Penn College Wrestlers Set for More Action, Basketball Seasons Over

Pennsylvania College of Technology men's and women's basketball teams wrapped up their seasons over the past week and the college's wrestlers tuned up for more postseason action.

Flashback Wrestling Competing in preliminary bouts at Lock Haven University on Friday, sophomore Tyler Myers, of Centre Hall, scored a pin in his 157-pound bout. Two other Wildcats freshman Paul Crutchlow, of Morris Plains, N.J., at 184, and Jasper Ocker, of Burnham, at 197 dropped their matches.

On Saturday, Penn College travels to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, where it will compete with 11 other teams in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association Division I Mid-East Conference Championships. Nationally, 46 teams compete in D-I and Penn College is ranked No. 25. The top four in each weight class plus several wild-card selections will advance to the NCWA Championships March 8-10 in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Wrestling in regionals for Penn College will be Kyle Sunseri, of Athens, and Kevin Sutherland, of Branford, Conn., in the 141-pound weight class; Derek Leiby, of Troy, at 149; Myers at 157; Austin Clark, of Elysburg, and Tom Ayers, of Alexandria, at 165; Logan Gresock, of Wadsworth, Ohio, at 174; Crutchlow at 184; and Ocker at 197. One other grappler, Levi Speicher, of Manns Choice, also could see action at 149.

Penn College was recognized as the conference team titlist after Penn State Universary Athletic Conference/United States Collegiate Athletic Association championship competition Feb. 12. The Wildcats trailed Penn State DuBois by 14 points entering the final round, but came away with individual titlists in Leiby at 149 and Gresock at 174 to finish with 108 points to DuBois' 98. Overall, Penn College was third among 10 teams in the USCAA portion of the tourney.

"Within our region, there definitely is a lot of good competition. If our guys wrestle as well as they did at Penn State, I'd be disappointed if we don't get three guys who qualify (for nationals) and I wouldn't be too surprised if we get five or six (who qualify)," said coach Schuyler Frey.

"Our goal is to make sure everyone is as healthy as can be and is focused on the task," Frey added.

Men's Basketball Colton Acorn, of Wellsboro, scored a personal season-high 22 points in the Wildcats' 77-64 road loss to Penn State Schuylkill on Monday. Bryant House, of Columbia Crossroads, added 11 points and Scott Fenton, of Dickson City, scored 10. The team's home game against Penn State New Kensington that was postponed due to bad weather last Saturday was canceled and the Wildcats finish 4-20 overall and 4-11 in the PSUAC under interim coach Chris Lemasters. Fenton led the team in scoring with 357 points (14.9 per game average). Acorn was second with 201 points (8.4 average). On offense, Penn College averaged 55.2 points per game and it allowed an average of 78.7 on defense.

Women's Basketball Penn College scored 61 points for the third consecutive game and, Monday night at Penn State Schuylkill, it proved to be enough as the Wildcats closed out their season with a 61-55 win. Bryanna Valentine, of Mifflinburg, who joined the team after the semester break, notched a double-double with 16 points and 20 rebounds. Mackenzie Brown, of Lititz, scored 15 points and Kierstin Steer, of South Williamsport, added 12. For the season, Steer, a junior, led the team with 360 points (15 per game average). She now has 961 career points, second on the college women's career scoring list behind Katlyn Stupar's 998 (from 2004-06). Under second-year coach Matt Wilt, the Wildcats averaged 52.2 points on offense during the season and allowed 70.1. They finished 3-21 overall and 2-12 in the PSUAC.

Special Honors Wrestler Leiby and men's basketball player Fenton each earned PSUAC Player of the Week honors in their respective sports for the period ending Feb. 12. Leiby knocked off the NCWA's top-ranked 149-pounder en route to his PSUAC/USCAA title while Fenton helped the Wildcats to a 2-1 week by scoring 46 points, grabbing 29 rebounds and recording five steals. It was the second such conference honor for both student-athletes this season.

Schedule/Results/Records Men's Basketball Final overall record: 4-20 Final PSUAC record: 4-11Saturday, Feb. 11 host Penn State New Kensington, canceled Monday, Feb. 13 at Penn State Schuylkill, L, 77-64

Women's Basketball Final overall record: 3-21 Final PSUAC record: 2-12Monday, Feb. 13 at Penn State Schuylkill, W, 61-55

Wrestling Overall record: 6-3 PSUAC record: 5-1Saturday, Feb. 25 NCWA Mid-East Conference Championships at Valley Forge Military Academy, 10 a.m. March 8-9-10 NCWA National Championships at Daytona Beach, Fla.

ArcherySaturday, March 3 Pennsylvania Indoor Championships at Taylor, to be announced

Vol. 10, No. 27