Fantastic Four
Lehigh’s Wood captures 4th straight EIWA championship
Lehigh’s fifth-year senior Jordan Wood (Boyertown) captured the 285-pound title at last Friday’s Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament in Manheim while leading the Mountain Hawks to a fourth straight EIWA team championship.
Wood, the No. 1 seed, posted a pin in the quarterfinals, a 2-0 decision in the semifinals and topped Army’s Bobby Heald, the third seed, 6-0 in the title match. He became just the fifth four-time EIWA champion in Lehigh history and the first EIWA heavyweight to win four titles. He earned the Fletcher Trophy for most career team points scored in tourney history.
“The individual title is the cherry on top, but the fact we won four straight as a team, that was a big goal coming into Lehigh,” Wood told the Lehigh athletics website. “It’s something Coach Pat (Santoro) always talked about, that we have to get on top of the EIWA and get a team trophy at nationals. We’ve done the first part and we’re still shooting for that team trophy.”
A two-time All-American, Wood was ranked seventh in the national rankings prior to his EIWA victory.
Lehigh had not wrestled since Feb. 7, which Wood would considered a silver lining in the aftermath of the Mountain Hawks’ team title that included four indi
vidual titlists.
“That’s been a really good thing amid the downfalls of COVID – the past three weeks after having our last dual meet cancelled and two weeks break leading up to conferences, we were able to make really big adjustments and changes both physically and with our wrestling technique,” he said. “After this tournament we have another three weeks off and we get another big chunk where we get to reevaluate what we’ve been doing and make another jump before St. Louis.”
The NCAA Tournament is set for March 18-20 in St. Louis, Mo. He has 42 career dual meet victories. DANIKA SWECH (OWEN J. ROBERTS) >> Danika Swech scored one goal in 13 career games in her first two seasons with the Delaware women’s lacrosse team. But this is another season.
Swech a 5-foot-5 junior midfielder from Spring City and an Owen J. Roberts graduate kicked off this season by scoring three goals in a 17-10 loss to Temple on Feb. 20. She came back with three goals and an assist in a 20-3 triumph over Delaware State on Feb. 24 and last Saturday she had a goal in a 7-4 loss to La Salle in Philadelphia.
“We are really proud of Danika and her accomplishments already this season,” coach Amy Altig said. “She has worked very hard on bringing a dynamic mindset and it is showing in every moment she’s in the game.”
The coach feels that Swech has become a very powerful player on the Blue Hens’ offensive end.
“Danika is dodging hard and finishing her cuts,” Altig, in her second season as Delaware head coach, said. “We have enjoyed watching her grow over the past year since we have had the opportunity to work with her and we know she will have a bright future at Delaware.”
Two other area players, senior Hannah Wentzel (Boyertown) and sophomore Sophia Murray (Owen J. Roberts, have seen action off the bench for the Blue
Hens.
MADDIE COOKE (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The senior helped the Penn State women’s swim team finish ninth with 309 points in the tough Big Ten Conference Championship last weekend in Minneapolis, Minn. Cooke finished 11th in the 50 free with a time of 22.39, the fourth best in Nittany Lion history. She also scored points by finishing 15th in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.12) and 15th in the 100 butterfly (54.04). And she helped the 200 medley relay finish fourth (1:38.14) and the 200 free relay finish fifth (1:29.48).
ELIJAH SHALAWAY (BOYERTOWN) >> The Wake Forest grad student hit the track for the first time since May of 2019, but he didn’t show any rust. Shalaway captured the javelin throw at the Perry Palooza Early Bird Classic last Saturday in High Point, N.C. His heave of 201 feet, 7 inches bettered the secondplace finisher by more than seven feet. Sophomore Jason Wagner (Perkiomen Valley) also did well for the Demon Deacons, finishing second in the shot put with a toss of 42 feet, 1 ½ inches. BRENDAN RIVOLI (DANIEL BOONE) >> The senior is seeing action as a designated hitter, an outfielder and a backup catcher for the No. 2-ranked Virginia baseball team, the Cavaliers 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after a 3-2 league victory over North Carolina last Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C. Rivoli had a single in the game. On the season, he’s hitting
.238 (5-for-21) with a double, three runs scored and a run batted in. Rivoli batted .320 in the 14 games Virginia played last season and hit .320 with five home runs and 42 runs batted in as a sophomore.
RYNE MOORE (SPRING-FORD) >> The 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander is one of the top pitchers on the 4-1 Old Dominion baseball team. Moore kicked off the season by starting and working four innings to pick up the victory in a 12-0 triumph over Norfolk State on Feb. 21. He gave up three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Moore was 2-1 with a 1.93 earned run average in the shortened season last year. In 2019, he was 6-4 with a 3.78 ERA in 16 games and 13 starts and earned Conference USA second team honors.
JEFF WOODWARD (METHACTON) >> The 6-foot-11, 265-pound freshman forward was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Feb. 23 after helping the Colgate men’s basketball team sweep Boston University on Feb. 20-21. Woodward had 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals in an 87-72 victory on Feb. 20 and came back with 10 points in a 78-63 triumph on Feb. 21 to help the Raiders post their 11th straight victory after an opening season loss. Woodward is averaging 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds with 25 assists and 12 blocked shots.
ABBY KAPP (BOYERTOWN) >> The senior guard and the Bucknell women’s basketball team will be the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament starting Sunday after posting an 8-0 record during the regular season. The team’s last eight games were postponed. Kapp had a team-high 20 points along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists in the team’s final regular-season game, a 73-68 victory over Lehigh on Jan. 31. Kapp is averaging 12.4 points and 4.5 rebounds a game with nine assists and 10 steals.
JULIE BYRNE (METHACTON) >> The 5-foot-8 junior is playing midfield for the California Davis women’s lacrosse team, the Aggies 3-0 to start the season after a 14-8 victory over California last Friday. Byrne has helped the Aggies outscore their three foes 54-29. She has two caused turnovers and a ground ball. She started all six games in last spring’s shortened season and picked up her first collegiate goal in a game against Arizona. Byrne has played in 24 games in her career and has 13 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.
STEVEN HAMILTON (PHOENIXVILLE) >> The 6-foot freshman guard has come off the bench to help the Lycoming men’s basketball team open its MAC Freedom schedule with a pair of victories. Hamilton had 11 points in 19 minutes to help the Warriors top FDU-Florham 79-54 on Feb. 11. He connected on five of nine shots. Hamilton came back with 10 points and four rebounds in 19 minutes in an 86-51 triumph over Florham on Feb. 12. Lycoming had two games with Delaware Valley postponed and is slated to face Arcadia Thursday in Williamsport. MICHELE DANIELS (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) >> The senior finished 19th out of 56 runners in the 5,000 meter run at Manhattan’s Jasper Invitational cross country meet on Feb. 20 in Montgomery, N.Y. Her time was a personal best 19.35.0 in a 5K cross country event. She was the Hawks’ fifth finisher and helped the team finish second. This is the first time Daniels has competed since finishing 25th in the 5,000 at the Middle Atlantic Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship in May of 2019.