Lock Haven’s Strickland tops 133 bracket at annual Mat-Town Open
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LOCK HAVEN – The Lock Haven men's wrestling team hosted their annual Mat-Town Open on Sunday. For the Bald Eagles, Gable Strickland led the way by claiming top honors in the 133-pound bracket.
"We had a lot of wrestlers compete," Lock Haven head coach Scott Moore said. It feels great being able to be in the Thomas Fieldhouse, getting some of the younger guys matches. We had six true freshmen competing today and some of those guys, like Cole Bartram, who was in the finals, and Hudson Ward. Lucas Fye was a third place finish. So just being able to get in the Fieldhouse, compete in front of some fans, and get the reps in is really important this time of year."
Strickland went a perfect 4-0 on the day with a pin and a tech fall. In quarterfinals, Strickland won by fall in 1:49 over Rider's Jaton Wellington before claiming a 5-0 decision victory in the semifinal round. In the final bout, Strickland won in a 6-3 decision over Penn State's Timothy Levine. Levine scored a takedown with a handful of seconds left but a reversal by Strickland sealed the victory.
"Being a red shirt, you got to take advantage of the opportunity, and today that was competing in Mat-Town, "Moore mentioned. He [Strickland] had taken a couple weeks off in training with a little minor injury, but now he's back to be able to come out and win. It's nice to have a champion at your own tournament and to see our guys wrestling well."
Tyler Stoltzfus placed second at 174 after having to medically forfeit the final bout. He had one tech fall on the day.
Freshman Cole Bartram finished second at 184. He opened with a pin in 57 seconds before scoring a 4-3 decision in the semifinals. Then, he dropped a close bout by decision, 4-0, in the finals against Chris Foca.
Brandon Stiehler finished second at 285 in a round robin format.
Freshman Lucas Fye – a Bald Eagle Area graduate – placed third at 125. Fye opened up the day with a victory by fall in 30 seconds over Bucknell's Meyer Rosen before securing a 4-1 decision victory in the quarterfinals.
Fye dropped his semifinal match in a close 3-2 decision. A victory by forfeit ultimately earned him his third place finish.
Brett Barbush placed third at 165 with a 2-1 record. He topped Max Nevlin by decision, 9-3, in the third place bout.
DaShawn Farber placed fourth at 149. Farber made his way to the semifinals with a 16-1 tech fall victory in 6:23 over fellow Bald Eagle Joey Sentipal. Farber would drop his semifinal match before medically forfeiting the third place bout.
Rocco Fratelli finished fourth at 141 with one tech fall on the day.
Austin Pollard, Wyatt Fox, and Chase Burke placed sixth at 125, 149, and 157 respectively.
Dalton Perry, a senior at Central Mountain, placed third at 149.
"Big dual opportunity for us to go in with probably 6,000 fans to see where we're at," Moore said. "We got some good individual matchups, but also just to get that experience competing in front of a big crowd. It's also an opportunity for some of our better guys to get pushed and to see where we're at early in the year. Definitely a big dual meet and it'll be a fun environment and opportunity for our guys to go out there and lay it on the line."
Lock Haven will now travel to New Jersey to face No. 18 Rutgers on Friday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m.
LOCK HAVEN RECORDS ON THE DAY
Lucas Fye: 3-1 (1 pin), THIRD
Austin Pollard: 3-2 (1 TF, 1 pin), SIXTH
Alex Reed: 2-2 (1 pin)
Gable Strickland: 4-0 (1 pin, 1 TF), FIRST
Rocco Fratelli: 1-2 (1 TF), FOURTH
Jacob Torres: 0-2
Wyatt Fox: 3-2 (1 pin, 1 TF, 1 MD), SIXTH
Joey Sentipal: 2-2 (1 pin)
DaShawn Farber: 2-2 (1 pin, 1 TF), FOURTH
Kelly Kakos: 1-2 (1 MD)
JT Hogan: 2-2 (1 pin, 1 MD)
Eric Alderfer: 4-1 (1 pin), FIFTH
Connor Eck: 1-2
Chase Burke: 3-2, SIXTH
Hudson Ward: 1-2
Brett Barbush: 2-1, THIRD
Tyler Stoltzfus: 2-1 (1 TF), SECOND
Cole Bartram: 2-1 (1 pin), SECOND
Cael Black: 1-1, FIFTH
Brandon Stiehler: 1-1, SECOND