College notebook: Slovick, Sayles achieve career milestones
College notebook
The wrestling program at Pitt-Bradford is less than 10 years old, but former Burgettstown standout D.J. Slovick has given all future UPB wrestlers a lofty number to pursue.
Slovick, a senior 174-pounder, recently became the first Pitt-Bradford wrestler in school history to win 100 bouts when he pinned his opponent from Slippery Rock in 3:30 during a dual meet Jan. 17.
The win gave Slovick a 100-41 record in his career with 52 pins, 15 major decisions, and eight technical falls. He has a 44-9 mark in dual matches for the Panthers. Slovick has made the podium twice at NCAA Qualifiers, taking 5th as a junior and 7th as a sophomore.
Slovick was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Wrestler of the Week on Jan. 19.
Last weekend, Slovick went 3-2 with one pin at the Jamestown Jayhawk Open.
In basketball
Penn State Altoona senior forward Avana Sayles, a Venetia native and Peters Township graduate, became the women’s basketball program’s all-time leading scorer last Wednesday, when the Lions pulled out a 61-58 victory over Mount Aloysius in nearby Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference rival Mount Aloysius College at the ACW Center.
Entering the game needing only one point to set the school scoring record, Sayles made a layup at 6:42 of the first quarter for her milestone basket. Sayles surpassed the previous record of 1,503 points, which was set by Alexis Cannistraci, who is a currently an assistant coach at Penn State Altoona. By the conclusion of the game, Sayles was atop the all-time scoring list with 1,515 points. She scored 12 points in the win.
Sayles is Penn State Altoona’s leading scorer at 15.8 points per game. Her top scoring game this season was 23 points in a 77-73 win over Juniata.
In wrestling
Penn State sophomore Rocco Welsh was named the Big Ten’s Wrestler of the Week last Thursday.
A two-time state champion in high school at Waynesburg, Welsh began last week ranked No. 4 in the country at 184 pounds and defeated No. 1-ranked Angelo Ferrari of Iowa. Welsh and Ferrari traded escapes during regulation time and battled through two minutes of sudden victory. Welsh then controlled Ferrari for the full 30 seconds of the initial tiebreaker, then was able to record an escape and finish the bout in neutral for a 2-1 tiebreaker win. Welsh’s win was one of nine in Penn State’s 32-3 rout of the Hawkeyes in Iowa City.
Two days later, Welsh had six takedowns, two escapes and a two-point turn for a 22-7 technical fall over Northwestern’s J.D. Perez in the Nittany Lions’ 51-0 victory in Evanston, Ill.
The Mountain East Conference announced on Dec. 15 that Fairmont State’s Colton Stoneking was the league’s Wrestler of the Week.
A senior from Waynesburg, Stoneking finished second at the 46th Annual Midwest Classic by going 5-1. He started his day against Tanner Arjes from Upper Iowa and picked up a 17-2 technical fall. In the second round, Stoneking defeated Koltyn Grebel by 9-2 decision and in his final match of the opening day, Stoneking battled Collin Twigg from Grand Valley State. Despite trailing late, Stoneking pulled off an escape before a takedown in the final 15 seconds to earn a 5-4 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
Stoneking won a 4-1 decision over Caleb Chaves of Chadron State and was a 2-0 winner over Emmett Nelson from Wisconsin-Parkside in the semifinals. In the championship match, Stoneking lost a tough 5-4 decision to Ethan Hardy of Glenville State.
It was the second Mountain East Wrestler of the Week honor this season for Stoneking, who is ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II at 141 pounds.
Another former Waynesburg Central wrestler who is having a stellar season is Lock Haven redshirt senior Wyatt Henson, who has a 14-3 record at 141 pounds.
Henson, the defending Mid-American Conference champion and national qualifier at 141, is currently ranked No. 2 in the MAC at No. 20 nationally. He has a 9-0 record in dual meets, eight wins via technical fall and four major decisions.
Henson has 95 career wins.
Andrew Binni has a 12-7 record as Navy’s 127-pounder.
A freshman from Canon-McMillan, Binni has started every dual meet for the Midshipmen, posting a 4-3 record. Among Binni’s wins in his first season are two technical falls and one pin.
Edinboro sophomore Chris Vargo and junior Brody Evans are each ranked sixth in their weight class in the latest Mid-American Conference rankings.
Vargo is from Charleroi and wrestled at Bentworth. He competes at 125 pounds for the Fighting Scots. Evans, a Mapletown graduate who wrestled for Waynesburg, is Edinboro’s 197-pounder.