Nolan Barger controlling Washington & Jefferson’s Jakub Kielb before pinning him at 3:56 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional. (Photo courtesy Lycoming Athletics)
WRESTLING
YORK — Senior 165-pounder Nolan Barger (Clearfield) clinched his third trip to the NCAA Division III National Championships with his third consecutive fall of the two-day Mideast Region Tournament but suffered an upper body injury and had to default in the finals at York College Sunday.
Barger padded his career pin total to 45, second on Lycoming’s all-time list, with falls against Washington & Jefferson’s Jakub Kielb at 3:56 and the College at Brockport’s Michael Falcon at 2:05 Saturday and Baldwin Wallace’s Anthony Arroyo at 2:08 Sunday morning.
That set up the two-time All-American’s fourth match of the season with Messiah’s Larry Cannon, who held a 2-1 advantage and was ranked fourth by d3wreslte.com, one notch above Barger.
Cannon was leading 6-0 when the bout was stopped at the 1:34 mark because of Barger’s injury.
Barger will take a 35-3 record to LaCrosse, Wis., for the nationals that begin Friday, March 10.
Warrior freshman 194-pounder Travis Ogden (Clearfield) won three of his five matches, bowing out in the consolation quarterfinals with a 6-2 loss to Thiel’s Gladysz, who went on to place third and qualify for the nationals.
Ogden piled up the points in advancing to the championship quarter finals with a 21-3 technical fall in 6:46 against Bryce Reed of SUNY Oswego and a 17-6 major decision against Grant Martin of Mount Union.
The Warrior’s title hopes were ended with an 11-3 loss to Elizabethtown’s Luke Fernandez, the eventual fifth-place finisher.
Ogden then shut out Case Western Reserve’s Gavin Dersh-Fisher 6-0 before falling to Gladysz.
His solid rookie season record was 27-12, including 15-4 in dual meets.
Lycoming finished seventh in the 19-team regional with 65.5 points, the Warriors’ best showing since the NCAA returned to the region format in 2013.
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WOMEN’S SWIMMING
OXFORD, Ohio — Ohio University freshman Claire Mikesell (Clearfield) qualified for the 100-yard breaststroke ‘B’ final and then placed 16th at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships hosted by Miami University in Corwin Nixon Natatorium last weekend.
She set a personal record in the prelims with a 1:03.54 time, good for a 12th seed, and touched in 1:03.97 in the finals.
Mikesell turned in a 23.82-second third split in teaming with classmates Mikayla Herich and Emily Zimcosky and sophomore Corrin Van Lanen for a 1:32.82 clocking that ranks No. 9 in program history.
Mikesell also had PRs to place 29th in the preliminaries for the 50 free (23.98) and 100 free (52.61).
The Bobcats finished fourth in the eight-team meet with 560 points behind Akron (750), Eastern Michigan (600) and Buffalo (573.5).
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Senior Jessica Shomo ended her Clarion Indoor Track career with the seven fastest times in school history in the 60 meter dash. (Photo courtesy Clarion Athletics)
WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK
EDINBORO — Senior Jessica Shomo (Clearfield) ended her outstanding indoor sprint career for Clarion with a 7.94-second effort in the 60-meter dash preliminaries Saturday at the 2017 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships in the Mike Zafirovski Dome on the Edinboro Campus.
She placed 14th but failed to qualify for the finals, where Seton Hill’s Gabrielle Ravotto was the winner in 7.67 seconds.
In her junior season, Shomo became the first Golden Eagle to break the eight-second barrier (7.98), and she owns the seven fastest times in that event, including the record 7.86 she established the previous week at the Edinboro Last Chance Meet.
Shomo also placed 19th in the long jump Sunday with a leap of 4.66 meters (15 feet, 3½ inches).
Her other career marks were 27.08 seconds for the 200-meter dash, 5.41 meters (17-9) for the long jump and 10.18 meters (33-4¾) for the triple jump. She competed in one pentathlon, scoring 2,216 points
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BASEBALL
FREDERICKSBURG, Md. — Junior pitcher Kurtis Krise (Clearfield) started and worked 3-2/3 innings for Penn State Altoona in a 9-2 loss to host University of Mary Washington at Dickinson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The right-hander allowed two runs, both unearned, while allowing five hits and two walks.
The Lions also dropped the nightcap 11-3, falling to 1-3.
Krise pitched 50 innings in 14 career appearances the last three years, making six of his seven starts and posting three complete games during his freshman season when his 4.54 earned run average was the mound staff’s lowest.
He has compiled a 3-4 record with 24 strikeouts, 20 walks and two hit batsmen.
Injuries suffered in a car accident limited him to six outings the last two seasons.
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WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Sophomore pitcher/outfielder Thomas Summers (Clearfield) was hitless in his first start in right field for Indian River (Fla.) State College in their 12-4 loss to host Polk State College Saturday.
He did not play in the Pioneers’ 4-1 win over Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville (Md.) Thursday and 5-1 loss to Eastern Florida State College, both home games in Fort Pierce.
Summers has started 14 games with eight hits, including two doubles, and a .160 batting average. He has driven in one run and scored four runs.
