LH men’s wrestling hosts Mat Town Open I; Bassett and Stoltzfus grab crowns

LOCK HAVEN, PA – The Lock Haven men’s wrestling team was back in action in Thomas Fieldhouse for the first time in 2022-23 for the 16th edition of the historic Mat Town Open.

A total of 13 Bald Eagles were in action both attached and unattached on Sunday as Mat-Town U.S.A. was home to 10 different teams including Navy, Pittsburgh and Virginia along with Mid-American Conference (MAC) rivals Clarion and Bloomsburg.

The reigning MAC champions put in a strong performance as two Bald Eagles grabbed individual titles and three more took runner-up status.

At 165 pounds, Avery Bassett (Middleburg, Pa./Midd-West (George Mason)) wrestled unattached for LHU and breezed to the title on a 3-0 record on three-straight pins. Bassett put the icing on the cake in the championship bout and earned the fall over Pittsburgh’s Jared Keslar to take first place.

Tyler Stoltzfus (Mifflinburg, Pa./Saint Joseph’s Academy) brought home the second individual crown for Lock Haven wrestling unattached at 174 pounds. The sophomore powered his way to the finals on three pins of his own before a medical forfeit in the championship bout to wrap up a dominant day.

A trio of Bald Eagles took second place as Kaleb Snodgrass (Van Buren, Ohio/Van Buren), Matt Maloney (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Liberty) and Zack Zeamer (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central (Oklahoma)) each took to the mats unattached.

Snodgrass went 1-1 on the day after a first-round bye and moved his way to the championship bout at 197 pounds.

At 125, Maloney wrestled his way to second place in the round robin matches and capped his 3-1 day with a pin over Cornell’s Joe Sciarrone Jr.

Zeamer picked up two straight wins, including a 16-0 tech fall, to power his way to the final match, but came up just short dropping a tight decision in the title bout.
At 133, Wyatt Fox (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) rebounded with three straight wins to take home a third-place finish for Lock Haven. Fox was also competing unattached on the day.

Cael Black (Warren, Pa./Eisenhower) and Ethan Miller (York, Pa./Central York) both wrestled attached for Lock Haven and grabbed fourth-place finishes as the Bald Eagles gathered up eight total place winners.

Lock Haven hosts its first home dual of the season on Thursday (Dec. 1) as Davidson comes to Thomas Fieldhouse. The Bald Eagles square off against the Wildcats in the White-Out match set for a 7 p.m. start.