Bellefonte, State College teams to get taste of college wrestling

Lock Haven and Edinboro wrestling programs have strong ties to Centre County — and those ties are about to get stronger on Feb. 1.

Bellefonte and State College are set to square off inside Thomas Fieldhouse on Lock Haven’s campus prior to the Bald Eagles and Fighting Scots hitting the mat for their matchup. The Red Raiders and Little Lions will tangle at 5 p.m., and their junior high programs will get to wrestle too.

“I think any time you get to wrestle in a college environment, it’s a great experience for our guys,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said. “Through the years, we’ve always had a good relationship with Lock Haven and some roots there with Edinboro. Coach (Scott) Moore is always trying to find ways to promote Lock Haven. The opportunity presented itself, and we just seized (it).”

Added State College coach Ryan Cummins: “We are super pumped about it. Any time you get a chance to lead up to a college match, it’s awesome. You don’t get that opportunity very often. It’s cool to have the kids to wrestle in a big venue like that and especially a rival in Bellefonte.”

Maney is a Lock Haven alumni, and the Bald Eagles’ current squad has Centre County flavor in Brock Port, who is redshirting, and Penns Valley grad Corey Hazel, a starter in the lineup. For Edinboro, Red Raider alumnus Mitchell Port is an assistant coach.

“We have a lot of connections,” Maney said. “For Centre County as a whole, we certainly support each other. We’ll be rooting for Corey Hazel, and all the guys, but especially the Centre County guys. It lets guys know there are opportunities for (them) at the next level and those guys, Corey Hazel, Brock Port and Mitchell Port are a credit to that.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Bellefonte, State College teams to get taste of college wrestling."