WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Junior Nolan Barger (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) ran his winning streak to 20 matches and sophomore Brandon Conrad (Bloomsbug, Pa./Bloomsburg Area) also finished off a perfect run at the Budd Whitehill National Duals to lead the Lycoming College wrestling team on Saturday, Jan. 9, as the team posted a 37-6 win over Thiel before falling to Springfield in a heartbreaker, 19-17.
 
The Warriors (10-6 overall) won nine of 10 bouts to roll in their opening bout on Saturday morning, with the team racking up four falls en route to a 37-6 win over Thiel (5-8 overall).
 
Sophomore Kyle Drick (Allenwood, Pa./Montgomery Area) got the team started with an 8-0 major decision at 125 pounds over Justin Walter before freshman Andy Aguilar (Muncy, Pa./Muncy), freshman Joe Santomarco (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) and senior Seth Lansberry (Klingerstown, Pa./Line Mountain) each posted decisions at 133, 141 and 149 pounds to make it 13-0.
 
A Thiel fall at 157 closed the gap to 13-7, but the Warriors swept the last five bouts to ensure the win with junior Nolan Barger (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) (165), the second-ranked grappler in Division III, and sophomore Brandon Rudy (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) each posting wins by decision and the trio of sophomore Brandon Conrad (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg Area) (174), junior Skylar Ebner (Muncy, Pa./Muncy Area) and senior Max Lamport (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) (285) each notching pins.
 
In the ninth-place match, the Warriors dropped a controversial 19-17 decision to Springfield (5-4 overall), coming back from a 16-3 deficit before dropping the heavyweight match to finish the duals, 2-3.
 
Down 16-3 after five bouts, the Warriors rallied behind Barger, who notched a 16-2 major decision against Ryan Ward at 165 pounds. Conrad followed with a 6-0 decision at 174 against Ryan Harty and Rudy notched a 9-3 decision against Severianel Burgos at 184 to make it 16-13. Ebner gave Lycoming the lead after the 197-pound bout, using a third-period takedown to post a 12-4 major decision over Vinny Porreca to make it 12-4.
 
In the final bout, though, Springfield's Jake Benedict, listed as a contender by d3wrestle.com, notched a 7-0 decision to help the Pride reverse the deficit.
 
The match was interrupted in the midst of the 149 pound bout, where No. 7 Zach Joseph of Springfield was facing Lansberry. A scoring error was discovered in the 141-pound bout that would have given a decision to Santomarco, as two near-fall points weren't awarded, which would have given him a 7-6 win. Wrestling matches cannot have decisions changed after a new match is begun, however. Lansberry, facing his second ranked grappler in as many days, dropped his first bout in a string of 16, 7-3.
 
The Warriors get back on the mat on Saturday, Jan. 9, when they head to the Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championships at the Rochester Institute of Technology on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 10 a.m.
 
Ninth-place Bracket
Match #1 Semifinal: Lycoming defeated Thiel 37-6
125 - Kyle Drick (Lycoming) over Justin Walter (Thiel) Maj 8-0
133 - Andres Aguilar (Lycoming) over Giuliano Graziosi (Thiel) Dec 5-0
141 - Joseph Santomarco (Lycoming) over Robert Ritschard (Thiel) Dec 6-2
149 - Seth Lansberry (Lycoming) over Nick Sutton (Thiel) Dec 8-1
157 - Jordan Smith (Thiel) over Walter Fox (Lycoming) Fall 3:59
165 - Nolan Barger (Lycoming) over Chris Nuss (Thiel) Dec 8-1
174 - Brandon Conrad (Lycoming) over Nick Guzma (Thiel) Fall 1:29
184 - Brandon Rudy (Lycoming) over Dominic Farabaugh (Thiel) Dec 9-4
197 - Skylar Ebner (Lycoming) over Zeb Throne (Thiel) Fall 3:25
285 - Max Lamport (Lycoming) over Tyler Hendzel (Thiel) Fall 4:37
 
Match #2 Ninth Place Match: Springfield defeated Lycoming 19-17
125 - Kyle Drick (Lycoming) over Joel Zambrano (Springfield) Dec 7-2
133 - Tyler Keane (Springfield) over Will Newmiller (Lycoming) Fall 2:48
141 - David Colvin III (Springfield) over Joseph Santomarco (Lycoming) Dec 6-5
149 - Zach Joseph (Springfield) over Seth Lansberry (Lycoming) Dec 7-3
157 - Brendan Morgan (Springfield) over Christian Felstedt (Lycoming) Maj 13-4
165 - Nolan Barger (Lycoming) over Ryan Ward (Springfield) Maj 16-2
174 - Brandon Conrad (Lycoming) over Ryan Harty (Springfield) Dec 6-0
184 - Brandon Rudy (Lycoming) over Severianel Burgos (Springfield) Dec 9-3
197 - Skylar Ebner (Lycoming) over Vinny Porreca (Springfield) Maj 12-4
285 - Jake Benedict (Springfield) over Max Lamport (Lycoming) Dec 7-0