Nolan Barger is ranked #2 in the country after his sophomore All-American season for Lycoming wrestling (Photo courtesy Lycoming Athletics)
WRESTLING
WILLIAMSPORT — Lycoming junior All-American Nolan Barger (Clearfield) will begin the 2015-16 season ranked No. 2 behind returning national champion Farai Sewara of Coe (Iowa) at 165 pounds in NCAA Division III by both the National Wrestling Coaches and d3wrestl.com.
They did not meet during the 2015 national tournament as Barger, the No. 6 seed after winning the Mideast Region title, bounced back from a second-round loss with four impressive wins to claim third place.
The bronze medalist roared through the wrestlebacks with a pair of first-minute falls, a 6-4 decision over No. 1-ranked Andrew Steiert of Wartburg (Iowa) and a 12-2 major decision over Sam Guidi of Waynesburg that avenged his 3-2 quarterfinal setback.
Barger finished 36-8 with 11 falls, three technical falls and six major decisions. His wins and pins tied the program single-season records for fifth and 10th, respectively.
He wrestled at 157 as a freshman and had a 29-12 record with seven falls, three technical falls and four major decisions.
Barger also is a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American and earned Middle Atlantic Conference All-Academic Team and Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference All-Academic Team laurels as a sophomore.
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YPSILANTI, Mich. — Redshirt junior 149-pounder Jake Keller (Curwensville) won one of his three matches for Clarion at the Eastern Michigan Duals Saturday.
He moved up to 157 and was one of three Golden Eagles to triumph in a 34-11 loss to Northern Illinois, edging Austin Culton 6-4.
Back down at 149, Keller was nipped 3-2 by Josh Pennell in Clarion’s 19-12 victory over Michigan State and was pinned at 2:02 by Kyle Langenderfer in Clarion’s 34-6 loss to Illinois. Pennell was an undefeated Michigan Division 2 state champion as a high school senior.
Keller’s overall record is 5-4.
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MEN’S SWIMMING
NEW WILMINGTON — Freshman Michael Spencer (Clearfield) was a doublewinner as unbeaten and nationally-ranked Westminster made it three wins in a row by dunking Allegheny 164-102 in the Westminster Natatorium Saturday.
He touched first in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.84 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 54.28 seconds, both season-best times, and placed third in the 100 free in 49.54 seconds.
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
CALIFORNIA, Pa. — Junior Krystal Wriglesworth (Clearfield) was a member of three victorious relay teams and also qualified for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in the 100-yard backstroke as California swept PSAC rivals Kutztown 260-120 and East Stroudsburg 211-180 in Hamer Hall Friday evening.
Her time in the 100 back was 1:02.82, good for second place against both opponents.
She also placed third in the 200 back in 2:21.48.
In the Vulcans’ relay wins, Wriglesworth swam the leadoff backstroke leg for the 200 medley foursome that posted a 1:53.08 and the 400 medley quartet that turned in a 4:11.07 as well as the second split for the 200 free team that recorded a 1:45.57.
Wriglesworth led off for the 400 ‘B’ free relay team that finished third in 4:12.48.
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FOOTBALL
SLIPPERY ROCK — Former Clearfield Area High School teammates Derek Morgan and Eric White were on opposite sidelines Saturday when No. 10-ranked Slippery Rock clinched the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division championship by defeating Clarion 65-13 in front of a Mihalik-Thompson Stadium crowd of 6,948.
Morgan was back at strong safety after starting at free safety the previous week and responded by making four tackles, including one solo stop, while intercepting one pass and defending another for The Rock, which finished 6-1 in the division to share first place with Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Slippery Rock (9-1), the defending champion, owned the tie-breaker by virtue of a 40-39 win over IUP on Oct. 24 and will travel to West Chester Saturday to take on the East Division titlists in a bid to repeat.
Morgan has 28 tackles, 16 of them solo, two interceptions and six passes defended in eight games.
White, a senior longsnapper, made his first two solo tackles of the season for the Clarion punt unit.
The Golden Eagles suffered their third consecutive loss since starting the season 7-0 to crack the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II rankings for the first time in program history at No. 25. They wound up 4-3 in the PSAC-West.
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BLOOMSBURG — After sitting out two games because of an injury, senior running back Beau Swales (Clearfield) saw limited action in his return to the Lock Haven offense Saturday when Bloomsburg prevailed 31-28 in double overtime in front of 2,036 fans at Redman Stadium.
Swales caught one pass for seven yards for the Bald Eagles, who closed out their Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference slate at 2-5 and are 2-8 overall.
Swales, who’ll end his career in a PSAC crossover game against California Saturday, has rushed 96 times for 524 yards and one touchdown while grabbing 11 passes for 90 yards and one TD.
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WILLIAMSPORT — In his second start at linebacker, freshman Nick Kovalick (Clearfield) registered six tackles and one pass break-up as Lycoming upset No. 19-ranked Delaware Valley 43-42 in a Middle Atlantic Conference clash that attracted 1,645 fans to David Person Field Saturday.
Five of his stops were solo efforts.
Sophomore offensive lineman Brad Stubbs (Curwensville) also saw action for the 3-6 Warriors, who capped a comeback from a 42-21 deficit with a touchdown and field goal in the final minute to raise their record 3-5 in the conference.
Stubbs has appeared in six games, including two starts on defense and one on offense.
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WASHINGTON, Pa. — Freshman linebacker Dusty Maines (Clearfield) made his fourth appearance for Thiel in a 65-28 loss to Washington & Jefferson with a crowd of 2,287 on hand at Cameron Stadium Saturday.
Maines has one tackle for the Tomcats, now 1-8 and winless in seven Presidents’ Athletic Conference tests.
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ALLENTOWN — Sophomore lineman Jon Janocko (Clearfield) was up front on offense as well as the extra point and field goal units in Juniata’s 42-10 loss to Moravian in front of 1,263 fans at Rocco Calvo Field Saturday.
He has played in four games for the Eagles, who are 2-6 in the Centennial Conference and 3-6 overall.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
ERIE — Freshman midfielder Tessa Munshower (Clearfield) assisted on the third goal of second-seeded Penn State Behrend’s 5-0 victory over Penn State Altoona in a Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference semifinal Nov. 4 and also played in the championship game Saturday when the Lions topped No. 1 seed Pitt-Bradford 4-3 in overtime for their fifth title in a row.
Avenging a 2-1 regular season loss to the 13-7 Panthers gave the Lions a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament and a trip to Danville, Ky., for a Saturday morning first-round game against host and No. 10-ranked Centre (16-1-1).
The winner will play Hanover (15-5) or Capital (14-4-1) Sunday with a ticket to the sectionals of the 32-team tourney at stake.
Sophomores McKenna Aleksivich (Clearfield) and Katie Powers (Clearfield) also played against Penn State Altoona.
Munshower has one goal and two assists in 16 games, Aleksivich has one goal in 12 games and Powers has one assist in 13 games.
