Penn College Wrestlers Set for Postseason Competition

At least 10 Pennsylvania College of Technology wrestlers will be among those competing Sunday for individual honors when the Penn State University Athletic Conference/United States Collegiate Athletic Association championships are held in Rec Hall on The Pennsylvania State University's main campus.

According to the PSUAC website, competition begins at 11 a.m. with double-elimination wrestling taking place on four mats. Individual awards will go to the top three place finishers and team honors will go to the champion and runner-up.

"The guys are starting to peak. They're starting to get the feel for the intensity that we need to go into the postseason. Also, this will be a nice way to further prepare for (National College Wrestling Association) regionals, which is a qualifier for the national tournament," said Wildcats coach Schuyler Frey. "I think everyone that we are taking probably should be able to get on the podium (top-threefinish)."

During the regular season, Penn College went 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the conference, with their only loss to Penn State DuBois in November.

"The one thing I was really proud of is that in the matches actually wrestled we either dominated or were right there with the best of them. I think we're on track for our level," the coach continued.

Wrestlers from at least 10 schools are scheduled to compete Sunday, including Newport News Apprentice School, Lindenwood (Ill.) University, Penn State DuBois, Penn State Beaver, Penn State Fayette, Penn State Greater Allegheny, Penn State Mont Alto, Penn State New Kensington and Williamson Free Trade School. Teams can send more than one wrestler in each weight class.

"The Apprentice School always is very, very tough up and down the lineup. The competition is going to be really good," Schuyler said.

Wrestling for Penn College will be Kyle Sunseri, of Athens, and Kevin Sutherland, of Branford, Conn., in the 141-pound weight class; Derek Leiby, of Troy, at 149; Tyler Myers, of Centre Hall, and Ed Turner, Marion Center, at 157; Austin Clark, of Elysburg, and Tom Ayers, of Alexandria, at 165; Logan Gresock, of Wadsworth, Ohio, at 174; Paul Crutchlow, of Morris Plains, N.J., at 184; and Jasper Ocker, of Burnham, at 197. One other grappler, Levi Speicher, of Manns Choice, also could see action at 149.

"Every week we continued to see a lot of improvement and it just goes back to the guys wanting to work hard, focus on what they needed to focus on and being open-minded to some instruction," the coach said.

"If we work as hard as we can, the wins will come. Good stuff will happen," Schuyler added.