Bald Eagles Open EWL Season with 28-10 Win over George Mason
LOCK HAVEN – The Bald Eagles won the first four bouts of the night and raced out to a big lead thanks to bonus points in three of those four wins and the No. 17 Lock Haven University wrestling team (1-0, 1-0 EWL) never looked back as the Bald Eagles opened Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action Friday with a 28-10 win over visiting George Mason (2-1, 1-1 EWL).
In all, Lock Haven won seven of 10 bouts, much to the delight of the sell-out crowd of 2,503.
Luke Werner (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), Dalton Rohrbaugh (Spring Grove, Pa./Spring Grove), Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs), Jonathan Ross (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York). Jared Siegrist (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central), Corey Hazel (Spring Mills, Pa./Penns Valley) and Luke McGonigal (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield) all won for the Bald Eagles.
The Bald Eagles posted bonus points in three matches and all three came within the first four bouts of the night.
Werner (125) and Shoop (141) both posted tech falls and Ross sent the home crowd into a frenzy with a thrilling pin at 149 pounds. The LHU victory was also bolstered by wins from the true-freshmen duo of Rohrbaugh (133) and McGonigal (197). Head coach Scott Moore spoke glowingly of his two freshmen in their first dual meet.
Moore was elated with the community turnout for the dual, calling the ‘white-out’ night “an awesome atmosphere.”
Werner energized the building from the opening whistle at 125 pounds and he cruised by Talha Farooq on the way to an 18-1 tech fall (6:23). The win put Lock Haven up 5-0 and three more wins had the Bald Eagles up 19-0 after the first four bouts. Werner had his alma mater Bethlehem Liberty’s team in the stands, along with the Liberty coach and former LHU standout Jody Karam.
Rohrbaugh cruised to an 8-3 win over Mel Ortiz at 133 and extended the Lock Haven lead to 8-0. Shoop picked up LHU’s second tech fall in three bouts and pushed the Bald Eagle lead to 13-0. Shoop downed Julio Alegria 16-0 in just 1:40 at 141 pounds.
The quick tech fall marked the 30th of Shoop’s career and left him just two away from tying the school record for career tech falls (32).
Ross kept the momentum going and secured a pin at 149 at the 4:29 mark of his match with George Mason’s talented Tejon Anthony. George Mason picked up wins at 157 and 165 to get on the board. Following a Patriot win at 165, their second straight, Lock Haven held a 19-7 lead after six bouts.
Siegrist tilted the dual back in Lock Haven’s favor and won 4-2 over Phil Stolfi at 174.At 184, No. 17th ranked Hazel used four first-period takedowns and downed Paul Pierce 9-6. The back-to-back decisions by Siegrist (174) and Hazel (184) extended Lock Haven’s lead to 25-7.
McGonigal rounded out the Bald Eagle winners with a 10-4 win over Eli Spencer at 197. McGonigal’s victory, Lock Haven’s seventh of the night, pushed the LHU lead to 28-7.
George Mason took the final bout of the night in a battle of two of the nation’s top-10 285-pounders, but LHU’s early dominance paved the way to the 28-10 EWL victory.
LHU All-American Chance Marsteller was missing from the line-up, reported out with an injury. Coach Moore was non-committal on his status for the PSAC tourney. He said the team has “a couple guys trying to get healthy.”
The nationally-ranked Bald Eagles will return to action on Saturday, December 8 at the 2018-19 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.
Lock Haven 28 – George Mason 10
125: Luke Werner (LHU) tech fall Talha Farooq (GMU) 18-1 (6:23) / LHU leads 5-0
133: Dalton Rohrbaugh (LHU) dec. Mel Ortiz (GMU) 8-3 / LHU leads 8-0
141: Kyle Shoop (LHU) tech fall Julio Alegria (GMU) 16-0 (1:40) / LHU leads 13-0
149: Jonathan Ross (LHU) pinned Tejon Anthony (GMU) 4:29 / LHU leads 19-0
157: Kolby Ho (GMU) major dec. #17 Alex Klucker (LHU) 11-3 / LHU leads 19-4
165: Neil Schuster (GMU) dec. Collin Glorioso (LHU) 2-0 / LHU leads 19-7
174: Jared Siegrist (LHU) dec. Phil Stolfi (GMU) 4-2 / LHU leads 22-7
184: #17 Corey Hazel (LHU) dec. Paul Pierce (GMU) 9-6 / LHU leads 25-7
197: Luke McGonigal (LHU) dec. Eli Spencer (GMU) 10-4 / LHU leads 28-7
285: #10 Matt Voss (GMU) dec. #9 Thomas Haines (LHU) 5-2 / LHU wins 28-10
*ranking = InterMat (Tuesday, Nov. 27)
Records:
GMU (2-1, 1-1 EWL)
LHU (1-0, 1-0 EWL)
