Bald Eagles Finish Third at EWLs
LHU Qualifies Three for NCAA Tournament
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. – Ronnie Perry (Christiana, Pa./Solanco), Dan Neff (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) and Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold) all booked trips to the NCAA Championships by way of strong individual finishes Saturday and the Lock Haven University wrestling team finished third overall in the final team standings at the 2015 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Championships.
The Bald Eagles finished third overall with 101.5 points, thanks to a strong all-around day that saw all 10 wrestlers place among the top-five and nine of them who finished fourth or better.
No. 13 Edinboro won the team title with 138.5 points, while host-Rider was second with 101.5 points. It marks the second straight season where LHU has finished third at the EWL Championships.
Perry and Garcia, along with Bobby Rehm (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), and Tyler Wood (West Chester, Pa./West Chester-Rustin) all finished second.
Neff and Aaron McKinney (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) were both third.
Jake Field (South Elgin, Ill./Marmion Academy), Phil Sprenkle (Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown) andBrad Emerick (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) all finished fourth and Elias Biddle (Turbotville, Pa./Warrior Run) capped his career with a sudden-victory win the fifth-place match.
Perry and Garcia earned automatic bids to the 2015 NCAA Division I Championships thanks to their second-place finishes at 133 and 184, respectively. The EWL was awarded two qualifiers at each of those weight classes.
The EWL was awarded three qualifiers at 149 and Neff grabbed the third-place finish and final qualifying spot.
For Garcia, a senior, it marks his third straight trip to the NCAA Championships. Neff will also be making this third trip to the NCAA Tournament, after back-to-back trips at 141 the last two seasons. Perry, a sophomore will be making his NCAA Championship debut.
Perry was 2-1 with his only loss coming in the finals to Rider’s Rob Deutsch. He was edged 3-2.
Perry – however – scored what might have been the biggest win in the EWL this season, when he knocked off top-seed and the No. 2 ranked 133-pounder in the nation in Edinboro’s A.J. Schopp. Perry took him down 5-4. Schopp, who was fourth at NCAA’s last year was looking to become a four-time EWL Champion and it was just this second loss of the season.
Neff was 2-1 at 149 – good enough for third.
Garcia was 2-1 overall – falling only – to Vic Avery of Edinboro in the finals. In a battle for a “true” second-place finish – Garcia edged Rider’s Clint Morrison to earn a trip to NCAA’s, while picking up his third win of the day.
Rehm was 2-1 at 141, losing only to No. 2 Mitchell Port (Edinboro) in the finals.
Wood, who was second at 174, opened the day by upsetting top-seed Patrick Jennings, 8-6 (SV-1). Wood finished the day at 2-1.
McKinney was 2-1 at 165, losing to Rider’s Conor Brennan in the finals. Brennan edged McKinney 6-4 (SV-1) in a hard-fought battle.
With three Bald Eagles already guaranteed a spot in the NCAA Championships, Lock Haven will wait to see if they receive any additional wild card bids, as several other solid individual performances made that a strong possibility.Those will be announced by the NCAA on Wednesday.
The 2015 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships are set for Thursday – Saturday, March 19-22 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
Final Team Scores
(40th annual EWL Championships, at Rider):
1. Edinboro, 138.5 points
2. Rider, 122.5 points
3. Lock Haven, 101.5 points
4. Cleveland State, 94 points
5. George Mason, 78.5 points
6. Clarion, 48 points
7. Bloomsburg, 19 points
