No. 20 LHU Men’s Wrestling competes Saturday at Navy Classic
OWINGS MILLS, MD – The No. 20 Lock Haven men’s wrestling team returned to action Saturday as 14 Bald Eagles hit the mats at the 2023 Navy Classic tournament, which was hosted at the McDonogh School in Owings Mills, Maryland.
Leading the way Saturday at the Navy Classic was nationally-ranked Gable Strickland (Benton, Pa./Benton) and Avery Bassett (Middleburg, Pa./Midd-West).
Strickland, ranked No. 20 at 133 pounds, placed fourth after going 2-2.
Bassett finished fifth at 165 pounds after an impressive 4-1 day. All four of his wins came by way of bonus points as he racked up a major decision and three pins.
Strickland, Saturday’s No. 2 seed at 133, opened the day with an 11-5 victory and moved to 2-0 with a hard-fought 4-2 decision in his second bout. In the semifinals, Strickland was edged out by nationally-ranked (No. 31) Jacob Van Dee of Nebraska in sudden victory. Strickland fell to 2-2 for the tournament and finished fourth overall after a loss in the third-place match.
Bassett, the No. 5 seed Saturday at 165, opened the tournament with an 11-2 major decision, but the Bald Eagle dropped his second bout of the day. In the consolation bracket, Bassett bounced back in a big way and rattled off three straight pins to place fifth overall.
Nick Stonecheck (Alpharetta, Ga./Buford) picked up a pair of wins and finished the day 2-2 at 149. Lucas Kapusta (Jeanette, Pa./Hempfield) also went 2-2 with a pin at 149 pounds, and John Miller (Reading, Pa./Exeter) was 2-2 with a major decision at 174.
On Tuesday (Nov. 14), updated national rankings were released and 125-pounder Anthony Noto remained at No. 1 after a perfect 2-0 start to the season. Noto was one of five Bald Eagles listed in InterMat’s weekly national rankings this week, and Lock Haven checked in at No. 20 in this week’s InterMat team rankings, up two spots from No. 22 last week.
Joining Noto in this week’s national rankings was the aforementioned Strickland, ranked No. 20 at 133, No. 23 (141) Wyatt Henson (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg), No. 31 (174) Tyler Stoltzfus (Mifflinburg, Pa./Saint Joseph’s Academy)) and No. 29 (285) Isaac Reid (Saltsburg, Pa./Kiski).
Shorty Hitchcock Classic Tournament:
Three Bald Eagles competed unattached Saturday at Millersville’s Shorty Hitchcock Classic tournament and leading the way was Henson, ranked nationally at 141 pounds.
Henson was one of three Bald Eagles who placed at Millersville. He was a perfect 4-0 with two pins. Henson opened the day with a pin, knocked off the top-seed in the quarterfinals and he pinned the No. 3 seed in the finals.
Sean Logue (Philadelphia/Father Judge) was 2-2 and finished fourth at 133 and Connor Eck (Bensalem, Pa./Bensalem) placed sixth at 157 after finishing the day 4-2 overall with two techs.
The Road Ahead:
Noto, the nation’s top-ranked 125-pounder will compete Tuesday (Nov. 21) night at the 2023 National Wrestling Coaches’ Association (NWCA) All-Star Classic. The exhibition event is set for 7 p.m. in Penn State’s Rec Hall, and Noto will square off vs. Purdue’s Matt Ramos, last year’s national runner-up.
Lock Haven will host the Mat-Town Open I Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 26 at 9:30 a.m. Tournament details and the full Lock Haven men’s wrestling schedule can be found at GoLHU.com.
