LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Lock Haven University wrestling team won five bouts on the night and the Bald Eagles rallied down the stretch, but in the end, visiting Rider edged The Haven, 18-16 in an Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) thriller.
 
Four of Lock Haven's (5-12, 2-3 EWL) five wins came over the final five bouts of the night.
 
Trailing Rider (12-7, 4-2 EWL) 15-3 after the first five matches (125-157), The Bald Eagles won four straight from 165 to 197 pounds taking a 16-12 lead into the night's final bout at 285.
 
Highlighting Lock Haven's five wins on the night was No. 24 Dan Neff (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) and Aaron McKinney (McDonald, Pa./Allegheny), who both scored upset-victories.
 
No. 28 Fred Garcia (Donora, Pa./Ringgold) picked up a huge win over No. 32 Clint Morrison at 184 pounds. The win was the 99^th of Garcia's career, as he closes in on the 100-win club.
 
Tyler Wood (West Chester, Pa./West Chester-Rustin) and Phil Sprenkle (Seven Valleys, Pa./Dallastown) dominated their opponents at 174 and 197, respectively on the way to important wins tonight.
 
Rider rattled off three straight victories to start the match, as the Broncs won three tightly-contested bouts at 125, 133 and 141.
 
Trailing Rider 9-0, Neff put Lock Haven on the board with an upset-win over No. 19 B.J. Clagon.
 
From the opening whistle of the bout at 149, Neff took it right to Clagon. Neff took him down three times in the first period alone on the way to the 7-4 win.
 
Following a Rider pin at 157, Lock Haven rallied, rattling off four straight wins.
 
McKinney got the rally going at 165 with a 3-1 upset of No. 32 Conor Brennan in sudden victory. With the match tied 1-1 after seven minutes, McKinney scored the only takedown of the bout in sudden victory for the win, which cut into Rider's lead at 15-6.
 
At 174, Wood scored a quick takedown absolutely hammered Steve Nelson on top for the remainder of the first period. Wood racked up 2:50 of riding time in the first alone. Wood stretched his riding time to 4:08 after three periods and won 6-1 to make it, 15-9 in favor of Rider.
 
In a highly anticipated matchup of two nationally-ranked wrestlers at 184, Garcia came out on top, much to the delight of a boisterous home crowd. Garcia knocked off Morrison 5-3, thanks to a third-period takedown.
 
Earlier today, the NCAA released its second edition of the Division I Coaches' Panel Rankings and Garcia, the lone Bald Eagle represented was ranked No. 25.
 
Sprenke's 14-1 major decision at 197 put the Bald Eagles in the lead, 16-15. Leading 2-0 after one period – Sprenkle started the second down and scored a quick reversal, and racked up three more near fall points for a 7-0 lead. Sprenkle's dominance led to 4:32 of riding time.
 
After nine exciting bouts, the match came down to 285 pounds and Brad Emerick (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Coughlin) and Greg Velasco didn't disappoint, as they locked up in a thrilling battle that needed extra time. Tied 1-1 after seven minutes, the two went to sudden victory, marking the fourth time on the night, regulation-time wasn't enough to decide the outcome of a bout.  During the 30-second tiebreaker-1 period, Velasco scored a reversal and took a 3-1 lead. Emerick earned an escape quickly during tiebreaker-2 and made several good shots in on Velasco, but couldn't score and Velasco won 3-2.
 
Velasco's win gave Rider the 18-16 victory.
 
The Bald Eagles have just two dual matches remaining. Next Thursday (Feb. 19), LHU travels to Bloomsburg for a 7 p.m. match, before hosting Grand Canyon on Friday (Feb. 20) at 7 p.m.
 
Rider 18 – Lock Haven 16
125: J.R. Wert (RU) dec. Jake Field (LHU) 11-9 SV | Rider leads 3-0
133: #23 Robert Deutsch (RU) dec. Ronnie Perry (LHU) 6-3 | Rider leads 6-0
141: Chuck Zeislof (RU) dec. Bobby Rehm (LHU) 6-4 SV | Rider leads 9-0
149: #24 Dan Neff (LHU) dec. #19 B.J. Clagon (RU) 7-4 | Rider leads 9-3
157: #25 Chad Walsh (RU) pinned Elias Biddle (LHU) 2:03 | Rider leads 15-3
165: Aaron McKinney (LHU) dec. #32 Conor Brennan (RU) 3-1 SV | Rider leads 15-6
174: Tyler Wood (LHU) dec. Steve Nelson (RU) 6-1 | Rider leads 15-9
184: #28 Fred Garcia (LHU) dec. #32 Clint Morrison (RU) 5-3 | Rider leads 15-12
197: Phil Sprenkle (LHU) major dec. Donald McNeil (RU) 14-1 | Lock Haven Leads 16-15
285: Greg Velasco (RU) dec. Brad Emerick (LHU) 3-2 TB2 | Rider wins 18-16
 
Rider (12-7, 4-2 EWL)
Lock Haven (5-12, 2-3 EWL)