Sports

Fleming Remains Perfect at Penn State Open

The Clarion Golden Eagle wrestling team competed at the Penn State Open this past Sunday Dec. 4.

Junior James Fleming won the 157-pound title to remain undefeated on the season.

Senior Quintas McCorkle finished second in the tournament, and teammate Alex Thomas came in fifth in the 197-pound bracket.

Fleming is ranked sixth in the country at the 157 pounds and went 6-0 on the day to win the title.

Fleming started the tournament with a pin at the 1:42 mark.

Then, he won a 9-0 major decision against Virginia Tech’s Matt Stephens.

His next match he defeated The Citadel’s Pierre Frazile 10-0.

He went on to beat Edinboro University’s John Greisheimer 6-2 before coming on to win over Penn State’s James Vollrath in the semi-finals.

Fleming then defeated No. 11 ranked Dylan Alton from Penn State in the final match by fall at the 2:40 mark.

Fleming was trailing 4-1 when he took Alton down to his back.

From there, Fleming was able to get Alton into a cradle and go on to get the fall.

“He (James) went out to dominate, looking to extend the lead in every match and build his reputation about how he competes,” Clarion Head Coach Matt Dernlan
said.

McCorkle had a 4-1 record on the day. He opened the tournament with a 5-1 when over Central Michigan University’s Mike Murray.

Then he defeated Michigan State University’s Joseph Rizquallah 5-3.

He went on to beat Lock Haven University’s Henry Turner 6-1 to make it into the semi-finals where he completed a 4-3 double overtime win against University
ofMaryland’s No. 10 ranked Spence Myers.

Myers was able to earn an escape point, but McCorkle was able to hang on for the victory moving him into the finals where he lost by fall at the 1:26 mark
against Penn State’s No. 5 ranked Cameron Wade.

McCorkle now has a 10-4 record.

Thomas, who is ranked eighth at 197 pounds, completed a 5-1 record on the day.

He opened with a 4-2 win over Bryce Barnes of Army.

Then he earned a 3-2 victory over University ofBuffalo’s Justin Heiserman before losing 6-4 to No. 20 ranked Christian Boley of Maryland.

He was then able to get three straight wins in the wrestle backs to earn his fifth place finish.

Clarion’s first-year Head Coach Dernlan was happy with the effort of the team and was pleased to have a champion, finalist and placer in arguably the toughest
open tournament in the country.

Coach Dernlan has high expectations for this season.

“We are training smarter than any team in the country, and if the guys continue to hold themselves accountable and take care of the things that are in their
control, we have the potential to bring this program back to national prominence and have a team that the university and community can hold up and take a lot of
pride in,” said Dernlan.

The Golden Eagles travel to Mercyhurst on Saturday to compete in the PSAC Championships as Clarion looks to defend its 2010-2011 PSAC team title.