Lock Haven sweeps Bald Eagle Duals at Liberty Arena
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Jonathan Ross can't remember a time in his life when he had a losing record as a wrestler. The Lock Haven sophomore entered Saturday's Bald Eagle Duals at Liberty Arena in Williamsport with just that and he wanted to turn it around as quickly as he could.
Filling in for 157-pound starter Alex Klucker, who was out after suffering a concussion last weekend, Ross went 3-0 yesterday to move his record above .500 and help Lock Haven to a sweep of three matches.
The Bald Eagles opened with a 32-11 win over Wheeling Jesuit, the No. 23-ranked team in Division II. It followed with a 34-6 win over Messiah, the No. 6-ranked team in Division III. LHU closed with a 37-2 win over Bloomsburg in its EWL opener.
Along with Ross' three victories, Lock Haven picked up eight wins from back-up wrestlers, four of which went for bonus points. The Bald Eagles posted 16 bonus-point wins in the first collegiate matches ever hosted by Liberty Arena as they improved to 4-0.
The matches were moved to Liberty Arena in part because LHU was holding graduation on campus. It also gave head coach Scott Moore a chance to show off the progress the 17th-ranked Bald Eagles have made in a new setting.
"I think it's good to get the guys out of their comfort zone a little bit and still have to battle," said LHU's Ronnie Perry, who posted three technical fall wins. "It was a good thing heading into winter break, and now we have a little bit of a break to rest and relax before heading into the (Southern Scuffle)."
"It was really just an opportunity for our guys to come out and compete again in a little bit lower intensity environment compared to the last couple weekends," Moore said. "You have to put your guys through those kinds of set-ups and see how they perform. I think for the most part we wrestled really well and scored a lot of points."
The final scores look lop-sided, but Lock Haven were in some dog fights with all three opponents. Ross was in the middle of those scraps. The sophomore had won his wrestleoff at the start of the season for the starting spot at 157 pounds, but had struggled to get back to the form which saw him spend his freshman year as a starter.
Saturday he found some of that form. His takedown with 16 seconds left against Wheeling Jesuit gave him a 5-3 win over Connor Craig. He was dominant on top in a 6-0 win over Messiah's Lee Cassel. And he had over 3 minutes of riding time in an 11-2 major decision over Bloomsburg's Kevin Laubach, who he beat for the second time this season.
The three wins put Ross' record at 8-7 this season and he was able to walk out of Liberty Arena carrying some confidence along with the smile strewn about his face.
"I needed this really bad. I think if I would have lost at all today or wrestled bad today, I would have been really disappointed in myself," Ross said. "I haven't been wrestling very well. I haven't held guys down at all. To get 3 1/2 minutes of riding time in two matches, I felt a lot better on top and I'll keep working to get back to where I want to be."
And it was that kind of performance from Ross, along with multiple wins for Luke Werner filling in at 125, and wins from Trey Hartsock and Derek Dragon which helped the Bald Eagles sweep the Duals. They got exactly the kinds of performances they expected from stalwarts Ronnie Perry (3-0), Chance Marsteller (3-0), Jared Siegrist (3-0) and Corey Hazel (2-0). And it was the wins from the back-ups which helped prevent the dual-meets from getting interesting.
Werner started each match with a bonus-point win, earning a forfeit against Wheeling Jesuit and major decisions against Messiah and Bloomsburg by posting a 7-2 advantage in takedowns. Hartsock scored eight back points in the second period to defeat Messiah's Derek Beitz, who is ranked ninth in the country in Division III. Dragon won at heavyweight against Messiah thanks to a key second-period takedown against a wrestler who outweighed him by nearly 80 pounds.
"Our usual guys are wrestling really well for us," Moore said. "But as you build a program, you want to get everyone involved and make sure you're utilizing your room and giving those guys a chance to show their abilities as well.
"(Werner) is a highly-touted recruit who has been working hard in the room. He's real close to our starter and he's still competing for that starting spot. So for him to score bonus points puts him in a good state mentally and puts him in a good spot for down the road."
Lock Haven will get a break after a successful month of competition which saw them defeat nationally-ranked Rutgers and enter the national rankings for the first time in 15 years, win the PSAC team title and open the EWL season with a win. Moore said the next couple weeks will be about focusing on intense training and preparing for the Southern Scuffle in the New Year.
"The practices are still going to be hard and there's still going to be a lot of intensity in the room," Moore said. "But by taking a step back and not worrying about competing for a week and a half or two weeks, we can analyze what we were able to accomplish in the first semester then start setting our goals and have a purpose for what we're trying to accomplish in the last half of the season."
No. 17 Lock Haven 32,
No. 23 Wheeling Jesuit 11
125: Luke Werner, LHU, won by forfeit. 133: D.J. Fehlman, LHU, maj. dec. Jaylen Hill, 11-3. 141: Tyler Warner, WJ, dec. Kyle Shoop, 3-2. 149: No. 13 Ronnie Perry, LHU, tech. fall Daniel Romero, 16-0, 1:55. 157: Jonathan Ross, LHU, dec. Connor Craig, 5-3. 165: No. 8 Chance Marsteller, LHU, tech. fall Keegan Driscoll, 19-3, 4:58. 174: Jared Siegrist, LHU, pinned Justic Avery, :56. 184: Corey Hazel, LHU, dec. Aiden Pasiuk, 5-0. 197: Sawyer Leppla, WJ, dec. Tristan Sponseller, 7-4. 285: Terrance Fanning, WJ, tech. fall Derek Dragon, 17-0, 4:43.
Takedowns: Lock Haven 14, Wheeling Jesuit 5.
Records: Lock Haven (2-0, 0-0); Wheeling Jesuit (3-1).
No. 17 Lock Haven 34, No. 6 Messiah 6
125: Luke Werner, LHU, maj. dec. Sean Redington, 15-7. 133: No. 10 Hunter Harris, M, dec. D.J. Fehlman, 12-11. 141: Kyle Shoop, LHU, tech. fall Nick Nunez, 17-2, 6:44. 149: No. 13 Ronnie Perry, LHU, tech. fall Stephen Maloney, 26-11, 7:00. 157: Jonathan Ross, LHU, dec. Lee Cassel, 7-0. 165: No. 8 Chance Marsteller, LHU, pinned Kevin Diehl, 1:18. 174: Jared Seigrist, LHU, tech. fall Dan Stevens, 25-6, 6:50. 184: Trey Hartsock, LHU, dec. No. 9 Derek Beitz, 11-8. 197: No. 4 Kyle Koser, M, dec. Tristan Sponseller, 5-4. 285: Derek Dragon, LHU, dec. Dan Kiser, 8-4.
Takedowns: Lock Haven 34, Messiah 10.
Records: Lock Haven (3-0, 0-0); Messiah (4-3).
No. 17 Lock Haven 37, Bloomsburg 2
125: Luke Werner, LHU, maj. dec. Drew Massetti, 14-4. 133: Andy Schutz, BU, dec. D.J. Fehlman, 3-1. 141: Kyle Shoop, LHU, tech. fall Shawn Orem, 16-0, 2:00. 149: No. 13 Ronnie Perry, LHU, tech. fall Ryan Stocku, 24-9, 6:20. 157: Jonathan Ross, LHU, maj. dec. Kevin Laubach, 11-2. 165: No. 8 Chance Marsteller, LHU, tech. fall Nate Newberry, 20-3, 3:20. 174: Jared Siegrist, LHU, dec. Kyle Murphy, 4-3. 184: Corey Hazel, LHU, dec. Trevor Allard, 5-3*. 197: Tristan Sponseller, LHU, dec. Logan Womelsdorf, 7-4. 285: No. 13 Thomas Haines, LHU, tech. fall Bruce Graeber, 16-0, 5:19.
*Bloomsburg penalized one team point
Takedowns: Lock Haven 24, Bloomsburg 5.
Records: Lock Haven (4-0, 1-0 EWL); Bloomsburg (3-2, 1-1 EWL).