College notebook: Howard tops local All-PSAC wrestlers
Brendan Howard’s senior season ended earlier than he wanted – because of the coronavirus pandemic that canceled the NCAA Division II wrestling championships – but that hasn’t stopped the former Jefferson-Morgan standout from raking in the postseason honors.
Howard, a 125-pounder at Pitt-Johnstown, was one of three local wrestlers to be named to the All-PSAC team. He was the lone first team selection while Belle Vernon’s Jacob Dunlop of Gannon was a second-team honoree and Seton Hill’s Billy Bowlen was on the third team. Bowlen is a Crucible native and Carmichaels graduate who wrestled at Jefferson-Morgan.
Howard is a two-time regional champion and All-American. He had a 27-2 record this season and he was the No. 3 seed at 125 for the Division II tournament. He placed third in the event last year.
Dunlop, also a 125-pounder, battled injuries throughout the season, finishing with a 20-5 record and 4-1 mark in PSAC duals. He finished second at 125 at regionals, losing a 9-4 decision to Howard in the finals, to earn his second berth to the NCAA championships. Each of the junior’s five defeats came to opponents ranked in the top five in the country in Division II or to Division I opponents, and he placed seventh in December at the Midwest Classic.
Bowlen, a redshirt junior, qualified for nationals by placing third in regionals at 197 pounds.
Bowlen ended the season with a 20-8 record. He won three matches by major decision, one by technical fall and six by pin. Bowlen was eighth at the Midwest Classic and fourth at the Findlay Open.
In softball
Cameron Meier made the most of her opportunities as the designated hitter for Point Park.
Meier is a freshman from Washington and a Trinity graduate. Though her role was limited to only five games and three starts in Florida, Meier batted .583, going 7-for-12 with four RBI, a .667 slugging percentage and a pair of doubles scoring two runs. She had two starts in the outfield with an assist on a putout at home plate from center field in a 15-2 win over Northern Vermont-Johnson.
Meier was one of six local players on the Point Park roster. Katie Tarr of Burgettstown was a senior pitcher, Alex Bondi of Venetia and a Peters Township graduate was a freshman first baseman, Emily Vinski of Claysville and a McGuffey graduate, was a freshman third baseman, Mara Iagnemma and Courtney Blocher are South Fayette graduates. Iagnemma was a freshman shortstop and pitcher while Blocher was a senior second baseman.
Tarr had a 2-2 record and 4.00 ERA in four starts. She struck out 15 in 21 innings.
Blocher and Bondi each started all nine games this season. Blocher had a .333 batting average when the season was stopped and Bondi was hitting .296 and tied for the team lead with six RBI.
Vinski started and played in only one game but went 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Iagnemma was 2-for-3 with three RBI and appeared in three games.
In golf
Two Venetia residents were seniors on the team at Rider University, located in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.
Jake Sollon, a Peters Township graduate, and Nathan Bazant, a Trinity graduate, were two of the Broncs’ three seniors.
Rider was the preseason favorite to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship this spring. In the fall, Rider set the program’s single-round record of 278 while also winning its first tournament in 13 years at the Matthews Auto Collegiate Invitational that was played in Apalchin, New York. Sollon led the Broncs in the fall with a 72.4 scoring average and was named Rider’s Male Athlete of the Month for September when he shot at par or under par in seven of nine rounds.
Bazant, who transferred to Rider after two years at California University, had Rider’s fourth-best stroke average in 2018-19 at 76.67 per round. This fall, he shot 2-under 70 to finish in sixth place at the Matthews Auto Collegiate Invitational.
In rifle
Rebecca Spencer of Avella is a member of the Akron rifle team that qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in school history.
Akron was to compete at the Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky., before the event was cancelled by the NCAA because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Akron had an 8-5 record and defeated Ohio State in an NCAA qualifier match.
Spencer, a junior, is a former Collegiate Rifle Coaches Association Scholastic All-American.
In baseball
Bethany had three local players – senior outfielder Reed Long of Carmichaels, junior outfielder Ethan Young of McMurray, and sophomore infielder/pitcher Cam Schaub of McDonald – and coincidentally each was batting .333 when the season was stopped.
Young, a Peters Township graduate, had the most at-bats of the trio as he was 13-for-39 with a double, team-high two triples and two home runs. He was second on the team with 10 RBI in 13 games.
Long had played in six games with only three at-bats. He drew walks in five plate appearances.
Schaub was 2-for-6 in five games.
Compiled by Chris Dugan