Penn College esports spring season begins

It may be the dead of winter, but spring has sprung – at least for the Pennsylvania College of Technology esports season.

ESPORTS
Getting underway this past week were the college’s spring Collegiate iRacing League teams competing in  Formula College World Championship and Collegiate Prototype Challenge.

Managed by Austin DeLong, of Pittsburgh, the team also consists of Michael Sydor, of Reading; Ryan Bannan, of Honey Brook; Zach Tallman, of Lewisburg; Robert Miller, of Pittston; and Michael Martinetti, of Saylorsburg.

Openers down the road are CIL NASCAR on Monday, Rocket League on Feb. 5, Overwatch 2 on Feb. 6, Valorant on Feb. 7, Counter Strike 2 (CS2, previously CS:GO) on Feb. 9 and League of Legends on March 5.

Playoffs are scheduled for April.

All events take place in the Wildcat Den.

Schedule/Results
iRacing
CIL NASCAR
Monday, Jan. 15 – Millerin 200-Auto Club Speedway

CIL Formula College World Championship
Wednesday, Jan. 10 – The Duals-Okayama Circuit, 9 and 16
Wednesday, Jan. 17 – Japan-Suzuka

CIL Collegiate Prototype Challenge
Thursday, Jan. 11 – Virginia International Raceway, 13
Thursday, Jan. 18 – Indianapolis

WRESTLING
On Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Duals in Hampton, Virginia, the Wildcats went 1-1 on Friday, losing to Division II King University, 31-15, and topping Camden County Community College, 51-0, and split again on Saturday, falling to Apprentice School, 30-19, before defeating Marymount University, 39-9.

As a result, Penn College finished 11th in a 16-team American College Division field that included nine teams ranked in the top 25 in their respective divisions between NCAA D-II and D-III, NAIA and NCWA.

Over the two days, four Penn College wrestlers came away with three wins – Kaden Ware, of Brooklyn, Connecticut (133); Travis Green, of Manchester, Maryland (174); Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni, of Blairsville (197); and Nicholai Brotzman, of Marietta (285). Green also finished with the most pins in the least amount of time (3/4:19) in the American Division.

Posting two wins were Luke Heimbach, of Boyertown (125); Noah Hunt, of Muncy (141); TJ Martin, of Honesdale (149); Cavin Napoletano, of Killingworth, Connecticut (165); and Liam Goodrich, of Cogan Station (157).

“This was a great opportunity for our student-athletes, program, and for Penn College as an institution, to gain exposure on a nationally relevant and historic stage like the Virginia Duals,” coach Pankil Chander said.

“We competed alongside Division I power five duals and a large high school division, which helps our program in two ways – belief and exposure. Our guys were warming up and weighing next to Division I teams and know that they’re preparing and approaching competition in the same way,” Chander continued.

“The large high school division created interest and exposure of the competitive nature of our program and sparked curiosity about what our institution is about – a renowned four-year, hands-on trade and technical college,” the second-year coach said, adding, “Overall, our performance was productive because we learned a lot about ourselves and battled hard despite bumping up at 165, 174 and 184.

“We came out flat in our first dual on day two and just straight up didn’t wrestle well. We got ourselves refocused on executing to our strengths and beat a tough Marymount team in dominant fashion to finish the weekend strong.

“We’re still figuring out a few key pieces of our lineup as we work on getting back to full health and more guys back on the mat. This was a much-needed weekend of dual competition to get our guys learning how to rally around each other on the bench and wrestle for each other as we approach a big dual stretch of the season.”

In the Jan. 12 rankings of the National Coaches Wrestling Association, Penn College dropped out of the Division III Tournament Team Rankings after two weeks tied at 24, and 184-pounder Isaac Cory, of Montoursville, who has been sidelined in recent weeks, dropped out of the rankings both nationally, where he had been third since the preseason, and in the Mideast Regional Ranking, where he had been first since the preseason.

Also in the Mideast, Hunt stayed third at 141, Ware (133) and Martin (149) both remained seventh, and Brotzman (285) dropped from sixth to eighth. Meanwhile, Green (165) and Cade Schneck, of Pine Grove (174), both dropped out after being eighth.

Schedule/Results
Overall dual record: 6-4
Friday, Jan. 12 – Virginia Duals at Hampton, Va., vs. King University, L, 31-15; vs. Camden County Community College, W, 51-0
Saturday, Jan. 13 – Virginia Duals at Hampton, Va., vs. Apprentice School, L, 30-19; vs. Marymount University, W, 39-9
Saturday, Jan. 20 – Dr. Si Ostrach Duals at Cleveland, OH, 10 a.m.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
On Wednesday, for the first time this season, and fourth of his career, Gavin Barrett, of Roselle, New Jersey, ripped the cords for 30 points – hiking his career total to 971 – but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats fell in United East Volt Division play at Lancaster Bible College, 94-86. Also, Livingston Cross, of Union, New Jersey, added 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Lancaster Bible led in points off turnovers 31-11.

UE Volt Division standings through Saturday: Penn State Harrisburg, 4-0; St. Mary’s (Md.) College, 4-0; Lancaster Bible College, 4-1; Penn College, 1-3; Penn State Abington, 1-3; Penn State Berks, 1-4; Gallaudet University, 0-4.

Schedule/Results/Series History
Overall record: 4-12
UE record: 1-3
Wednesday, Jan. 10 – at Lancaster Bible College (UE), L, 94-86
Tuesday, Jan. 16 – host Penn State Abington (UE), 5 p.m. (Abington leads 12-2)
Saturday, Jan. 20 – host Gallaudet University (UE), 1 p.m. (Gallaudet leads 8-6)
Wednesday, Jan. 24 – at Penn State Harrisburg (UE), 5 p.m. (Harrisburg leads 7-0)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Wrapping up their nonconference schedule on Monday, the Wildcats rolled to a 75-25 win at winless Wells College. Kayleigh Miller, of Sayre, came off the bench to score 23 points after going 9 of 16 from the field and 5 of 10 from the 3-point arc in leading the offense as all 13 Wildcats made the scoring column.

In UE Volt Division action on Wednesday, Penn College lost at Lancaster Bible College, 86-47, as Rachel Teats, of Middleburg, scored 13 points. LBC led in points in the paint 36-16 and in points off turnovers 30-8.

UE Volt Division standings through Saturday: Penn State Harrisburg, 4-0; Gallaudet University, 3-1; St. Mary’s (Md.) College, 3-1; Lancaster Bible College, 3-2; Penn College, 1-3; Penn State Abington, 1-3; Penn State Berks, 0-5.

Schedule/Results/Series History
Overall record: 5-12
UE record: 1-3
Monday, Jan. 8 – at Wells College, W, 75-25
Wednesday, Jan. 10 – at Lancaster Bible College (UE), L, 86-47
Tuesday, Jan. 16 – host Penn State Abington (UE), 7 p.m. (Abington leads 10-4)
Saturday, Jan. 20 – host Gallaudet University (UE), 3 p.m. (Gallaudet leads 8-6)
Wednesday, Jan. 24 – at Penn State Harrisburg (UE), 7 p.m. (Harrisburg leads 7-0)

For more about the United East, visit the conference website.
For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.

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