Warriors Finish Second at MAC Championships
Crane, Snyder Win Divisions, Set for Nationals
Team Scores / Brackets

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Lycoming College seniors Derek Crane (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) and Tommy Snyder (New Columbia, Pa./Milton) won their respective weight classes as the Warriors finished in second place for the fourth consecutive year at the 2006 Middle Atlantic Conference Championship meet.  Delaware Valley College picked up its fourth straight league title, outpacing Lycoming 129.50 to 123.00.  Wilkes University finished third with 111.00 points.

Crane had an outstanding homecoming, making good on his #1 seeding by winning the 174-pound bracket.  After earning a first round bye thanks to his position, Crane defeated Zach Dietrick (King’s College) by a 5-4 decision in the semi-final round.  Up 7-2 against Anthony Dill (Messiah College) in the championship bout, Crane held on for a 9-7 decision to earn the title.  He also wins a trip to the 2006 NCAA Division III National Championships hosted by The College of New Jersey on March 3 and 4.

Snyder will join Crane at the national tourney after winning the heavyweight division, looking to improve upon last season’s national seventh place finish.  Also picked up a first round bye, Snyder pinned Trevor Needham (Scranton) at 1:43 of the first round in his semi-final bout.  Delaware Valley’s Kevin Orr proved no match in the championship round as Snyder defeated him by a 6-0 decision.

Also making his second straight trip to the national finals is junior Sean Cullen (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson).  Cullen was awarded the first wild card position in voting by the MAC coaches after finishing second in the 133-pound weight class.  He was defeated 6-3 by King’s David Morgan in the league finals.  He will use this opportunity to try to improve upon his national sixth place position last season.

Lycoming picked up a four third place finishes at the MAC’s.  Junior Kyle Hopkins (Milton, Del./Cape Henlopen) shook off a 3-1 loss in the quarterfinal round to come back with a strong showing in the third place bout to defeat Messiah’s Barry Thrush 6-4 at 141 pounds.  At 164 pounds, senior Heath Oberlin (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) claimed his third place award in resounding fashion with a 9-0 technical fall over Stephen Franko (Wilkes).

Sophomore Matt Miller (Muncy, Pa./Montgomery) rebounded from being pinned in the quarterfinal round to winning his third place bout 6-3 over Zach Wilkinson (King’s) in the 184-pound weight class.

Freshman James Saxton (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) grabbed the final third place honor for Lycoming with a default victory at 125-pounds.

Listed below all the final positions for all Lycoming wrestler:
125 lbs: James Saxton – 3^rd
133 lbs: Sean Cullen – 2^nd
141 lbs: Kyle Hopkins – 3^rd
149 lbs: Drew Barder – 4^th
157 lbs: Jason Smith – 4^th
165 lbs: Heath Oberlin – 3^rd
174 lbs: Derek Crane – 1^st
184 lbs: Matt Miller – 3^rd
197 lbs: Bryan Kopesky – 4^th
285 lbs: Tommy Snyder – 1^st