Penn College basketball teams win, wrestlers impress

Published 12.05.2021

News
Athletics
Wildcat Weekly

Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s and women’s basketball teams both posted wins in their United East Conference season openers last week, while wrestling coach Jamie Miller had praise for his team’s showing at an invitational.



Men’s basketball
Playing its most complete game of the season, Penn College raced to a 23-point lead at the intermission on Friday in its UEC opener against Gallaudet University en route to a 75-50 victory. Penn College improved to 1-0 in the conference. During the first half, Penn College hit of 17 of 36 shots from the field, including 8 of 17 from the 3-point line, and held a 26-13 advantage in rebounds, with 18 coming on the defensive end. In the second half, the Wildcats stretched their lead to 33 points and led by double figures the rest of the way. Will Sulesky, of Huntingdon, led Penn College with 14 points and 11 rebounds (10 defensive), while Corey Blackwell, of Hammonton, New Jersey, and Max Jackowsky, of Garnet Valley, each scored 10 points. Gavin Barrett, of Roselle, New Jersey, dished out six assists.

Back in action at home on Saturday against UEC newcomer St. Mary’s (Md.) College, the Wildcats, fell behind early and never caught up, losing, 68-39. Penn College now is 1-6 overall and 1-1 in the UEC. After trailing 30-19 at the half, Penn College got back within nine at 32-23 before St. Mary’s went on an 18-4 run to lead by 23 and went on for its 29-point win. For the game, the Seahawks scored 23 points off 18 Wildcat turnovers and outscored Penn College in the paint, 40-16. Jesse White led Penn College with 10 points and Sulesky grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

Earlier in the week, in a nonconference game on Tuesday at Elmira College, the Wildcats fell, 69-65. Penn College saw its four-point halftime lead slip away as Elmira fought back and led by eight before the Wildcats tied the game at 51. Elmira then closed with an 18-14 run for its second win in eight games. Chris Cespedes, of Honesdale, led Penn College with 16 points while Blackwell chipped in with 13 points and Barrett added 12. Sulesky topped the Wildcats with nine rebounds. Elmira forced 28 turnovers and held a 24-11 edge in points off turnovers.

UEC standings through Sunday: Penn State Harrisburg, 2-0; Lancaster Bible College, 2-0; St. Mary’s (Md.) College 2-0; Penn College, 1-1; Gallaudet University, 1-1; Penn State Abington, 0-0; Wells College, 0-2; Morrisville State College, 0-2; and Penn State Berks, 0-2.

Women’s basketball
Trailing 50-46 after three periods, the Wildcats rallied in the fourth quarter by outscoring Gallaudet University, 22-11, for a 68-61 win on Friday that improved their record to 1-5 overall and 1-0 in the UEC. Rachel Teats, of Middleburg, took charge in the fourth, scoring 13 of her team-high 20 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the floor. Also scoring in double figures for Penn College were Aubrey Stetts, of Jersey Shore, with 14 and Kayleigh Miller, of Sayre, with 10. Ja’Quela Dyer, of Dover, Delaware, topped the ’Cats with nine rebounds.

Less than 24 hours later in a home UEC game against first-time foe St. Mary’s (Md.) College, Penn College had another solid effort but came out on the short end of a 55-50 score, dropping it to 1-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference. St. Mary’s led by seven points twice in the opening period, but a strong second quarter brought the Wildcats back to within one, 31-30, at the half. A Stetts jump shot gave Penn College its first lead at 32-31 with 8:07 left in the third frame and with 4:58 showing on the clock the Wildcats opened their largest lead at 39-35 on a Dyer layup before the Seahawks responded to lead 43-40 at the turn for home. A six-point run put Penn College out in front to start the fourth, and after three ties, the last at 50-all with 2:15 left, St. Mary’s scored the game’s last five points to secure its win. Teats scored 14 points to pace Penn College and Stetts added 10. Dyer was tops with 13 rebounds.

UEC standings through Sunday: St. Mary’s (Md.) College, 2-0; Lancaster Bible College, 2-0; Penn College, 1-1; Gallaudet University, 1-1; Penn State Harrisburg, 1-1; Morrisville State College, 1-1; Penn State Abington, 0-0; Wells College, 0-2; and Penn State Berks, 0-2.

Wrestling
Competing on Saturday at the 55th RIT Invitational in its first outing since Nov. 20, Penn College finished 13th in a 16-team field.

Individually, unseeded Jake Kallenborn, of Port Allegany, finished second in the 184-pound weight class. En route to his 4-1 day, Kallenborn reached the quarterfinals with a 12-1 decision; knocked off the third seed, 12-6, in the quarters; and stopped the seventh seed, 12-5, in the semifinals. In the final against top-seeded Bryce McCloskey, of Thiel, Kallenborn fought back from deficits of 4-0 and 6-3 to tie the match as time expired before losing in overtime after a takedown.

Also for Penn College: Ryan Berstler, of Middletown, reached the quarters at 125 and ended 2-2 on the day; CJ Trimbler, of Moon Township, was 0-2 also at 125; Patrick Snoke, of Northampton, went 3-2 at 133; Noah Hunt, of Muncy, reached the quarters and went 2-2 at 141; Colin Jens, of Centreville, Maryland, went 2-2 also at 141; Nick Semon, of Norristown, went 2-2 at 149; Logan Ledebohm, of Mechanicsburg, went 0-2 also at 149; Cullen van Rooyen, of Dresden, Ohio, went 3-2 at 157; also at 157 Anton Easterbrook, of Wyomissing, went 2-2; Mason Saeler, of St. Mary’s, Ohio, earned his first win of the season and ended 1-2; Michael Molloy, of Levittown, went 1-2; and Logan Newton, of Wyalusing, went 0-2; Jesse Walker, of Ridgefield, Connecticut, went 1-2 at 165; Garrett Storch, of Canton, reached the quarters and went 1-2 at 184; and Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni, of Blairsville, went 0-2 at 197.

“This was our best performance of the year, by far,” Miller said. “We battled in every match and it felt great to break through a semifinal and get our first finalist. This was a very competitive field of teams and we held our own throughout the day. We have a lot of positives to build on as we look ahead to our final two competition days of the semester.”

SCHEDULES/RECORDS/RESULTS
Men’s basketball
Overall: 1-6
UEC: 1-1
Tuesday, Nov. 30 – at Elmira (N.Y.) College, L, 69-65
Friday, Dec. 3 – host Gallaudet University (UEC), W, 75-50
Saturday, Dec. 4 – host St. Mary’s (Md.) College (UEC), L, 68-39
Saturday, Dec. 11 – host Clark’s Summit University, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 4 – at Juniata College, 7 p.m.

Women’s basketball
Overall: 1-6
UEC: 1-1
Friday, Dec. 3 – host Gallaudet University (UEC), W, 68-61
Saturday, Dec. 4 – host St. Mary’s (Md.) College (UEC), L, 55-50
Saturday, Dec. 11 – at Houghton College, 2 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 3 – at Mt. Aloysius College, 7 p.m.

Wrestling
Saturday, Dec. 4 – at RIT Invitational, finished 13 of 16
Sunday, Dec. 12 – at Rhode Island College, noon
Monday, Dec. 20 – Rennie Roadarmel Allstate Duals at Lycoming College vs. SUNY Cortland, noon; vs. King’s College, 1:30 p.m.; vs. Lycoming College, 4:30 p.m.; vs. New Jersey City University, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 7 – Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College, 9 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 8 – Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College, 9 a.m.

For more about the United East, visit the conference website.

For additional information, visit the Wildcat Athletics website.

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