Lock Haven wrestling alumni continue building the program up

Friday proved to be a special night for Lock Haven University's wrestling program. At a special event held at Haywood’s on the Green, coach Scott Moore, Commonwealth University President Bashar Hanna and the Bald Eagles announced that Ron and Jo Ann Bowes agreed to make a $500,000 donation to the men's and women's wrestling programs.

Ron, a member in the Class of 1966, and his wife, Jo Ann, have hands in many Bald Eagle donations, including organizing the university's class gift of a Bald Eagle granite statue at its 50th reunion. The Bowes' family has exceeded $1.5 million in funds donated and continues to support the advancement of the university altogether. This recent donation will help elevate a program still on the rise and it will continue to bring great wrestlers to town each fall and winter.

"Our program is built on the support of our alumni, the donors and the community that allow us to do the job that we're hired to do which is build a good wrestling program, continue to support student-athletes and recruit, retain and develop the best guys in the country," coach Moore said following Friday's announcement of Ron and Jo Ann Bowes' donation.

"But we really rely on the community, our alumni and their generosity. This is just one of those evenings you see the business owners, community members and a great set of alumni committed to our program."

The Bald Eagle men's wrestling program has such a rich history and culture that dates back to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. For over 70 years, the program has seen 34 national champions, including nine NCAA Division I and 25 NAIA. While the Bald Eagles don't have a team NCAA Division I title yet, LHU has won four NAIA national titles, all of which came in a six-year span in the 1960s.

Two of those teams-1966 and 1967-were Hall of Fame inductee teams in 2022.

"These are people that have supported our program for 50-60 years so we're excited to talk about the future of our program and the impact they can have by continuing to be involved with our program."

While the history of the men's wrestling program has been established, the student-athletes of Mat-Town USA are still training to make history-and many are well on their way. Avery Basset produced a 21-5 record last season and is 45-14 overall in his career. Anthony Noto, a current All-American following last season, was 34-4 last season, including a now-65-7 career record, Tyler Stoltzfus was 32-14 and Gabe Strickland 34-11 in the '22-23 campaign.

Noto, who begins the season ranked as the No. 2 in the nation, was in attendance at Friday's event along with Colin Fegley among other Bald Eagle returners. The wrestlers were able to feel the energy and support of LHU alumni in the building, and the Bald Eagles are hoping that presence and feeling translates to how each wrestler approaches the remainder of the offseason and a big season ahead.

"Absolutely, we want to include our athletes in every development in our program so they can be part of ground zero (grassroots)," coach Moore said about the players being inspired by the donations to keep improving. "Having them meet our alumni and see the generosity of our donors and community allows them to continue buying into the work that they're putting in and the sacrifices they've made to represent Lock Haven University wrestling."

The donation doesn't just affect the men's wrestling team, but it also affects a women's wrestling program still on the rise, a team added as recently as 2019-2020. Headed by coach Matt Lackey, who is an assistant under coach Moore, the young women's Bald Eagle program is making strides. Now-sophomore Kaelani Shufeldt currently holds a 27-4 career match record, now-senior Madison Matta is 31-11, junior Jessica Johnson is 28-6 and junior Lily Sherer is 34-15. The four women combined for 78 Lock Haven wins last year and will only get better from here.

With plans to renovate an entire wrestling room-which will be named The Ron and Jo Ann Bowes Wrestling Room-the men and women will continue excellence in different stages.

"The generosity of Ron and Jo Ann Bowes will be impactful but I think the biggest portion is for the rest of our alumni base to understand what it means to support Bald Eagle wrestling, how and ask a lot of questions on the vehicles you can give to be a part of the legacy to endower our program."

The Bowes' are not only setting a precedent for LHU's two programs, but they're creating a legacy and standard. LHU wrestling is built on a daily basis brick-by-brick, and the Bald Eagles hope that this is a starting point to a sky's-the-limit mentality.

"This is a turning point in our program; we've been very successful but this is an exciting night for us and there's a lot of things to come for the rise," coach Moore concluded.