LHU’s Marsteller in Scuffle Semis
CHATTANOOGA – The No. 22/17 Lock Haven University wrestling team made its long awaited return to the prestigious Southern Scuffle and it was Chance Marsteller (New Park, Pa./Kennard-Dale), who led the way Monday on Day 1 of the two-day tournament, as he went 3-0 and earned a spot in Tuesday’s 165-pound semifinals.
Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs) and Thomas Haines (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) joined Marsteller in the Monday quarterfinals in the their respective weight classes, but both dropped their quarterfinal bouts. All three LHU wrestlers will be back in action Tuesday on Day 2 of the Southern Scuffle.
Marsteller, ranked No. 8 nationally at 165 pounds, opened his day with a dominating 16-5 major decision over Air Force’s Tyler Wiederholt. He followed it up by pinning Neal Richards (UNA) in 3:52. The pin of Richards pushed Marsteller into the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Marsteller locked up with No. 6 seed Mekhi Lewis (UNA, Va. Tech). Marsteller used a late third-period takedown to edge Lewis, 3-1. The win helped Marsteller finish Day 1 at the Scuffle at 3-0.
Marsteller, who is 22-0 on the season, will meet No. 2 seed Bryce Steiret of Northern Iowa in the semifinals.
Shoop, the No. 8 seed at 141, used three straight wins to earn a spot in the quarterfinals, where he fell to top-seed Josh Alber of Northern Iowa, 16-3 (MD). Alber is ranked No. 7 in the nation at 141.
Shoop opened his day this morning with a 20-4 tech fall of Campbell’s Clayton Currier. He followed it up with another dominating win, majoring Brandon Kiser (Stanford), 11-0, before downing Chattanooga’s Mike Pongracz 7-0. Shoop finished Day 1 action at 3-1 and will drop into the consolation quarterfinals where he will open the day vs. Garrett O’Shea (Air Force).
Haines, the No. 6 seed at 285, fell to No. 3 seed Mike Hughes of Hofstra 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
Haines, ranked No. 13 nationally, opened the day with solid 8-0 major over Michael McAleavery of the Citadel. He followed it up with a 4-0 win over Andrew Gunning of North Carolina. The two wins pushed Haines into the quarterfinals where he fell to Hughes, who is ranked No. 7 in the nation. Haines finished Day 1 at 2-1 and will meet Dustin Dennison (UNA, Utah Valley) in the consolation quarterfinals.
Lock Haven is 10th overall in the team standings with 36.5 points after Day 1 action. Top-ranked Penn State is pacing the field with 101 points. Northern Iowa is in second with 81.5 points and Lehigh rounds out the top-three with 68 points heading into tomorrow.
Monday marked the Bald Eagles first trip to the Southern Scuffle since 2010 and they are looking for their highest finish at the tournament since taking 11th in 2004.
The two-day Southern Scuffle resumes tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 2) at 10 a.m. with 5th Round Consolation bouts. The championship semifinals are scheduled for 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and the championship finals and medal matches are set for 7 p.m.
