Marsteller pleads guilty, sentencing Feb. 13
LOCK HAVEN — Standout wrestler Chance Marsteller was in Clinton County Court Thursday and under a plea agreement entered guilty pleas to lesser charges stemming from off-campus and Lock Haven Hospital emergency room incidents last August.
As part of the plea agreement, multiple charges of aggravated assault and related offenses were reduced to misdemeanor level crimes, six counts of assault and one of open lewdness. The assault charges stemmed from his behavior towards the five police officers involved in controlling Marsteller during his August arrest and one involving a nurse at the hospital after he was taken into custody at the Evergreen Commons student housing complex.
The plea agreement as announced by Clinton County District Attorney Dave Strouse calls for seven years of intense court supervision, including twice-weekly sessions with a probation officer. Presiding Judge Michael Salisbury set Feb. 13 for formal sentencing. He said he wanted to hear from witnesses before imposing sentence.
Marsteller, 21, later told the media he has been accepted back at Lock Haven University and will be starting school there when the spring semester resumes this coming Monday. His attorney Ryan Gardner spoke on Marsteller’s behalf outside the courthouse. He said his client “wants to thank the support from the wrestling community and his family.” Gardner said the 4-time PIAA champion views these events “like a match and this is behind him” and he is ready to move ahead. He said Marsteller’s return to Lock Haven is “part of his process, part of recovery.”
A recent story in the York Daily Record said after his August run-in with the law Marsteller returned to his Fawn Grove, York County home and completed a one month rehabilitation program, followed by two months of intensive out-patient rehabilitation. Subsequent to his arrest, a blood sample showed a blood alcohol content of .274 and traces of cocaine and marijuana in his system.
In response to a question, Marsteller said he would have two years of wrestling eligibility remaining starting next year. He most recently has been serving as a volunteer assistant wrestling coach with the Kennard-Dale junior high program.
