Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s and women’s basketball and wrestling teams were idle last week over the Thanksgiving holiday, and coaches of all three squads took time to assess where they are and where they are going.
Wrestling
“We’ve made some really nice progress with a number of the guys. Mason (Replogle, of New Enterprise), Tanner (Leid, of Terre Hill) and Dan (Frankenfield, of Dushore) are coming out of the gate pretty good. Mason has five or six pins already; he’s just really being a hammer on top, so we’re excited about that,” said coach Schuyler Frey, whose team is 1-2 in duals.
“And we’ve seen some nice progress from Connor Route, of Canton, even though his record might be as good as the progress we are seeing. He won’t get down to 184 (pounds) until the Nittany Lion Open and we’re anxious to see what he does at 184,” Frey continued.
“As usual, the injury bug is already starting to bite us; we’ve got a couple of guys nursing some shoulder stuff. … With this break, hopefully we’ll get them healed up. Outside of that, it’s just try to everyday get better, get the work in and get that progress,” the coach added.
Penn College returns to dual-match action at 7 p.m. Thursday at King’s College and then goes to University Park on Dec. 6 for the Nittany Lion Open.
“King’s is nicely improved over last year, and the Nittany Lion – it doesn’t get any better than going into the Lions’ den. We’re anxious to get there, measure up, see how we are doing and challenging guys who wrestle some of the best competition in the country. We’re always looking for the guys to gain confidence coming out of that. That’s the reason why we wrestle Division I competition when we can; have the guys get out there and wrestle and realize that they’re staying aggressive and they can score on these guys also,” Frey said.
Men’s Basketball
Despite his team’s 0-3 start, first-year coach Ryan Callahan said he has seen a lot of good things so far.
“We weren’t great in our first game (11-point loss at Penn State Scranton), it was our worst game by far; we came out a little tight, a little tense and didn’t play our kind of basketball,” he explained. “The last two games we played very good opponents (Shenandoah University and Cairn University) … and led the majority of both games and found a way to lose; we didn’t find a way to win at the end. So we’re going to have to get better at that.
“I’ve got to go to the bench a little bit more because we only go about six deep and those guys get a little worn down coming down the stretch. In both games at the 10-minute mark, we were up by nine and, in one game, (our opponent) went on a 17-2 run and, in the last game, they went on a 17-0 run and that kind of put it out of reach. We need to sustain our effort throughout the whole 40 minutes, and, if we can do that with some more subbing, we’ll be good,” Callahan said.
After a nonconference home contest against Alfred State at 6 p.m. Wednesday, the Wildcats will step into North Eastern Athletic Conference play at 1 p.m. Saturday at home against Wilson College.
Women’s Basketball
Penn College dropped its only game to date, by 19 points at crosstown rival Lycoming College, and coach Matt Wilt saw a mix of the good and not-so-good.
“All in all, we played pretty well besides shooting the ball (15 of 60 from the field, including 5 of 17 in 3-point shooting), shooting free throws (15 of 29) and the (26) turnovers hurt us,” Wilt said. “Again, we go in spurts of not being able to score and we need to fix that. I was very pleased the way we rebounded the basketball (54 to Lycoming’s 58).”
The Wildcats host nonconference opponent Elmira College at 6 p.m. Thursday before stepping into NEAC action for the rest of their season when they host Wilson College at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Men’s Basketball
Overall record: 0-3
Wednesday, Dec. 2 – host Alfred State, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 5 – host Wilson College (NEAC), 1 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6 – host Gallaudet University (NEAC), noon
Friday, Dec. 11 – host Gordon College (NEAC), 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 13 – at Lycoming College, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 5 – host Penn State Berks (NEAC), 5 p.m.
Women’s Basketball
Overall record: 0-1
Thursday, Dec. 3 – host Elmira College, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 5 – host Wilson College (NEAC), 3 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6 – host Gallaudet University (NEAC), 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 5 – host Penn State Berks (NEAC), 7 p.m.
Wrestling
Overall record: 1-2
Thursday, Dec. 3 – at King’s College, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 6 – at Nittany Lion Open
Sunday, Dec. 13 – quadrangular with Ursinus College, College of Mt. St. Vincent and SUNY Sullivan at Collegeville
Saturday, Jan. 9 – at Penn State Mont Alto Duals with University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Towson University, Delaware, Penn State Fayette and Penn State Mont Alto
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