college corner: Drexel’s DeSanto primed for postseason run

Austin DeSanto had a great regular season with the Drexel wrestling team. Now the true freshman will test the waters in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Tournament March 3-4 in Hempstead, N.Y.

DeSanto, from Reading (Exeter Township), is ranked fourth by the NCAA Coaches Panel. Wrestling at 133 pounds, he’s 23-4 overall with an 11-1 record in dual meets and a 7-0 mark in EIWA matches. He has two pins, three major decisions and nine technical falls.

“Austin’s done a really great job this year,” coach Matt Azevedo said. “He’s determined and focused and he has his sights set on winning a national championship. And, he’s been putting in the work to do that.”

DeSanto may have had his toughest match of the season in a 25-16 victory over American on Feb. 11 in Washington, D.C. when he had to battle in extra time to turn back the No. 9-ranked wrestler 12-10.

“Austin had to overcome a lot of adversity in that match but he met every challenge to win it,” Azevedo said. “I was very happy with how he handled that and I think he’ll be a better for it going forward.”

The top three in the EIWA meet will advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament March 15-17 in Cleveland, OH.

Eric Mock (Governor Mifflin) >> The 6-foot-2, 220-pound redshirt sophomore picked up his first career save to help the Penn State baseball team open its season with a 2-1 non-league victory over Elon on Feb. 16 in Elon, N.C. And, the right-hander did it in fine style by striking out all three batters he faced. Penn State won the second game of the double header 8-6. Mock came back to pitch three scoreless innings with four strikeouts to earn his second save as the Nittany Lions nipped the Phoenix 3-2 on Feb. 17 to go 3-0 to start the season the best start since 1980 when they went 8-0.

Gabriella Johnson (Governor Mifflin) >> The Shippensburg sophomore has had a solid season with the women’s swim team but she’ll have to give it all she has to score points at the PSAC swim championships starting Feb. 21 in York. Individually, Johnson is seeded 21st in the 100 breaststroke (1:08.11) and 22nd in the 200 breaststroke (2:30.36). She also competes in three relays – the 200 medley (1:49.92) seeded seventh, the 400 medley (3:58.80) seventh and the 400 free relay (3:38.88) ninth.

Matt Feryo (Exeter) >> The freshman competed in his first Patriot League Championship with the Lehigh men’s swim team Feb. 14-17 in Annapolis. Md. Feryo competed in just one event during the weekend, the 1,650 freestyle. He picked up four points for the Mountain Hawks when he finished 13th with a personal best time of 16:07.84. Lehigh finished sixth out of 10 teams with 282.5 points, the team finishing sixth or better in all 28 men’s championship meets.

Owen Hanna (Governor Mifflin) >> The senior wrapped up his career with the Washington & Jefferson men’s swim team at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships Feb. 16-17 in Grove City. Hanna swam in five relays and all five finished fourth. He also finished 11th in the 50 freestyle in 22.91. Junior Jeremy Glasner (Boyertown) also competed for the Presidents and swam on three of the relay teams. He also finished 10th in the 400 IM with a time of 4:29.81.

Geminii Cabrera (Berks Catholic) >> The 5-foot-8 sophomore guard has scored in double figures in all five games this month but the Cedar Crest women’s basketball team has dropped all five of them. Cabrera had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in an 81-54 setback to Neumann on Feb. 10 and had 23 points in a 49-48 loss to Keystone on Feb. 8. She leads the 3-21 Falcons in scoring (14.6) and assists (61) and is second in rebounding (6.4) and has 24 steals.

Nick Villareal (Berks Cathiolic) >> The 5-foot-10 freshman will be competing in his first Centennial Conference Championship for the McDaniel men’s swim team. Villareal is hoping to score points in the meet starting Thursday in Lancaster. He competes in the 50 freestyle (23.07), the 100 freestyle (51.49), the 200 freestyle (1:56.35) and the 500 freestyle (5:16.95). And, he’s also been a key member of the Green Terror in the 100 backstroke (5877) and with the 200 and 400 freestyle and the 200 medley relay squads.

Connor Jack (Berks Catholic) >> The redshirt sophomore is starting to see more playing time with the Flagler men’s basketball team. The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging just 1.6 points and 1.6 rebounds a game. He had his best performance to date when he had 10 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes of action in a 91-74 loss to South Carolina-Aiken in a Peach Blossom Conference game on Feb. 7 in Aiken, S.C. The Saints are 9-15 overall and 6-14 in league play.

Abby Kapp (Boyertown) >> The 6-foot freshman guard had seven points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals in 16 minutes off the bench for the Bucknell women’s basketball team in a 72-63 Patriot League victory over Holy Cross on Feb. 17 in Lewisburg to give the Bison their eighth straight victory and move the team to 18-8 overall and 12-3 in league play. Kapp is averaging 3.4 points a game and has 19 rebounds, 11 assists and 10 steals. She’s hit 22 of 58 from 3-point range (37.9 percent).

Darby Bauer (Boyertown) >> The sophomore thrower is coming on with the Goucher men’s indoor track team. He finished third in the weight throw at the Albright Invitational on Feb. 10 in Reading. His toss of 40 feet, 10 1/2 inches was a personal record and puts him in eighth place on the Landmark Conference performance list. He finished 17th in the shot put with personal best toss of 39 feet, 10 3/4 inches at the S.U. Challenge Feb. 3 in Selinsgrove. That ranks ninth on the performance list heading into the league’s indoor championship Saturday in Selinsgrove.

G Ryan (Kutztown) >> The senior helped the Michigan women’s swim team capture the Big Ten Conference women’s championship last weekend in Columbus,, OH. Ryan swam the anchor leg on the 800 free relay which finished first in 6:56.28. The time put the unit on the NCAA Division I A list. Ryan also picked up three B times and scored points when she finished third in the 500 freestyle (4:37.37), sixth in the 1,650 freestyle in 15:59.73 and eighth in the 200 freestyle in 1:46.44.

Austin Cory (Kutztown) >> The junior is hoping to pick up points for the Kutztown men’s indoor track team at the PSAC Championships Saturday and Sunday in Edinboro. Cory stands ninth on the league’s performance list in the 400 meter dash with an adjusted time of 50.05 which he recorded at the Fastrack National Invite on Feb. 9 in Staten Island, N.Y. He’s 11th in the 200 meter dash with an adjusted time of 22.36 and is a member of the 4×400 relay which is currently sixth with a time of 3:22.38.

Chris Kummerer (Hamburg) >> The Elizabethtown senior and his wrestling teammates will head to Ithaca, N.Y. Saturday and Sunday for the Division III NCAA Mideast Regionals, the top three in each weight division advancing to the NCAA Championship March 9-10 in Cleveland, OH. Kummerer, who wrestles at 165 pounds, is 17-11 overall and 10-2 in dual meets after a 9-1 major decision in a 24-21 loss to Johns Hopkins on Feb. 15 in Elizabethtown. He has four pins and seven major decisions.

Erica Lutz (Hamburg) >> The 5-foot-11 freshman forward had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocks but her Lycoming women’s basketball team wrapped up the regular season by dropping a 62-57 decision to Albright on Feb. 17 in Reading. Lutz is averaging 3.5 points and 3.9 rebounds and is second on the Warriors with 27 blocked shots, the team finishing the regular season 17-7 overall and 11-5 and in MAC Commonwealth play and will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming playoffs.