First for Stanford: Schram named Pac-12 Wrestler of Week
Connor Schram
Canon-McMillan graduate Connor Schram became the first Stanford athlete to be named Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week.
Megan Bilko
Addy Knetzer
August “Gus” Mizia
Redshirt sophomore Connor Schram became the first Stanford athlete ever to be named Pac-12 Wrestler of the Week. He received the honor for Jan. 11-17.
The 125-pounder helped Stanford to dual wins over Utah Valley (37-5) and Duke (27-15), improving the team’s record to 7-2.
A native of Canonsburg and a former state champion for Canon-McMillan, Schram upset 18th-ranked Chasen Tolbert of Utah Valley with a 3-1 sudden victory decision. Tied 1-1 heading into overtime, Schram, who is ranked 20th in the country in his weight class, scored a double-leg takedown only seven seconds in for his first win of the season over a ranked opponent.
Against Duke, Schram wrestled up at 133 pounds, defeating Brandon Leynaud, 10-3.
Schram is now 13-3 overall and 3-1 in dual meets.
After breaking a school record that stood for 25 years, Allegheny senior Erica Salizzoni was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week for Jan. 10-16.
A McMurray native and Peters Township graduate, Salizzoni posted an 11-dive score of 479.00 in the 3-meter dive Jan. 16 against 25th-ranked Case Western Reserve. Salizzoni’s score topped the previous school record of 471.60. The record – which once stood as the highest score in NCAA Division III history – was held by Melissa Moody, who was a national champion in the 1989 1-meter dive and 1991 3-meter dive.
Mary Rosati, a junior at Edinboro, won two events to help the Fighting Scots to a 70-61 victory over host Tiffin earlier this month.
A state qualifier at South Fayette, Rosati won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:01.17 and posted her second victory of the day in the 200 backstroke (2:24.14).
Kyle Higgins, a junior at Kentucky, helped the Wildcats get their first Southeastern Conference dual win since 2009 when they edged LSU 198-188.
Higgins, a Peters Township graduate, won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:47.12 and the 500 freestyle in 4:30.33. He also placed second against the Tigers in the 100 butterfly (48.92) and swam the third leg of Kentucky’s winning 800 freestyle relay team.
The win over LSU was part of a tri-meet with Virginia Tech.
Megan Bilko, a senior at Grove City, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week for Jan. 10-16. It was Bilko’s third PAC weekly honor this season.
Bilko is a Canonsburg native and Canon-McMillan graduate. She has been a standout in the Wolverines’ lineup for four seasons.
Bilko had two wins in Grove City’s 144-124 victory Jan. 16 over Fredonia State. She won the 200 freestyle in 1:59.7 and the 200 butterfly in 2:14.47 while also contributing to the Wolverines’ meet-opening win in the 200 medley relay. She had the fastest time in the event.
Bilko holds the Grove City school records in the 400 individual medley, 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle and was a member of the 800-freestyle relay team that holds the school record. She is a five-time NCAA Division III All-American.
Washington & Jefferson sophomore Sam Florentino was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for Jan. 10-16.
A McMurray native and Peters Township graduate, Florentino had a 5-0 record for the week at 157 pounds. He began the week with a 3-1 decision over Waynesburg’s Derek Hull in a PAC dual meet, then won four bouts Jan. 16 at the Will Abele Invitational hosted by Ursinus College. He helped W&J finish second in the team standings.
Florentino began the tournament with a 10-4 decision over Robert Endy of Ursinus before needing only 3:37 to pin Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s Carter Focht in the quarterfinals. A 10-2 major decision over Azamat Akhmedov of Maryland-Baltimore County in the semifinals led to a championship bout against UMBC’s Stephen Beam. Florentino emerged with a wild 16-14 decision.
The Wrestler of the Week honor was the first in Florentino’s career and gives the Presidents consecutive award winners and three total this season.
Solomon Chishko, a redshirt freshman, is having an outstanding season at Virginia Tech.
A two-time state champion at Canon-McMillan, Chishko has a 13-2 record wrestling at 141 pounds. He is 5-0 in dual meets. He recently helped the Hokies finish second at the Virginia Duals. Virginia lost to Iowa State 16-14 in the finals.
Chishko is ranked No. 10 in the nation in his weight class by Intermatwrestle.com. Virginia Tech also is ranked No. 10.
Mercyhurst’s August “Gus” Mizia notched his 100th career victory with a fall to highlight the Lakers’ recent 42-0 win over Seton Hill.
A Bentleyville native and Bentworth graduate, Mizia pinned Seton Hill’s Luke Shaffer in 2:09 at 165 pounds for the 100th win. Mizia, who is a redshirt senior, is ranked No. 3 at 165 pounds in Division II by Intermatwrestle.com.
Addy Knetzer, a sophomore forward at Waynesburg, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Jan. 3-9. She is the first Waynesburg player to win the award since the 2011-12 season.
Knetzer had a 25-point, 15-rebound performance in Waynesburg’s 79-63 victory over Saint Vincent Jan. 6. She made nine of 11 shots and blocked three shots. Knetzer followed that game with an 18-point, 14-rebound performance in an 82-75 Waynesburg victory at Bethany.
Entering Friday, Knetzer was Waynesburg’s leading scorer at 12.3 points per game (ninth in the PAC) and rebounder at 7.6 per game (fifth in the PAC).
Kaitlyn Slagus, a freshman from Belle Vernon, has worked her way into the starting lineup at Bucknell.
After outstanding performances to open conference play, Slagus was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week for Dec. 27-Jan. 4 and again for Jan. 10-16.
In winning the award the first time, Slagus averaged 21 points and 6.5 rebounds in victories over Navy and Army, helping Bucknell start conference play at 2-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The 6-2 forward scored a career-high 21 points, including 13 straight for the Bison during a stretch of the third and fourth quarters, in a 51-41 win over Navy. Against Army, Slagus scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds in a 79-69 victory for Bucknell that ended the Black Knights’ seven-game winning streak.
Slagus made a game-tying three-pointer with two seconds left in regulation to complete a 17-point comeback by Bucknell in the Bison’s 80-77 overtime win against Lehigh. She finished with 12 points, three rebounds, and two assists in that game, and followed that performance with eight points and seven rebounds in Bucknell’s 71-51 win over Colgate to earn the patriot League honor for the second time.
Slagus has started six games and is Bucknell’s third-leading scorer at 6.9 points per game. She is shooting 41 percent from the field and has made 29 of 34 free throws (85 percent).
David Williams, a senior guard at Salem International, scored a career-high 16 points Thursday night but the Tigers lost to Alderson-Broaddus 92-77 in a Great Midwest Athletic Conference game.
Williams, a Canonsburg native and Canon-McMillan graduate, made five of 12 three-pointers with three assists, one steal and one blocked shot. He has played in all 16 of Salem’s games and is averaging 2.6 points per game.
Christina Zalewski has played in all 25 games for the Northeastern University women’s team.
A Canonsburg resident, Zalewski is a left winger who has scored three goals and assisted on four others for the Huskies, who have a 20-4-1 record including a 15-2 mark in Hockey East. Northeastern is the No. 6-ranked women’s team in the nation and took a nine-game winning streak into a game Friday night against Connecticut.
Jean-Pierre Lucas, a junior from Speers, helped No. 1-ranked West Virginia break its own NCAA record with an aggregate score of 4,740 to beat Great American Rifle Conference foe Akron by more than 100 points.
Lucas, a Charleroi graduate, tied the school record by shooting 200 prone. Lucas shot 195 kneeling and 192 standing.
As a sophomore, Lucas was an NRA First Team All-American in smallbore and honorable mention in air rifle.