Boyertown’s Wood repeats as EIWA champion
The redshirt sophomore repeated as EIWA champion at 285 pounds while helping Lehigh to its second straight conference tournament championship on March 9 at Binghamton, N.Y.
Wood was one of three individual winners for the Mountain Hawks. After beating Ben Sullivan 6-2 in the semifinals, Wood received a win by medical forfeit over Brown’s Ian Butterbrodt in the heavyweight final.
Wood is Lehigh’s highest seed for the NCAA Championships, which begin March 21 at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh. The former PIAA champion is 21-3 this season.
The senior saw his season come to an end with the Muhlenberg wrestling team when he finished fourth at 174 pounds at the NCAA Mideast Regionals Feb. 24 in Brockport, N.Y. He was beaten 3-1 in the third-place match. Fratantoni competed both at 174 and 184 for the Mules this season. He was 8-3 at 174 and 16-6 at 184 with seven falls and five major decisions. Fratantoni, who missed his freshman season with an injury will return to the team next season and has a career record of 55-27.
The true freshman finished third at 157 pounds for the Chattanooga wrestling team at the Southern Conference Championships on March 10 in Boone, N.C. Resnick earned a trip to the third place match with a pin in 5:23 and then went on to defeat his opponent 10-7 in the third-fourth place match. That ended his season on a high note. He was 12-14 overall, 5-6 in dual matches and 4-2 against Southern Conference foes. He also posted three falls on the season with his fastest coming in 4:48.
The Villanova women’s lacrosse team is 5-3 and red-shirt senior Devin Hassinger has the game-winner in three of them.
Hassinger, a 5-foot-4 midfielder from Glenmoore and an Owen J. Roberts graduate, has 17 goals and an assist for 18 points for the Wildcats. She also has a team-high 50 draw controls, 14 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.
The two biggest efforts thus far came against Cornell on Feb. 16 in Villanova and against Drexel on March 9 in Philadelphia. She had four goals and eight draw controls in a 13-12 victory over Cornell and four goals, an assist and nine draw controls in a 13-9 triumph over Drexel.
Last year, Hassinger started all 16 games and had 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points with 18 ground balls, 16 caused controls and led the team with 83 draw controls.
“Every year Devin has gotten stronger and stronger as a player,” coach Julie Young said. “I think that so far she is playing with the most confidence of her career. She is coming up with key draw controls and key goals.”
The coach feels that Hassinger is someone who gets the team fired up when she makes a goal or a big play.
“Devin’s energy always spreads throughout the team and she is a huge spark for us,” Young said.
The 6-foot4, 200-pound senior, who missed all of last season because of an injury, is starting in center field for the Virginia baseball team, the Cavaliers 8-7 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after a 14-5 non-league loss to Liberty last Wednesday in Lynchburg, Va. Simmons is hitting .230 (14-for61) with three doubles, two home runs, 10 runs batted in and 11 runs scored. In the outfield, he’s made two errors on 41 chances (.957). Simmons was an All-ACC second team selection two years ago.
The 5-foot-5 senior is off to a slow start pitching for the Lock Haven softball team, but the left-hander came up with her best performance of the year in a 4-3 eight-inning victory over Hillsdale (Mich.) last Wednesday in Clermont, FL. Slattery pitched the distance and gave up four hits and just two earns runs with two walks and a seasonhigh 12 strikeouts. A twotime PSAC Central Pitcher of the Year, she’s 2-5 with a save and a 2.05 earned run average. In 44.1 innings, she’s given up 32 hits and 16 runs, 13 earned, with six walks and 53 strikeouts.
The sophomore midfielder has eight goals and an assist for the James Madison women’s lacrosse team, the Dukes 6-1 after losing 18-7 to No. 2-ranked North Carolina in the season opener Feb. 9 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Lucchesi had two goals in an 11-9 victory over No. 19 Penn State on March 6 in University Park and had a goal in a 10-7 triumph over Rutgers on March 10 in Harrisonburg, Va. Besides her scoring, Lucchesi has eight ground balls, 13 draw controls and seven caused turnovers.
The true freshman was named to the Southern Conference AllFreshman team for his performance with the Davidson wrestling team this winter. Gorant, competing at 133 pounds, compiled a 17-12 overall record and an 11-4 mark in dual matches. He had six pins, two major decisions and a technical fall. At the league tournament on March 10 in Boone, N.C. Gorant posted a 2-2 record and was beaten in the third place match to finish fourth.
The 5-foot-7 senior has started all 14 games in centerfield for the St. Joseph’s softball team, the Hawks 7-7 after dropping an 8-4 decision to Purdue of the Big Ten Conference last Wednesday in Clearwater, FL. Kulp, batting leadoff, is hitting .304 (14for-46) with a double, triple and six runs batted in. She’s tied for the lead with nine runs scored. Kulp has one stolen base so far but holds the team’s single-season record with 31 and career record with 65. In the outfield, she has handled 31 chances without an error.
The 6-foot-5 senior middle blocker is having a solid season with the Penn State Altoona men’s volleyball team. He leads the Lions in total blocks with 40, is second in kills with 122 and has 39 digs and 13 service aces. Sophomore setter Danny Dry (Daniel Boone) leads the team in assists with 270 and has 54 digs. The Lions are 8-9 overall and 2-5 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference after a 3-2 nonleague loss to Messiah last Wednesday in Grantham.
The 5-foot-11, 165-pound sophomore is starting at second base for the Villanova baseball team, the Wildcats 3-13 on the season after a 14-3 loss to Navy last Wednesday in Plymouth Meeting. O’Neill is hitting .278 (15-for-44) with five doubles, five runs batted in and tied for a team-high in runs scored with 12. In the field, he’s made four errors on 71 chances (.949) with six double plays. He played in 42 games with 34 starts last season and it .208
The 5-foot10, 170-pound senior setter/ outside hitter has been solid of late for the Arcadia men’s volleyball team, the Knights 18-4 overall and 7-0 in the Middle Atlantic Conference after a 3-0 non-league victory over Elizabethtown on March 2 in Glenside. Abraham had a season-high 29 assists and five digs in the match. Abraham has 165 assists, 31 digs, nine service aces and six total blocks. He had 28 assists in a 3-0 league victory over Wilkes on Feb. 16 in Owings Mills, Md.
The senior catcher/designated hitter is hitting .393 (11-for-28) for the 4-6 Lebanon Valley softball team. She has three doubles, a home run, four runs scored and four runs batted in. Her homer, a three-run blast, came in a 16-8 loss to Moravian on March 6 in Clermont, Fla. She had a double and two singles in a 5-2 victory over Wittenberg on March 8 and a double and single in an 8-1 loss to Wartburg on March 9, both games also played in Clermont.
The junior had two big offensive games but it couldn’t help her Gwynedd Mercy softball team from losing 18-4 and 17-1 to Moravian on March 14 in Bethlehem. Waller had a double and single with a run scored and an RBI in the first game and picked up the 4-6 Griffins only run in the second game with her first home run of the season. She has started all 10 games and is hitting .403 (13-for-32) with four doubles, the home run, nine runs batted in and 11 runs scored.