Shippensburg University’s wrestling team completed the regular season with two matches at home this past weekend. SU faced Kutztown on Friday and Elizabethtown on Saturday.
Friday night was a battle for the Raiders. The Kutztown wrestlers are a well-built squad with four nationally ranked competitors in their higher weight classes. The final score was 43-3 for the Bears.
The only home win of the night came from graduate Nick Delp, SU’s only ranked wrestler.
Delp, ranked ninth, made a statement with a decision win over Kutztown’s Bailey Gimbor, who is ranked thirteenth.
The first point of the match was not scored until the third period when Delp earned a crucial reversal.
His success was sealed with a riding time point that was earned by his efforts in the second and third periods.
Moving to Saturday, the Raiders celebrated their six seniors before the match with the Blue Jays. The senior class includes Delp, Kyler Everly, Anthony Lavish, Cole Lang, Calvin Lederer and Trey Shoemaker.
Shoemaker reflected on his experiences with this special group.
“It was a great four years that we got to practice, compete, and laugh with each other,” said Shoemaker. “I’m sad that it’s over, but I’m happy that I got to share it with such a good group of guys.”
The match was a very close battle between the two squads. Shippensburg earned weight class wins at 141, 149, 157, 165 and 174, but lost the overall match with a score of 23-17.
Redshirt freshman Cole Coffin started the Raider win streak with a 5-0 decision at 141.
Redshirt junior Mike Trainor fought hard in his tech fall over E-town’s Stephen Bialek at 149. Trainor recorded eight takedowns over three periods.
Lavish, Delp and Everly finished strong on the Raider home mat with three well-earned decision wins at 157, 165 and 174.
The final score tipped in E-town’s favor with a fall at 184, a major decision at 197 and a major decision at 285.
SU’s overall dual meet record for the 2025-26 season was six wins and 12 losses. They were one win short of matching their win record from last year.
The Raiders will travel to East Stroudsburg University on Saturday, Feb. 28, for the NCAA Super Region I Championships. The top three place winners of each weight class will earn a spot at the NCAA National Championships in South Dakota.
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