Bald Eagles Crown 4 Champs, win Lock Haven Classic
LOCK HAVEN – Behind four individual champions and one runner-up, the Lock Haven University wrestling team racked up 102 points and soared to the team title at the 2016 Lock Haven Classic. Thursday’s triumph marked LHU’s first team championship in the tournament’s six-year history.
Leading the way for the Bald Eagles was DJ Fehlman (Warren, Pa./Warren), who went 5-0 and claimed the individual crown at 133 pounds in his debut at the weight class. For his efforts, Fehlman was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.
Corey Hazel (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley), Tristan Sponseller (East Berlin, Pa./Bermudian Springs) and Thomas Haines (Quarryville, Pa./Ohio State) also won titles for the Bald Eagles.
Jared Siegrist (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central) finished second for Lock Haven and was a big reason behind the team’s 38.5-point margin of victory.
LHU finished with 102 points, while Kent State was second with 63.5 points. Buffalo rounded out the top-three teams with 57 points.
Lock Haven’s five finalists of Fehlman, Siegrist, Hazel, Sponseller and Haines accounted for five of eight total semifinalists for the Bald Eagles.
Fehlman looked quite comfortable with his move down from 141 to 133, as he cruised to the individual title. Fehlman was a perfect 5-0 on the day and downed Old Dominion’s Josh Markman 6-1 in the finals.
Fehlman used two pins and two major decisions, as he dominated the field on the way to the finals. He opened the day by pinning Army’s Connor Ziegler in 3:19. Fehlman followed up his tournament-opening pin with back-to-back major decisions. He downed Danny Martaccio (Franklin & Marshall) 15-2 and beat Vinny Vespa (Hofstra) 12-3. In the semifinals, Fehlman pinned Rider’s Zach Valcarce at the 4:06 mark.
Hazel was 4-0 on the way to the title at 184. He opened the day with an 11-2 major over Chris Beck (VMI) and posted a 6-0 decision in the quarterfinals. Hazel grinded out a 3-1 win over Derek Beitz of Messiah in the semis and capped the tournament with a dominating victory in the finals.
Hazel picked up a tech fall in the championship, cruising past Phillip Stolfi of George Mason (UNA) 18-3.
Sponseller majored Mark Tracy of Binghamton 13-3 to put an exclamation point on his title at 197. Sponseller was 4-0 with two pins and two majors.
He opened the day with a pin (4:58; Andrew Jones, Kent State (UNA)) and followed it up with an 11-2 major over Xavier Ferrizzi (Rider, UNA). In the semifinals, Sponseller dropped Phillip Robilotto (F&M, UNA)) with a quick second period pin (3:29).
Haines capped a brilliant day for Lock Haven with a title at 285. He needed just 2:45 to end his final-bout with Devin Nye of Kent State.
Haines was 4-0 with a pin, a tech fall and two majors. He beat Ian James of Buffalo 14-0 to open the day and followed it up with a 17-1 tech fall over Omar Haddad of Hofstra. In the semifinals, Haines won 10-1 as he outscored his opponents 41-2 on the way to the finals.
For Haines, his 4-0 day pushes his win streak to 12 matches and extends his bonus-point win streak to five. In his last 12 matches – all wins – Haines has five pins and five tech falls.
Siegrist finished second at 165 pounds, falling in the finals to Buffalo’s Tyler Rill, 3-2.
Siegrist was 3-1 on the day. He won 4-3 over Jared Walker (Kent State) to open the day and downed Bobby Fehr (Hofstra) 12-5 in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Siegrist edged out Luke Drugac (Old Dominion, UNA) 6-2 to earn a shot at the title.
Up next:
The Bald Eagles will open the 2017 calendar year at Franklin & Marshall’s David H. Lehman Open on Saturday, January 7 at 9 a.m.
Final Brackets/Results
Team Scores (full team scores)
*Top 5
1. Lock Haven, 102 pts.
2. Kent State, 63.5 pts.
3. Buffalo, 57 pts.
4. George Mason, 55 pts.
5. Hofstra, 50
Outstanding Wrestler
DJ Fehlman, Lock Haven (133)
