No. 7 Obenson Blanc (Naples, Fla./Lely) and No. 16 Seth Martin (Selinsgrove, Pa./Selinsgrove) each won titles at 125 and 157, respectively.
Blanc topped John Sutika (University of Pitt-Johnstown) in convincing fashion in round one, a 21-3 tech fall. After a 7-0 blanking of Franklin & Marshall College's Jake Bucha, Blanc beat Ian Moser (Bloomsburg University) 8-3 to advance to the title bout. He then topped the University of Virginia's Ross Gitomer 7-4 for first place.
Martin made quick work of the rounds up to the championship, dropping Penn State University's Jon Clemens by third-period fall, the University at Buffalo's Stephen Muldrow by second-period tech fall (17-0) and adding another tech fall of Jake Hostetter (Millersville University) to get to the finals. There he met No. 11 Nate Galloway (Penn State). Martin got a late takedown to seal the 6-3 win. The win over Muldrow was Martin's 90th career victory.
Other place-winners for the Bald Eagles included sophomore Tom Kocher (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) in second at 184, third-place finishes from rookie Danny Lopes (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) at 133, and freshman Landis Wright (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle) at 165, fourth-place spots from freshman Zach Kell (Ikesburg, Pa./West Perry) at 141, rookie Corey Blake (East Fallowfield, Pa./Coatesville) at 165 and freshman Mike Cook (Bellefonte, Pa./Bald Eagle) at heavyweight, and sixth place by sophomore Mark Armstrong (Sugar, Pa./Wyalusing) at 141, freshman Anwar Goeres (Holley, N.Y./Phoenix) at 133, senior Derrick Morgan (Media, Pa./Athens) at 174, freshman Nick Hyatt (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg) at 125 and freshman Branden Bowden (Duncannon, Pa./Central Dauphin East) at heavyweight.
Kocher beat Shawn Fendone (Edinboro University) 8-6 and Calvin Cardillo (Virginia)14-5 before falling to Penn State's Dave Erwin in the finals 12-6. Sophomore Donnie Reinhart (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin), freshman Travis Stem (Wingate, Pa./Bald Eagle) and sophomore Michael Hudak (Brick, N.J./Brick Memorial) also entered for LHU at 184, with Reinhart going 1-3, Stem 0-2 and Hudak 0-2.
Lopes continued to make his case for the starting job at 133, beating Joe Wilson (Buffalo) 8-6 and John Lester (Millersville) before slipping 6-1 to Old Dominion University's B.J. Compton. Lopes then got consecutive wins over Compton's teammate Adam Koballa 5-3 and Kyle Fluke (Edinboro) 4-3 for third place. The Bald Eagles also entered Goeres and freshman Erik Smith (Villas, N.J./Pittman) at 133, with Goeres going 2-3 for sixth place, and Smith dropping both of his bouts.
Wright beat Penn State's Mike Lorenzo 5-1 and lost to ODU's Nick Pullano 16-4 in the second round. He wrestled back with a 6-2 defeat of Josh Evans (Millersville), a 13-7 edging of Justin Herbert (Franklin & Marshall) and a 4-3 win over Brent Fiorito (Virginia) before taking down teammate Blake 8-5 for third. Along with Blake, the Bald Eagles entered junior Jameik Matthews (Laurel, Del./Laurel) and rookie Derek Caldwell (Curwensville, Pa./Curwensville). Blake was 3-2 en route to fourth, Matthews 0-1 and Caldwell 0-2.
Kell took fourth at 141, beating Alex Lauffenburger (Bloomsburg) 8-1 and getting a sudden-victory 5-3 win over Buffalo's Evan Veney. Kell then lost to Ryan Williams (ODU) before beating teammate Armstrong 6-5. ODU's Cam Watkins then beat Kell 12-7 in the third-place bout. Along with Armstrong, LHU entered sophomore Bradley Marquart (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) at 141, with Armstrong going 3-3 for sixth place and Marquart dropping both of his matches.
Cook was LHU's top finish at heavyweight, beating Christian Refakis (F&M) 13-1, PSU's Brendan Herlihy 3-2 in overtime before falling to the consolation after a 9-1 loss to ODU's Matt Pellar. Cook rebounded with a 6-2 win over teammate Bowden, then lost 11-2 to Jeff Parker of Buffalo. Joining Cook and Bowden was sophomore Chris Grablutz (Newton N.J./Kittatinny), with Bowden finishing sixth at 3-3 and Grablutz going 1-2.
At 174, Morgan was the lone LHU finisher, starting his day with a 6-5 loss to Dave Sullivan (East Stroudsburg University). Morgan battled back with three-straight wins in the consolation, dropping a pair of Monarchs in Bryan Koz (15-2) and Derek Coffey (6-2) and a high school grappler before losing to Sullivan again 6-4. Morgan couldn't rebound in the fifth-place match, losing by fall to PSU's Jack Decker. Neither of LHU's other entries fared any better, as freshman Alex Dalrymple (Branchville, N.J./High Point) was 2-2 and both senior Michael Metzger (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and junior Rory McCoy (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville) went 1-2.
Hyatt was 2-3 for a sixth-place finish at 125, while freshman George Ester (Odenton, Md./Arundel) went 1-2 at the same class. Junior Brian Ellis (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) dropped both of his matches at 149, while freshman Donnie Ament (Acme, Pa./Mt. Pleasant) was 1-2.
At 197, freshmen Jeremie Cook (Venice, Fla./Venice) and Dustin Pine (Mercersburg, Pa./James Buchanan) came up empty, each going 0-2.
The Bald Eagles are back in action Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Penn State Open.
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