LHU Heads to Bloom for PSAC Championships
LOCK HAVEN – The Lock Haven University wrestling team is hoping to move up a bit when the 72nd annual Pennsylvania Conference championship is held this Saturday at Bloomsburg’s Nelson Field House.
Action begins at 9 a.m. and defending champion Edinboro is a top-heavy favorite to repeat. But with perennial challengers Bloomsburg and Clarion in rebuilding modes, a veteran Lock Haven team looks ready to make a move.
LHU hosted the ninth annual Mat Town Open Tournament last weekend and four individual champions highlighted a strong day of wrestling for the Bald Eagles.
Ronnie Perry (Christiana, Pa./Solanco), Elias Biddle (Turbotville, Pa./Warrior Run), Aaron McKinney (McDonald, Pa./West Allegheny) and Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold) all won titles for LHU.
The four individual championships put an exclamation point on a strong all-around day for LHU head coach Scott Moore, who sent 20-plus guys to the mats to compete in the 129-athlete field.
Lock Haven had 12 guys advance to the semifinals and put nine Bald Eagles in the finals.
Dillon Sulkosky (Eden, N.C./Morehead), Bobby Rehm (Lancaster, Pa./Penn Manor), Dan Neff (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco),Tyler Wood (West Chester, Pa./West Chester-Rustin) and Brad Emerick (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) all finished second for LHU.
Dillon Gavlock (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) was third at 165 with his only loss coming to teammate-McKinney in the semifinals. Phil Sprenkle (Seven Valley’s, Pa./Dallastown) advanced to the semifinals at 197 with a pair of wins, but defaulted out of the tournament with flu-like symptoms. Matt Moore (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) added a fourth-place finish at 285.
Perry, ranked No. 30 at 133-pounds, went 3-0 on the way to the title today. Perry opened the day with a pair of majors (18-4 & 13-4) and won 7-3 in the finals.
Biddle went 3-0, winning 5-1, 9-3 and 4-1 on the way to the 157-pound title.
McKinney went 4-0 on the way to his win at 165. He opened the day with a pin (1:52) and a major (10-1), before winning 8-0 and 12-1 (major).
Garcia, ranked 24th at 184, needed three wins to put away the title today. He opened the day with a pin (1:29) and followed it up a 14-4 major in the semifinals. Garcia grinded out an 8-5 win in the finals.
Sulkosky was 3-1 with a pair of pins on the way to this second-place finish at 125. Rehm (141) was 3-1 with a pin and major on the day. Neff, ranked No. 25 at 149, was 3-1 today. A pin (0:58), major (12-3) and major (14-2) put him in the finals, where Neff was edged 9-6 by Franklin and Marshall’s (UNA) Richard Durso, 9-6 in an exciting-bout. Wood (174) was 3-1 and Emerick went 2-1 at 285.
