LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Redshirt-senior Chance Marsteller of the Lock Haven University wrestling team has been named the 2018-19 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Athlete of the Year and LHU head coach Scott Moore was named the PSAC Coach of the Year.
For 2018-19, a new structure was put into place to recognize the award winners among the Division I +and Division II participants.
The duo helped lead the Bald Eagles to another banner year.
On Monday (April 1), Marsteller was also named the 2018-19 Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) Athlete of the Year while Moore was also named the EWL Coach of the Year.
Marsteller capped a brilliant Lock Haven career on the mats with a second All-American honor. Marsteller finished third in a deep 165-pound weight class at the 2019 NCAA Division I Championships.
After a loss in the quarterfinals, Marsteller went on a tear and won four straight bouts – knocking off the No. 1, 3 and 4 seed – on the way to the third-place finish. In the third-place bout, he knocked off No. 4 seed Evan Wick, avenging a pair of losses to the Wisconsin Badger.
The third-place finish marked Marsteller’s second straight trip to the podium and he became Lock Haven’s first two-time All-American since JaMarr Billman in 2001 and 2002. Marsteller became the Bald Eagles 10th wrestler to earn multiple All-American honors.
Marsteller’s impressive march back through the consolation bracket delighted the packed PPG Arena and brought a standing ovation from 18,000-plus fans when his hand was raised following his bronze medal victory.
Marsteller, a 2019 Southern Scuffle finalist, finished the season at 28-3 overall and he recorded 72 wins in two seasons for the Bald Eagles.
Last season, Marsteller won a school-record 44-matches.
Moore, a finalist for national coach of the year, took home PSAC and EWL Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season.
Behind two All-Americans (Marsteller & Kyle Shoop, 141), the Bald Eagles finished 18th at the NCAA Championships. It marked LHU’s second straight top-20 finish. This season’s 18th-place finish saw Lock Haven top 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.
The strong finish at the national tournament capped a sensational all-around season for Marsteller, Moore and Lock Haven.
During the regular season, LHU claimed the 2018-19 PSAC Division I Championship. Lock Haven’s win over Clarion on February 10 pushed Lock Haven to a perfect 3-0 in DI PSAC duals. The 3-0 record helped LHU claim the 2018-19 PSAC DI dual-meet championship. The DI PSAC wins came over Bloomsburg, Edinboro and Clarion, marking Lock Haven’s first PSAC sweep in 17 years. It was during the 2001-02 season where Lock Haven last beat Bloomsburg, Edinboro and Clarion in the same season.
At one point, LHU was ranked as high as No. 14 in the dual rankings. Once again, Kyle Shoop led the nation in the tech falls. During the regular season, the Bald Eagles won 46 of 60 EWL duals with a 59 percent bonus-point rate.
Even more impressive, 12 LHU wrestlers were named to All-Academic Team after achieving a GPA of 3.0 or higher during the fall 2018 semester.
In just six seasons, Moore has led 25 student-athletes to the national tournament.
Saturday, March 9 proved to be a historic and dominant day for LHU wrestling, as the nationally-ranked Bald Eagles crowned six individual champions and soared by the tournament field on the way to the 2019 EWL Championship. It marked LHU’s second straight conference title. The six champions are the most for Lock Haven in EWL Tournament history. All six individual EWL champions booked trips to the 2019 NCAA Championships and Chance Marsteller was named the tournament’s most outstanding wrestler.
The Bald Eagles rolled through the regular season and racked up 10 dual wins, which included non-conference wins over nationally-ranked Arizona State and Southern Conference (SoCon) champion Appalachian State. LHU finished the regular season dual slate at 10-3.
Lock Haven soared in EWL action on the way to the regular season crown. The win over Cleveland State on February 16 helped LHU cap an undefeated (6-0) run through EWL action. The perfect 6-0 dual record helped the Bald Eagles clinch the EWL regular season title. It marked LHU’s first regular season EWL crown since the 1995-96 season. Ironically enough, that was the last time Lock Haven was perfect (6-0) in EWL duals.
