10 I Friday, Dec. 10, 2010
Lions prep for Lock Haven
By Brandt Gelman
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Going into its first single-team
dual meet in almost a month, the
Penn State
wrestling team is
facin £ . . S °T WRESTLING
uncertainty m its
young season. 7
The No. 5 |
Nittany Lions <5- |
0) will take on '
Lock Haven (2-D
at 2 p.m. Sunday
and will look for a
strong perform-
ance to motivate
the team in its Sanderson
last match before
the Big Ten season opens next
Sunday with a home meet
against No. 22 Ohio State. Penn
State has won its last eight
matches against Lock Haven.
The most pressing issue for
the Lions is the health of All-
American Quentin Wright. The
redshirt sophomore is currently
out of the lineup with a left shoul
der injury, which coach Gael
Sanderson said may keep Wright
out until mid-February.
Sanderson said freshman
Andrew’ Church will wrestle in
place for Wright this Sunday,
making his 184-pound match
against Lock Haven freshman
Jacob Bachman one of the most
anticipated matches of the day.
Church has been wrestling at
Lucas using early season to learn
By Andrew Robinson
There was the 27-point out
burst against Hartford, followed
by a 28-point show against
Boston College, the clutch :■!-
pointers against Texas Tech and
the efficient 2<> points on nine
shots against
Armv.
Safe to say.
Maggie Lucas is
a natural scorer.
But the fresh
man is still learning. And with
even - passing Lady Lions game,
the life of a college' basketball
player is becoming a little bit eas
ier.
Maggie Lucas (33) looks to pass
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174 pounds for the majority of the
season, yet Sanderson said his
bump to 184 pounds should not
be a problem.
“Church is a kid that will go
out there and compete hard,”
Sanderson said. “He trains hard
every day.”
With the depth the Nittany
Lions have, the 184-pound match
will most likely not determine the
final outcome on Sunday, but as
Wright’s injury will take time to
heal, the Lions need to find sta
bility at that weight class.
Redshirt freshman Ed Ruth,
and junior Frank Molinaro will
look to bounce back Sunday after
both wrestlers received their first
loss of the year in last weekend’s
Nittany Lion Open.
Both wrestlers lost in the final
of their respective weight classes
at the Open, but Sanderson is not
worried about either of his
wrestlers.
“Molinaro is a competitor,"
Sanderson said. “Right now
Frank is still cleaning the cob
webs out."
The Nittany Lions will also
come into this Sunday's match
dealing with deservedly high
expectations. Both redshirt
freshman David Taylor and true
freshman Andrew Alton, who is
now 11-0 with nine pins on the
year, saw the largest increase in
individual rankings.
Taylor is also undefeated at
11-0 and is currently the No. 3-
Offense comes pretty natural
ly to me. Defense, it's something
that’s taken a lot of extra work,"
Lucas said at Tuesday's press
conference. “Coach [Coquese
Washington], she pushes me
really hard at practice to get bet
ter at that and my teammates are
there 100 percent of the time,
helping me get the rotations
right.
'That's been the hardest thing.
Other than that. I'm trying not to
press when I get in the game. I'm
just trying to let it come to me
and catch a flow for the game."
Wednesday, in Penn State's 95-
05 win over the Black Knights,
Lucas shot 4-of-9 from the floor
and a perfect 10-of-10 from the
foul line. The 5-foot-9 guard said
she was trying to find the post
players first, didn’t force shots
and when she got fouled, made
sure to hit her free throws.
Lucas' clutch shots against
Texas Tech halted two second
half runs to guarantee a win,
while her 12 points in the second
half against Army helped the
Lady Lions push their lead out of
the Black Knights' reach. The
freshman has won the last three
Big Ten Freshman of the Week
awards, and Washington said
that streak isn't a surprise.
"She’s a tremendous talent,
she's a very competitive player. "
Washington said Tuesday. “She
plays without fear. She goes in
the game and is relentless in her
attack, but I also think it speaks
volumes about our team and the
unselfishness they have to find
her."
The lessons Lucas has been
picking up early will pay off once
SPORTS
ranked 157-pound wrestler in the
country, while Alton has moved
up to No. 10 in the 141-pound
weight class. Junior Cameron
Wade, who cruised through the
Nittany Lion Open at 6-0, has
moved up to the No. 6 heavy
weight spot, while despite his
loss in the Open championship,
Ruth has moved up as the No. 12-
ranked 174-pound wrestler in the
country.
Dealing with injuries and high
expectations to fulfill, it could be
easy for the team to overlook an
outmatched Lock Haven oppo
nent. Sanderson said that is not
something he is expecting.
“Lock Haven is a good team,”
Sanderson said. “They have a
solid history, and this is one of
those meets where it is impor
tant to keep the rivalry going.”
Sanderson avoided calling the
match a tune-up for the Big Ten
season, and wants his team to
keep the same intensity no mat
ter who the opponent is.
Redshirt sophomore Justin
Ortega said he is looking forward
to this weekend’s meet. Ortega
said this match will act as a
chance for the team to get back
into its routine.
T'd say it’s a tune-up for us,”
Ortega said. “Right now we are
doing individual workouts
because last weekend’s Open
kind of killed us all.”
case his talents
with a new group MEN’S
of players. SOCCER
And this time,
lo e-mail reporter: bmgso94@psu.edu . competition
Big Ten play begins and the
guard said she’s excited for the
conference schedule to start.
While she’s happy to be recog
nized for her play, Lucas said her
goals are team-oriented, focused
on winning the conference and
making the NCAA tournament.
On Tuesday, Lucas admitted
most of her mistakes come when
she tries to make something hap
pen too fast once she comes in,
and she needs to let the game
come to her. Washington has
been experimenting with Lucas
as the point guard when sopho
more Alex Bentley is off the floor,
and Lucas said while it’s difficult,
playing a new position is making
her a better player.
While playing the point has
improved the guard’s handle
with the ball and her understand
ing of the offense, Lucas said
Washington has told her to start
the play after she makes the first
pass, then return to being a
shooting guard and look for her
shot. The freshman has played
with streetball flair this season,
scoring on reverse lay ups, using
a crossover dribble and rising up
for a shot with a hand in her face.
If Lucas continues to apply the
lessons of the season, the fresh
man could become a big weapon
for Penn State in the Big Ten.
Tve had to be a crafty scorer a
lot in my life,” Lucas said. “I play
with boys on the playgrounds in
my area and you have to find dif
ferent ways to score when you’re
playing against bigger guys and
faster people. I've always had a
knack for figuring things out.”
To e-mail reporter: adrso79@psu.edu
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Matheus Braga (left) goes for a tackle against Indiana earlier this year.
Braga eyeing MLS
While Matheus Braga will no
longer be finding his Penn State
teammates with precisely placed
crosses or well-timed through
balls, the Brazilian senior will get
a chance to show-
will be amongst college soccer's
top seniors in front of scouts rep
resenting all 18 Major League
Soccer clubs.
Braga, a midfielder on the
men’s soccer team, earned an
invite to the Major League Soccer
Player Combine and will join 53
other collegiate players, 36 from
Division I, in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
for a four-day event running Jan.
8-11.
“I got an e-mail Tuesday night
from the MLS guys but it was con
fidential so I didn’t tell anyone
beside [coach Bob Warming]
because I knew it was coming out
[Thursday],” Braga said. “It was
good news, man, and I’m really
happy about it.”
Braga, who led the NCAA with
17 assists, was Penn State's only
invitee, but 11 players coming
from teams the Nittany Lions
faced this season also earned
invites.
The initial list of players was
selected by a panel of D-I college
coaches, which then voted in con
junction with MLS coaches on the
final selections.
This marks the second season
in a row that a Penn State player
attended the combine. Forward
Jason Yeisley, the 2009 Big Ten
Offensive Player of the Year,
worked out at last year’s combine
and was taken in the third round
by 2010 MLS runner-up FC Dallas,
and Braga got a chance to talk
with his old teammate this week
end.
“I talked to him for awhile about
having a good chance to get into
the combine and he gave me all
the tips, like what they do there
and what I should do to do well,"
Braga said. "Jay's a pretty nice
guy and I’m going to call him this
weekend to talk about the invita
tion."
Braga played only three years
at Penn State, but totaled 28
LogenVMey MaM 944.5454
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Downtown Stale Coßege 234.4481
iftttny MaK 234.9937 '
www.knmiclis.coin
By Andrew Robinson
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
Has
The Daily Collegian
assists in 57 career games, good
for a fourth-place tie on the
school's all-time record list.
The midfielder's IT assists this
season set both the Penn State
and Big Ten single season
records.
The midfielder «u- ,;isu a unan
imous first-team All Big Ten
selection the past two years.
Braga's season coincided with
junior forward Corey Ilertzog's
nation-leading 20 goal year and
the two combined tor 7:; points, the
highest total among two players in
Penn State historv
Warming said moA ot the credit
for the pair's success goes to the
players themselve- and the work
Hertzog in did shortening his
runs.
"Especially when vnu've got this
guy. Matheus. who can give it to
you right in front of you. the ball's
all of a sudden right in front of you
near the goal.” Warming said. "We
told Corey, Ybu've go; in shorten
your runs so you can be in front of
the goal. | Braga I will get vou the
ball.'
"And man, he ■•an ae: \ou sht
ball, he's unbelievable."
Warming said senior midfielder
Drew Cost is scheduled to attend
camps with the San .lost'
Earthquakes. Seatilc Sounders
FC and Real Salt Lake, three MLS
Cup playoff teams this past sea
son.
Hertzog has been linked as a
possible Generation Adidas target
for early entry, but the final list has
yet to be released and will come
out sometime after inis weekend's
College Cup concludes.
While it's still carlv. Jira.ua said
he would be fine playing lor any
MLS team, but lamjiru and said
he would preler ■‘'•nniewhere
warm."
He said the prospers weald be
split into four team- ami play
three games over 'he lour days
and being on Hu- v:r.u held as
some of the top mi, •■oi i ege
soccer is sonic' hit
forward to
"It's gonna be yti.
how to play soccer. Shay Know how
to move tlie ball, if- >iriu to he
like my game ngm rov,/ itraga
said.
“Hopefully I ”ot in
lot of times and m l to >'oi
can do."
adrso79-rpsu.edu
To e-maii rep
A'
r /
Cciieg^an