Lock Haven Falls to WVU in EWL Action

 
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University wrestling team (7-5, 1-3 EWL) fell at home to West Virginia University (4-4, 3-1 EWL) 21-11 in Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) action.

The Bald Eagles had three wrestlers emerge victorious on the day including No. 11 Obenson Blanc (Naples, Fla./Lely) along with freshmen Zach Kell (Ickesburg, Pa./West Perry) and Landis Wright (Wingate, Pa./Bald Eagle).

Blanc kicked off the day’s action with a technical fall victory at 125 pounds. The junior ended his match with Scott Stuart at the 6:40 mark, leading 21-5. Blanc didn’t waste anytime in going to work on his Mountaineer opponent recording a takedown just 15 seconds in helping him take a 8-1 lead into the second period. He picked up four near fall points during the second helping him stretch his overall lead to 12-2 after two. A takedown with 20 seconds remaining sealed the deal as Blanc put Lock Haven up 5-0.

At 133, freshman Danny Lopes (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) fell to WVU’s Mark Anderson 5-3. The score was 1-0 after two periods with Lopes holding the one-point advantage heading into the final period, but Anderson scored a late takedown and one riding-time point to pick up the win.

Kell gave the Bald Eagles their second five-point lead of the match after posting a solid 8-3 win over Vince Gioiella at 141 pounds. The rookie recorded a takedown with just one second left in the first period and that was all the scoring through two. Kell scored a quick reversal to start the third and cruised to the 7-0 shutout.

At 149 freshman Donnie Ament (Acme, Pa./Mount Pleasant) lost 7-2 and No. 8 Seth Martin (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) fell to Zach Fryling in their 157-pound match up. Following the Martin loss, West Virginia found themselves in the lead for the first time, 9-8.

Wright quickly put the Bald Eagles back on top 11-9 after picking up a 12-7 victory over Eric Connolly. Wright trailed Connolly by two points after one period, but held a one-point lead to start the third, 6-5. Wright used two takedowns and two near all points to pull away and earn the three points for LHU.

At 174 senior Michael Metzger (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) lost to Kurt Brenner 5-3 as WVU won the final four matches of the night.

Freshman Tom Kocher (Lancaster, Pa./Manhiem Township) lost to Chance Litton 5-4 at 184 and fellow classmate Jeremie Cook (Venice, Fla./Venice) fell to No. 18 Jared Villerse 8-1 in their 197-pound match.

At heavyweight sophomore Ben Hepburn (Williamsport, Pa./Loyalstock) dropped a hard-fought match to Dustin Rogers 3-1.

The Bald Eagles are back in action on Fri., Feb. 16, at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Bloomsburg University for EWL action.