Perry Named EWL Athlete of the Year, Moore Named Coach of the Year
LOCK HAVEN – All-American and national finalist Ronnie Perry has been named the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Athlete of the Year and LHU head coach Scott Moore has been named the EWL Coach of the Year.
Perry capped a remarkable 2017-18 run in the national finals at 149 pounds and Moore led the Bald Eagles to a historic season.
For Perry, the season capped a brilliant Bald Eagle career. The Bald Eagles redshirt-senior 149-pounder won a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and EWL title, before finishing as an All-American and NCAA Division I finalist. On the way to becoming LHU’s first finalist since 1997, Perry took down the No. 2 seed, a returning NCAA champion and – in all – he knocked off three returning All-Americans. He also became the first No. 15 seed in NCAA tournament history to make the finals.
Perry’s win in the EWL finals marked the 100th of his career. Perry became the 20th member of LHU’s 100-win club. Perry closed the season with a 32-4 record and finished with a 104-32 career record. The 104 wins are tied for the 13th most in school history.
The 2017-18 season will go down in history as it marked Lock Haven’s return to college wrestling’s national scene, behind Moore’s leadership.
The nationally-ranked LHU wrestling team crowned three individual champions and nine Bald Eagles placed as LHU powered its way to the 2018 EWL team title. It marked the second EWL championship in school history and the first since the Bald Eagles won the title in 1997. Ronnie Perry, Alex Klucker and Corey Hazel all claimed individual EWL titles, while Chance Marsteller and Thomas Haines both placed second. The three individual EWL champions were the most since the Bald Eagles also had three in 2001. Perry’s title marked the second straight season he claimed an individual title.
LHU finished the regular season at 12-4 with the 12 wins marking the most in a single season in 15 years. Lock Haven was 4-2 in EWL action with wins over local-rival Bloomsburg, George Mason, Cleveland State and Clarion. Also highlighting the regular season was the Bald Eagles Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championship. Behind five individual PSAC champs, the Bald Eagles rolled to their first PSAC title in 17 seasons. The title marked Lock Haven’s 20th PSAC title, the most of any conference school.
On Friday (March 23), Perry was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Athlete of the Year and Moore was named the PSAC’s Coach of the Year.
Perry is the Bald Eagles’ first EWL Wrestler of the Year since Cary Kolat in 1997. Kolat is also the last LHU wrestler to take home PSAC Athlete of the Year honors, also in 1997. Moore is LHU’s first EWL Coach of the Year since 2005 (Rocky Bonomo) and the first PSAC Coach of the Year since 2002 (Carl Poff).
EWL Athlete of the Year: Ronnie Perry, Lock Haven
EWL Freshman of the Year: Greg Bulsak, Clarion
EWL Coach of the Year: Scott Moore, Lock Haven
