A star-studded lineup of fighters will go face-to-face with some of the best in the country this Saturday, as the Shippensburg University boxing team hosts its annual event from Henderson Gymnasium starting at 5 pm.
The Raider squad will look to continue its success against seven other teams-Army, Navy, Penn State, West Virginia University, Lock Haven, the University of Massachusetts and the Miami University of Ohio. The event will feature a number of national qualifiers, All-Americans and even national champions. More than 20 bouts are scheduled for the evening.
The main event will feature two female national finalists in senior Emily Appleman from SU and Shannon Reilly from WVU. Appleman finished her last season as national runner up at 132 pounds and Reilly, who transferred from Shippensburg, won a national championship in a higher weight class.
Shippensburg coach Travis Wylie raved over his talented lineup, predicting a national top-five finish from his squad led by Appleman, Haziz Self, Nate Sanders and Tylik Guilford.
Self won his last two fights at 119 pounds; the freshman knocked out a fighter from Wake Forest and won against an undefeated opponent from Navy two weekends in a row in Richmond, Virginia. Sanders picked up his first KO in the weekend action, according to Wylie. Guilford qualified for nationals last year and has seen recent success as well. He recorded a win against an English fighter from Portsmouth University and beat an undefeated Army boxer at Penn State last week.
Female fighter Ada Ibe will be starting off the action for Shippensburg, according to Wylie, and will match up against a Navy opponent at 139 pounds. Third-year fighter Jake Bradley will fight on Saturday as well.
Two fighters will make their debuts in Saturday’s event. Sophomore Brett Pastore currently wrestles for the Raiders and has a background in Jiu-Jitsu; he will compete at 165 pounds. Nafis Brown will make his first appearance in the ring at 125 pounds as well for the Raiders.
Tickets will run $8 for ringside seats and $5 for general admission. Henderson Gym is located directly behind Old Main on the Shippensburg campus.
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