Campus Corner: Barger Wins Title at ONU Invitational

WRESTLING

ADA, Ohio — Unbeaten junior Nolan Barger (Clearfield) won four matches to claim the 165-pound championship at the Ohio Northern University Invitational Saturday and help 23-ranked Lycoming finish ninth in the 15-team tourney.

The nation’s No. 2-ranked Division II matman got off to a strong start, pinning Tiffin’s Jeff Hurt at 4:38 and major decisioning Waynesburg’s Landon Lohr 8-0 to reach the semifinals.

After besting Findlay’s Alonzo Turner 6-3 in his toughest bout, Barger handled Adrian’s Donny Mandell 9-2 in the finals to earn 23 of the Warriors‘ 74.5 points.

Barger (10-0) and junior 149-pounder Seth Lansberry (Line Mountain H.S.) became the first Warriors to reign in the annual ONU tourney.

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FOOTBALL

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — Redshirt senior safety Derek Morgan (Clearfield) made three solo tackles and assisted on three other stops Saturday when Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion Slippery Rock bowed out of the NCAA Division II Playoffs in a 28-16 loss to No. 5-ranked Shepherd.

A crowd of 5,321 at Ram Stadium saw Shepherd (12-0) answer The Rock’s initial score with four consecutive touchdowns in the quarterfinal that also was the Super Region One title game.

Morgan, who was tied for second on the team in stops, also had one of the three pass break-ups for The Rock defense that was stout except for a 74-yard catch-and-run that gave the Rams the lead, 13-7, in the third quarter.

No. 10-ranked Slippery Rock wound up 12-2 to match the best record in school history established in 1998.

For the season, Morgan was fourth in pass break-ups with eight and tied for third in interceptions with three despite sitting out two games and missing most of another because of a concussion. He recorded 54 tackles, including 30 solo stops.

He missed the 2014 season because of an injury and wound up with three-year career totals of 122 tackles, seven interceptions and 17 pass break-ups.

Morgan was on Slippery Rock teams that won three PSAC-West crowns and two PSAC championships while competing in three NCAA D-II Playoffs and compiling a 36-13 record.

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WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Junior Jessica Shomo (Clearfield) of Clarion turned in career-best efforts in two events at the YSU Icebreaker hosted by Youngstown State University at the Watson and Tressel Training Site Friday.

Her long jump of 5.41 meters (17 feet, 9 inches) was good for third place, the top finish of the 14-team meet for the Golden Eagles. Her previous best was 5.26 meters (17’-3¾”) in the same venue last year.

Shomo also placed 13th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.11 that lowered the standard of 8.27 she set as a freshman.

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MEN’S SWIMMING

WOOSTER, Ohio — Freshmen Michael Spencer (Clearfield) of Westminster and Alex Shugarts (Clearfield) of Edinboro were point-getters for their teams at the Wooster Invitational last week.

Spencer lowered his personal records in three individual events, placing third in the 50-yard freestyle in 21.36 seconds, 17th in the 100 free in 47.85 and 19th in the 100 butterfly in 53.08 after posting a 53.03 in the preliminaries for a total of 42 points.

He won the C Final in the 100 free and was third in the C Final in the 100 fly.

Spencer also was a member of four Titan relay foursomes that piled up 180 points.

He anchored the 200 medley quartet to a fourth-place finish in 1:34.17 with a 20.90-second split, anchored the 200 free team to a sixth-place finish in 1:25.85 with a 21.02 effort, recorded a 48.10 second leg for the 400 free foursome that was sixth in 3:07.85 and swam a 52.50 third leg for the 400 medley team that was 12th in 3:35.37.

Shugarts shared points earned by three Edinboro ‘B’ relay teams with a 49.45 third split for the 400 free foursome that was 12th in 3:15.04, a 22.41 third split for the 200 free quartet that was 13th in 1:30.3 and a 21.95 anchor leg for the 200 medley foursome that was 13th in 1:40.98.

He set personal bests with a 1:51.77 to place 39th in the 200 free prelims and a 50.39 to place 43rd in the 100 free prelims.

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WOMEN’S SWIMMING

CALIFORNIA, Pa. — Junior Krystal Wriglesworth (Clearfield) touched the wall first in the 200-yard backstroke for California University of Pennsylvania in a 147-68 win over Fairmont State in Hamer Hall Saturday.

She placed third against Davis & Elkins in that race after finishing second against Fairmont State and third against Dave & Elkins in the 100 back in 1:054.4.

Wriglesworth also swam the leadoff backstroke leg in 29.89 seconds for the Vulcan ‘B’ 200 medley relay team that took second in 1:67.68 against both opponents.

The Vulcans made it a sweep with a 136-104 win over Davis & Elkins to pad their record to 7-1.

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WOOSTER, Ohio — Sophomore Kara Thorp (Clearfield) set two personal records and earned 47 points for Edinboro in the Wooster Invitational last week.

She finished 13th in the 200-yard freestyle ‘B’ final with a personal-best 2:00.73 time and 16th in the 500 free ‘B’ final in 5:28.27 after lowering her mark to 5:25.69 in the preliminaries.

In relays, Thorp turned in a 2:01.53 third split for the Fighting Scot ‘A’ 800 free relay quartet that placed third in 7:56.47 to tally 54 points and anchored the ‘B’ 400 free relay team to a 12th-place finish with a 55.95 split.

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