The Shippensburg University wrestling team battled to 2-1 from Heiges Field House on Saturday afternoon, falling to Mercyhurst 30-12 before thwarting West Liberty’s efforts in a 21-19 victory and destroying American International University 35-9.

The Raiders (5-11, 1-4 PSAC) celebrated Alumni Day before the tri meet, which featured the Mercyhurst (15-1, 5-0 PSAC) and West Liberty (1-6 dual-meet record) matchups at 2 pm. and 4 pm., with the third match held at 6 pm. against American International (1-7 dual-meet record).

vs. Mercyhurst at Shippensburg:

The Raiders took the mat against Mercyhurst in the first matchup of the afternoon, going up against a Laker squad that has won nine straight matches, most recently blanking Millersville 47-0 this past Friday.

Mercyhurst sports eight wrestlers within the top six in their weight classes, according to the latest Super Region I rankings, and five of those fall within the top eight spots in the country.

Shippensburg did not fare too poorly, all things considered.

The Raider squad jumped out to a 12-4 lead after the first four matches, before freshman Mike Springer dropped a 13-3 major decision to Francis Mizia at 157 pounds. From there the Lakers tied the score at 12 thanks to a 13-4 major decision at 165 pounds from junior Angelo Bortoluzzi over sophomore Brett Pastore.

It was all Mercyhurst from there, as the team won its next two matches by technical fall and fall. The Lakers closed out the match with a 4-2 decision over sophomore Jalal Paige at 197 pounds and a 10-1 major decision at 285 pounds that gave Mercyhurst the 30-12 victory.

“We just looked for individual matchups against Mercyhurst,” Shippensburg coach Seth Bloomquist said. “We were wrestling a team which has one loss on the season and is ranked in the top five in the country. We kept it close; the first five or six matches were what we thought they would be, but unfortunately they did well at the end. It’s a tough team, so I thought our kids wrestled really really well.”

vs. West Liberty:

SU started gaining steam in the second matchup against West Liberty University, running the score up to 21-0 before the Hilltoppers could get on the scoreboard, but giving up a lot of ground before ultimately pulling out the win 21-19.

The Raiders grabbed a fall in the very first match, as sophomore Dante Steffino pinned Zach Brown in 5:30 at 125 pounds.

133: Sophomore Karl Lightner followed that up with a 15-0 technical fall at 133 pounds over Joe Wagstaff, and the Raiders were on their way to a 21-0 advantage.

The first Hilltopper to get on the board was David Schlieper, who wrestled freshman Arthur Watkins to an 8-2 decision at 165 pounds.

From there West Liberty went on a run that took the score to 21-10, and brought Paige face-to-face with junior Bryan Beattie.

The match looked like it would be an easy win for the talented sophomore, as he scored a takedown to go up 2-0 and looked to be in control of the mat. However, while still in control on a transition attempt his shoulders brushed the mat and the referee called the match, handing Beattie the pin at 1:58.

The Hilltoppers trailed by a slim 21-16 margin as the final Raider took the mat. Freshman Derek Earnest needed to wrestle conservatively to make sure he could not lose by more than four points, and he did that successfully, losing 1-0 after a hard-fought bout that brought the final score to 21-19 and handed Shippensburg the win.

“I expected us to win ’97,” Bloomquist said, “Jalal having been ranked as high as eighth in the country. I thought it was disappointing the way that he got pinned, being in control up until the end. But that happens in all sports so you just have to overcome it. It’s still a team victory, so we’ll accept the win.”

vs. American International:

The Raiders picked up their third win on the day against American International University 35-9 behind a three-pin performance by the squad.

Throckmorton ended Nicholas Demore in 40 seconds with a pin, his third win in the tri meet.

Sophomore Karl Lightner also grabbed his third win on the day at 133 pounds with a pin over Cole Ludorf in 2:07, and sophomore Colton Rebert pinned P.J. Baker in 1:15 at 184 pounds to finish 1-0 on the day.

SU only lost two matches in the matchup, a decision at 197 pounds over junior Marshall Hobbs and a pin at 285 in 1:34 to bring the final score to 35-9.

The next time the Raiders return to the mat will be this Tuesday, when they visit University of Pittsburg at Johnstown (11-1) at 7

Share