William Penn Athletic News November 13
William Penn University Athletics
Range Wins Four, Takes Second at Dakota Wesleyan Open
Mitchell, S.D.–Joe Range (Fr., Burlington, Burlington HS) gave the Penn wrestling team its third national qualifier–all freshmen thus far–with a strong runner-up performance at the Dakota Wesleyan Open Saturday.
No team scores were kept.
The 157-pounder began his day with a major decision before pinning his next opponent to reach the quarterfinals. From there, he claimed back-to-back decision victories to advance to the championship match. Unfortunately, the freshman could not claim the gold, falling to Marcus Edgington of Augustana (S.D.) 15-2 and finishing his tournament experience at 4-1.
Range joins Eric Burgey (Fr., Easton, Pa., Easton HS) and Brandon Smith (Fr., Malcom, BGM HS) as members of Penn’s 2010-2011 national-qualifying club. All three are now eligible to compete at the NAIA Wrestling National Championships next March.
While none of Range’s teammates were also able to qualify or place in the top eight, five different grapplers had multiple victories.
Taylor Louie (Sr., West Covina, Calif., West Covina HS) was 2-2 at 125 pounds (two falls), while Tyler Schneider (Fr., Belleville, Mich., Belleville HS) was also 2-2 at 133 pounds (one fall).
149-pounder Jason Mozley (Fr., Arlington, Texas, Martin HS), with one fall, 174-pounder Joe Sumner (Fr., Delaware, Ohio, Rutherford B. Hayes HS), with two falls, and heavyweight Matt Woollums (Sr., Chariton, Chariton HS), with one major decision, also ended the competition with 2-2 marks.
Next: Penn returns to Oskaloosa Tuesday for its home opener, hosting Luther in dual-meet action at 6 p.m.
William Penn Women's Athletics
Penn’s Magic Ride Ends in Tourney Finals
Davenport–A determined class of seniors pushed themselves further than all the critics predicted, but their dream and their collegiate careers came to an end Saturday night as the Lady Statesmen volleyball team lost 3-1 to #3 seed St. Ambrose in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Finals.
#5 seed Penn (25-21) lost by scores of 16-25, 20-25, 25-21, 17-25. As the tournament champion, St. Ambrose (26-12) will now advance to the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Opening Round.
The Lady Statesmen revisited the same gymnasium in which they swept the Queen Bees two years ago to reach their first NAIA national tournament. Unfortunately, this time around it was the home team in control for much of the night, outhitting Penn .232-.145.
Morgan Bailey (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) had a strong offensive performance in her final match, posting team bests in kills (12) and attack percentage (.290). She was also amazing at the service line with a career-high five aces, accounting for all of her team’s service points.
Emily Stanton (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) just missed double figures with nine kills. She also recorded 20 digs and tied Jeanette Cunningham (Fr., Mt. Orab, Ohio, Western Brown HS) with six block assists.
Paige Echimovich (Fr., O’Fallon, Mo., Fort Zumwalt West HS) and Brittany Rohling (Jr., Thayer, Kan., Neosho CC) added six kills apiece.
Katherine Stumberg (Jr., Williamsburg, Williamsburg HS) assisted on 19 winners, while Krista Pettit (Sr., Grundy Center, Grundy Center HS) managed 18.
Caitlin Hadden (Sr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) dug 25 balls to pace all players. With that tally, she becomes the first player in school history to surpass 1,000 digs in a single season and ends her career with a school-record 3,060 digs.
The loss ends the collegiate careers of five seniors, including Bailey, Hadden, Pettit, Stanton, and Rachel Walker (Janesville, Kirkwood CC).
Bailey, Hadden, Pettit, and Stanton started as freshmen together in the fall of 2007 and during their tenure, the program owned a 96-73 record, including two MCC regular season titles (2007, 2008), one MCC Tournament crown (2008), one trip to the NAIA Region VII Tournament (2007), and one trip to the NAIA National Championship Opening Round (2008).
Wade Steinlage
