WRESTLING
WILLIAMSPORT — Lycoming senior 165-pounder Nolan Barger (Clearfield), a two-time NCAA Division III All-American, was ranked No. 2 behind defending national champion Logan Hermsen of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in both the National Wrestling Coaches Association and d3wrestle.com preseason polls.
Barger was undefeated in 21 dual meet bouts and won his first 31 matches en route to a 36-2 record last season, when he lost in the Mid-East Region finals and went 6-1 at the nationals to place third for the second year in a row.
Barger, who also won 36 matches as a sophomore, was 101-22 in his first three seasons, the fifth Warrior to reach the century mark in wins, and was fourth in career technical falls (10) and tied for fifth in pins (31) and major decisions (17).
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GRANTHAM — Senior 165-pounder Nolan Barger (Clearfield) earned four bonus-point wins before being upended in the title match while freshman 197-pounder Travis Ogden (Clearfield) won three of his five bouts for runner-up Lycoming at the Messiah Invitational Saturday.
Barger, ranked No. 2 in the nation in NCAA Division III, rolled into the finals with a 16-0 technical fall against Gianperio DiBattista of Ursinus, a 12-0 major decision against Patrick Scarborough of Liberty, a 9-0 major decision over Jonavan Huggins of Wheaton and a 4:59 pin against Kevin Diehl of Messiah.
However, Larry Cannon of Messiah proved why he was ranked No. 3 by handing Barger a 6-1 loss.
Ogden contributed six points to the Warriors second-place performance with falls against Billy McGinley of Ursinus in 2:16 and David Smith of Liberty in 4:45 as well as a 4-2 decision over Brandon Wilson of Lycoming.
His losses were 13-6 to Kyle Koser of Messiah and 5-3 in the consolation semifinals to Camden Stoops of Gettysburg. Koser pinned Stoops in the third-place match.
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CLARION — Redshirt senior Jake Keller (Curwensville) was denied in his bid for the 149-pound spot in the Clarion lineup when Mike Bartolo engineered three first-period takedowns route to a 10-3 victory in their recent elimination match.
After transferring from Pitt prior to last season, Keller bumped up to 157 and was 2-13 in dual meets and finished 10-19 overall for the Golden Eagles.
He was 25-26 at 141 and 149 in three seasons at Pitt, wrestling mostly in open tournaments
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JOHNSTOWN — Freshman 133-pounder Josiah McClarren (Clearfield Area) will be a Pitt-Johnstown redshirt this season.
He will compete unattached in open tournaments.
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FOOTBALL
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Junior strong safety Austin Jacobson (Curwensville) recorded his first career interception and also was involved in five tackles for Geneva Saturday, but the Golden Tornadoes couldn’t prevent the Washington & Jefferson seniors from celebrating their 20th consecutive home win, 17-7, in front of 2,728 fans in Cameron Stadium.
His end zone pick thwarted a Prexie threat with the Golden Tornadoes trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, and three of his stops were solo efforts.
Jacobson ranks sixth on the team in tackles with 38, including three for losses of three yards. He is second in pass break-ups with three.
Geneva is 2-5 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and 3-6 for the season.
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GREENVILLE — Sophomore linebacker Dusty Maines (Clearfield) logged one tackle and one assist for Thiel in Saturday’s 61-16 to No. 13 Thomas More, which clinched at least a tie for the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship.
The Tomcats tumbled to 3-6, 2-5 in the PAC, in front of 750 fans at Alumni Stadium.
Maines has 11 tackles, including five solo stops, in five appearances.
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HUNTINGDON — Junior left guard Jon Janocko (Clearfield) and his linemates on the Juniata offense were instrumental in a 480-yard performance that, unfortunately, didn’t translate into points as Moravian spoiled Senior Day for the crowd of 2,250 in Knox Stadium by defeating the Eagles 42-10.
Janocko has been a mainstay up front in eight games for the Eagles, now 4-5 with a 3-5 Middle Aatlantic Conference record.
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DOYLESTOWN — Junior offensive lineman Brad Stubbs (Curwensville) helped Lycoming rally from a 21-7 deficit to draw within a point of Delaware Valley in the fourth quarter Saturday, but the host Aggies responded with a clinching touchdown and a 28-20 Middle Atlantic Conference win with 1,800 fans watching at James Work Memorial Stadum.
Stubbs has started every game for the Warriors, who are 2-6 in the MAC and 3-6 overall.
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
ERIE — Junior midfielder McKenna Aleksivich (Clearfield) and sophomore midfielder Tessa Munshower (Clearfield) joined their Penn State Behrend teammates in another Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title celebration at Behrend Field Saturday after the regular-season champion Lions erupted for five goals in the second half to beat No. 2 seed Pitt-Greensburg 6-1.
Both saw action late in the Lions’ 4-0 semifinal victory over No. 4 seed Mount Aloysius last Wednesday.
Aleksivich, who has three goals and eight shots with six on goal in eight games, has been a member of the last three of the Lions’ six title runs in a row.
Munshower, who has one goal, one assist and 12 shots with four on goal in 12 games, has been on the last two.
Penn State Behrend will carry a 16-4 record into the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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LORETTO — Sophomore forward/midfielder Heather Thorp (Curwensville) has made five appearances for Northeast Conference champion St. Francis, which is headed to the NCAA Division I Tournament for the third time in seven seasons the top-seeded Red Flash shut out No. 4 seed Fairleigh Dickinson 2-0 Friday and No. 2 seed Central Connecticut State 2-0 Sunday at the Stokes Soccerplex.
The Red Flash, who won eight of their last nine games against NEC opponents, are 10-11.
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MEN’S SWIMMING
MEADVILLE — Freshman Michael Spencer (Clearfield) led off for the winning 400-yard freestyle relay quartet and was second in the 50 free for Westminster, but the visiting Titans came up short in their first road outing and fell 136-126 to Allegheny Saturday.
Spencer’s 49.91-split put the Titan relay team in front on the way to a 3:16.84 clocking.
He posted a season-low 21.82-second time for the free sprint and placed fourth in the 100 butterfly in 56.42.
Spencer also anchored the 200 medley relay foursome that wound up second in 1;39.40.
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
OXFORD, Ohio — Freshman Claire Mikesell (Clearfield) was second off the blocks and turned in a 55.57-second split to help Ohio University’s 400-yard freestyle foursome finish second in 3:33.59 against host Miami Saturday.
The Bobcats lost the Mid-American Conference dual meet 192-108, falling to 1-1.
Mikesell placed sixth in the 50 free in 24.59 seconds and eighth in the 100 free in 54.36.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
DUBOIS — Freshman Caleb Strouse (Clearfield) is a 6-0 guard on the Penn State DuBois team that opened the season by shooting over 50 percent from the field, including 55.6 percent for three-pointers, to defeat host Pitt-Titusville 88-77 Saturday afternoon.