenn Porter (Clearfield) ran a personal-best 5:17.04 mile in the Nittany Lion Challenge on the Horace Ashenfelter III Track in the Multi-Sports Building on January 18.
She finished in 24th place.
