Penn College men’s golf, tennis teams ready for postseason

While the Pennsylvania College of Technology men’s golf team seeks its third consecutive United East Conference championship on Friday and Saturday, men’s tennis players are making their first postseason appearance since 2018 in UE quarterfinal play on Saturday.

Golf
Nine teams are scheduled to compete on the par-73, 6,962-yard Chambersburg Country Club Black Course when first-round action begins at 11 a.m. on Friday. In addition to top-seeded Penn College, they are Penn State Harrisburg (second last year), Rutgers-Camden, Rosemont College, Penn State Berks, Penn State Brandywine, Penn State Abington, Lancaster Bible College and Wilson College.

Penn College is seeking a three-peat, and if successful, they would be the first to do so since Rutgers-Camden won five in a row from 2013-17 as members of the North Eastern Athletic Conference, which was rebranded as the United East in 2021. Penn College has won three of the last four conference titles, starting in 2021, with Rosemont claiming the crown in 2022.

In addition to a conference crown, a May trip to the NCAA Division III Championship at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada, awaits the winner.

In last fall’s UE Preview on the same course, the Wildcats, led by medalist Peyton Mussina of Montoursville, totaled 320 for a nine-stroke victory over second-place Penn State Harrisburg. Mussina, last season’s UE Golfer of the Year, topped the individual field with a 74.

“The fall preview doesn’t mean anything to us. The focus is on what’s in front of us (a championship),” coach Rob Lytle said.

Teams will get a practice round in on Thursday, and Lytle said of his job as the coach going in, “There’s no stressing. There’s no changing anything. It’s just reassurance. I like calmness before we go anywhere.”

After a fall season that included solid finishes in most of seven multi-team tournaments against top-notch competition, with Mussina, a senior, placing among the top four six times — medaling three times — this spring season has been more of a challenge, with some play in cold, high winds and rain, and the weather-related cancellation of another.

“I would have liked the Seagull tournament, just to give us more rounds. But I wouldn’t want any more bad-weather rounds. Are we behind a little bit? I think we are. But when you look at how we finished in our last tournament (fourth of 10 in the Gettysburg Spring Shootout), with the level of competition that is in that tournament, I’m happy,” Lytle said.

Joining Mussina will be senior Will Orwig of Mifflintown, junior Gunner Redmond of Lock Haven, and sophomores Brady Handy of Huntingdon and Logan Gawlinski of Kittanning.

“Two years ago, in the conference championship, it was raining, and we had to play 36 holes in one day; I asked the team to play good, to play hard early. I think that’s going to be our mentality. Let’s play hard early so we don’t have to stress on day two,” Lytle said.

Showers are forecast for both days of this year’s championship.

“With our seniors, Peyton and Will, and with Gunner and Brady and Logan, they know the mentality. We’re going to go and play our best. The expectation is to win the conference. My outlook is for them to play like I know they can,” Lytle said, adding, “If we play normal golf, everything should work out good Saturday.”

Men’s Tennis
When fifth-seeded Penn College takes to the courts at noon on Saturday at fourth-seeded Penn State Berks, it will be facing a team that topped it 5-2 when they met in March, but coach David Straub is hopeful of better things this time.

Starting in singles for the Wildcats will be senior Kyle Shuler of Williamsport at No. 1, junior Alex Norris of Williamsport at No. 2, freshman John Finnegan of Hughesville at No. 3, junior Logan Ogden of South Williamsport at No. 4, freshman Seth Priestman of Bloomsburg at No. 5, and sophomore Matt Williams of Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, at No. 6. In doubles, Shuler-Ogden will go at No. 1, Norris-Finnegan at No. 2, and Priestman-Hunter Knosky of Camp Hill, a sophomore, at No. 3.

“We didn’t have Kyle in that first match, which makes us a little stronger (now). I figure that we clearly have a shot,” coach David Straub said.

Going into Saturday’s play in singles, Shuler is 1-3 on the season, Norris is 5-7, Finnegan is 3-10, Ogden is 7-6, Priestman is 5-8, and Williams is 3-1. In doubles, Shuler-Ogden are 1-3, and Norris-Finnegan are 6-6. Priestman is 3-8 with other teammates, and Knosky is 2-3.

Penn College enters the match with a 3-4 UE record and is 4-9 overall. Berks is 4-3 UE and 7-5 overall. The winner advances to a semifinal match at top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg (7-0 UE, 13-5 overall) at a time to be decided on Tuesday, April 29.

In Saturday’s other quarterfinal, third-seeded Penn State Abington (5-2, 11-2) hosts sixth-seeded Lancaster Bible College (2-5, 4-12), with the winner of that match to meet second-seeded St. Mary’s (Md.) College (6-1, 10-5) on April 29.

For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.
For more about the United East, visit the conference website.