Luke McGonigal won the Region and will head to SD for nationals (Photo courtesy Mercyhurst)
ERIE — Mercyhurst sophomore Luke McGonigal (Clearfield) won the NCAA Division II Super Region 1 Tournament championship at 197 pounds with pairs of falls and decisions in the Mercyhurst Athletic Center Saturday.
No. 6 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association and seeded No. 1 seed going into the tourney, McGonigal pinned Reece Muldoon of Millersville at 6:37 and Sczar Charles of East Stroudsburg in just 54 seconds to reach the semifinals.
Then, he defeated No. 4 seed Alexander Delp of Pitt-Johnstown 9-2, setting up a rubber match with No. 7-ranked Freddie Nixon of Gannon for the gold medal.
Nixon had won 7-4 in the Midwest Classic hosted by Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in mid-December, and McGonigal gained revenge, 6-1, in the Feb. 11 dual meet.
They traded escapes in regulation and matched rideouts in overtime before McGonigal ended the bout with a takedown in the second sudden-victory period.
McGonigal will take a 27-5 record into the NCAA Division II National Championships booked for March 13 and 14 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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MEN’S BASKETBALL
Cody Spaid finishes his career all over the Pitt-Greensburg record book (Photo courtesy Pitt-Greensburg)
PITTSBURGH — Senior Cody Spaid (Clearfield) closed his four-year Pitt-Greensburg career with eight points and six rebounds Friday when the second-seeded Bobcats were ousted from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship Tournament by third-seeded Penn State Behrend 73-68 in the Kerr Fitness Center on the La Roche campus.
The teams had split their regular season games, the Bobcats prevailing 71-69 on Nov. 30 and losing 66-64 Jan. 29, but their hopes of advancing to the title game were pretty much decided in the first half, when the Lions shot 56 percent to open a 36-20 lead. In contrast, the Lions shot 29 percent (9-for-31).
Spaid had two assists and one steal.
Pitt-Greensburg finished 20-7 for the best winning percentage, 76.9, since the school became a member of the NCAA in 1997.
The 6-7 Spaid started every game for the Bobcats, hitting 123 of 199 shots from the floor and 26 of 49 free throws for 276 points, a 10.6 average.
He led the team in rebounds with 193 and assists with 83, was second in blocked shots with 27 and added 23 steals.
In the AMCC, Spaid ranks second with a 61.8 field goal shooting percentage, sixth in rebounding average, eighth with 3.2 steals per game and 10th with one block per outing.
His career totals for 89 games, a starter in 76 of them, show 728 points (8.2 ppg), 573 rebounds (6.4 rpg), 199 assists, 60 steals and 86 blocks.
Spaid departs with his name in the Pitt-Greensburg career record book for nine categories.
He stands second on the school’s all-time field goal shooting percentage list, third in starts, fourth in blocked shots (86), fourth in field goal shooting percentage (54.7 on 303-for-554), fifth in defensive rebounds (478), rebounding average (4.8) and blocked shots average (0.9), sixth in total rebounds and rebounding average, and eighth in offensive rebounds (145).
For individual games, Spaid moved into sixth place for field goal shooting percentage at 90.9 when he netted 10 of 11 shots against Hilbert (N.Y.) Jan. 25. He came into the season tied for fifth in rebounds (20 in 2016-17) and tied for eighth in blocked shots (4 on three occasions).
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MEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
EDINBORO — Freshman Taye Lynch (Clearfield) placed eighth in the triple jump at the 2020 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Indoor Championships by clearing 13.31 meters (44 feet, 8 inches).
The Rock finished third with 86 points to place in the top three for the ninth year in a row.
Shippensburg claimed its 10th consecutive title with 171 points.
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WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
LATROBE — Freshman Madi Weber (Curwensville) was scoreless in limited action for Saint Vincent in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals Friday night as hot-shooting Washington & Jefferson invaded the Carey Center and stunned the regular season champion 74-53.
The fourth-seed Presidents (18-10) blistered the nets for 54.9 percent shooting while the hosts finished at 41.2 percent after making eight of 25 attempts in the first half. They were 1-for-12 in three-point tries.
The Bearcats, who were 15-1 in the PAC, wound up 19-8. They had defeated the Presidents 84-47 and 75-60 during the regular season.
Weber played in 14 games and recorded 56 points (4.0 ppg), 23 rebounds, three assists, five steals and four blocks.
Grove City (25-2) edged W & J 54-52 in the title game Saturday.
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BASEBALL
TUCSON, Arz. — Grad student Thomas Summers (Clearfield) singled home one run and then scored what proved to be the deciding run in the second inning of Rhode Island’s 3-2 win over No. 27-ranked Central Michigan Saturday.
In the nightcap of the non-conference twinbill, he pinch-hit against host and No. 25-ranked Arizona to finish the road trip 1-for-5.
The Rams lost 19-10 but bounced back to triumph 15-11 Sunday to even their record at 5-5. They had defeated Central Michigan 9-2 Friday.
Summers appeared in five games, including two starts as the designated hitter, and is hitting .200 with two singles.
