By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
MOORESTOWN, N.J. – The Penn State Mont Alto wrestling team had one of its most successful afternoon's in program history as it won the NCWA Mid-East Team title, sent eight wrestlers to the national championships and head coach Chris Leese was named NCWA Mid-East Conference Coach of Year.
Conner Herron (Frederick, Md. / Tuscarora), Mason Blank (Lancaster, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg), Jack Coulston (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs), Bryce Palamar (Smithsburg, Md. / Williamsport), John Halbrendt (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg Area), Ron Schilpp (Severna Park, Md. / Severna Park), Nick Kostyak (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) and Eric Wilson (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) each punched their respective ticket to the NCWA National Championships with their respective individual performances. PSUMA won the team title over 11 schools, topping Rowan University with 105.5 team points.
In the 133-pound bracket, Conner Herron (Frederick, Md. / Tuscarora) won the entire bracket beginning his day with a 2-0 decision over Jacob Armstrong from Williamson College of the Trades and in the championship bout, he earned a major decisive 23-8 win over UMBC's Wafeeq Iqbal. Teammate Mason Blank (Lancaster, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg) fought his way back up the consolation bracket for a third-place finish. His last win came over Armstrong in a 1:53.
Jack Coulston (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) took the individual title at 141 pounds with a 4-0 win over Josh Lipsey and in the championship bout, he knocked off Jake Taylor from West Chester Universter (WC) by a 7-4 decision. Bryce Palamar (Smithsburg, Md. / Williamsport) took fifth place in the 149 pound division.
At 157-pounds, Mont Alto's John Halbrendt (Gettysburg, Pa. / Gettysburg Area) took second place. He won his first bout by a 14-2 score and then in the championship he fell 6-0 to Temple's Corlin Cronin. Ron Schilpp (Severna Park, Md. / Severna Park) made a nice run up the consolation bracket at 165 pounds. As the No. 6 seed within the weight class, he faced former PSUMA athlete Mitchell Krcelic who was representing PSU wrestling club. Schilpp won 12-8 and in his final match over Louis Butler he won by a 6-2 decision.
Another winner of his bracket was PSUMA's Nick Kostyak (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) who won his quarterfinal matchup 14-2, earned a 7-4 win over Avery Frank. In the championship, Kostyak beat Rowan University's Mike Corrente by a 5-2 decision. The final national qualifier for Mont Alto was 285-pound representative Eric Wilson (Carlisle, Pa. / Boiling Springs) who his third place bout over Rowan's Jaylen Shanklin.
The national qualifiers will shift their focus for the NCWA National Championships that will be held in Allen, Texas beginning on Thursday, March 12.