LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – For the second straight season, Lock Haven University wrestler Kyle Shoop (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs) led all NCAA Division I wrestlers in tech falls.
The redshirt-junior racked up 15 this past season. Shoop capped an all-around sensational 2018-19 season with a spot on the podium at the 2019 NCAA Championships. The No. 13 seed finished seventh overall at 141 pounds and earned All-American status for the first time in his career.
Shoop was given his award after the national tournament ended Saturday night.
It was his third straight trip to the NCAA Championships.
Shoop quickly became a crowd favorite in PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, the host venue of the 2019 national tournament, as college wrestling fans got to witness firsthand what Mat-Town U.S.A. already knew, and that is, Shoop is dangerous in the top position. His tough rides and tilts helped rack up two major decisions at the NCAA Championships on the way to a 4-2 record and seventh-place finish.
Last season, Shoop recorded 15 techs as well.
He will enter his senior season with 40 techs, which is already a career school record.
Shoop was one of two LHU All-Americans in Pittsburgh, as he was joined by Chance Marsteller. Marsteller finished third at 165.
The All-American duo helped show the world that the rise of LHU wrestling is for real and continues. Lock Haven finished 18th overall in the team standings. The 18th place finish topped Big Ten schools Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois, Maryland, Purdue, Michigan State and Indiana. The Bald Eagles also beat North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Army, Navy and local-rival Bucknell.
