SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23 2019
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Sports
Central’s Bailey Heuston tries to block Penns Valley’s Isabella Culver as she shoots during the District 6 3A quarterfinal game on Friday.
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
Penns Valley girls’ basketball
cruises past district quarters,
punches ticket to state
Penns Valley’s Isabella Culver is congratulated after hitting a
3-pointer at the buzzer before halftime on Friday night.
PENN STATE ATHLETICS
Where does wrestling’s win streak
belong among great PSU teams?
BY LAUREN MUTHLER
lmuthler@centredaily.com
UNIVERSITY PARK
Penn State’s wrestling team is
on the verge of its fourth straight
undefeated dual season as it goes
into its final bout of the 2018-19
season against Buffalo. It’s riding
a streak of 58 consecutive dual
victories.
If top-ranked Penn State
should win on Sunday, it will end
the season just 10 wins shy of
Iowa’s modern-era mark of 69
consecutive dual meet victories
between Jan. 12, 2008, to Jan. 16,
2011. (That streak was ended
with a 15-15 tie against Oklahoma
State. The Hawkeyes then went
on to extend their unbeaten
streak to 84.) Oklahoma State
owns the all-time record of 76
consecutive dual meet wins from
1937-51.
Although Cael Sanderson said
SEE GREAT TEAMS, 6B
1B
BY JOSH MOYER
jmoyer@centredaily.com
The Penns Valley girls’
basketball team was able to
cross off another goal on its
list Friday night — by clinch-
ing a spot in the state tourna-
ment.
The top-seeded Lady Rams
cruised past No. 8-seed Cen-
tral 45-27 in the District 6
Class 3A quarterfinals and will
next play No. 4-seed Central
Cambria in the semifinals
Tuesday. Because four teams
ABBY DREY adrey@centredaily.com
Penn State’s Vincenzo Joseph celebrates his win over Michigan’s Logan
Massa in the 165-pound bout in the Bryce Jordan Center on Feb. 1. The
Nittany Lions are riding a streak of 58 consecutive dual victories.
FACEBOOK.
TWITTER.COM/CENTREDAILY
NFL
FORMER PENN STATE KICKER
GOULD UNDERSTANDS
SPECULATION ABOUT
POSSIBLE BEARS RETURN 2B
PHOTOS BY ABBY DREY adrey@centredaily.com
from the district advance to
the state tournament, Penns
Valley already earned its spot
there with the victory Friday
night.
“This win guarantees us
three more games,” Lady
Rams coach Karen McCaffrey
said, referring to the district
semifinal game, district conso-
lation/title contest and state
tournament. “Tonight was, if
we lost we were done. So just
knowing that we have at least
three more games in front of
us, that takes a little bit of
pressure off us.
“And anytime you head into
the locker room knowing you
have practice the next day,
that’s a great feeling.”
McCaffrey’s squad felt great
from the start. Relatively
speaking. Although starters
Hannah Montminy and Emma
Butler both came down with
illness and nausea, they hung
tough and helped their team
SEE PENNS VALLEY, 3B
NFL
Patriots owner Kraft accused
of soliciting prostitute
BY TERRY SPENCER
AND JOSHUA REPLOGLE
Associated Press
JUPITER, FLA.
Robert Kraft, the billionaire
owner of the New England Patri-
ots, faces charges of soliciting a
prostitute after police said he was
twice videotaped in a sex act at a
shopping-center massage parlor
in Florida.
Kraft, 77, denied wrongdoing.
The case comes amid a crack-
down on sex trafficking from
Palm Beach to Orlando in which
police planted cameras in mas-
sage parlors.
Kraft was not arrested. Jupiter
police said a warrant will be is-
sued and his attorneys will be
notified. They said details about
the misdemeanor charges against
the owner of the six-time Super
Bowl champions will not be re-
leased until next week.
Hundreds of arrest warrants
have been issued in recent days
as a result of the six-month in-
vestigation, and more are expect-
ed. Ten spas have been closed,
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING
10 Centre
County
wrestlers
earn spots
in PIAAs
BY NATE COBLER
ncobler@centredaily.com
Centre County had 22 wrestlers start on
the first day of the Class 2A Southwest
Regional tournament. When the action
was completed Friday, 10 wrestlers made
the semifinals to punch their tickets to
Hershey and the PIAA championships.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy has the
most with six, followed by Penns Valley’s
two. Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-
Osceola, which were making their debuts,
pushed one apiece into the semifinals.
There are eight more wrestlers needing
at least two wins Saturday inside Indiana
University of Pennsylvania’s Kovalchik
Convention and Athletic Complex to
clinch their state spots.
The Wolves lead the team race with
62.5 points, which is 13 better than Chest-
nut Ridge in second. The Rams are the
only other county team in the top 10 at
seventh with 27 points.
Here’s a look at each team after Day 1:
ST. JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC ACADEMY
Semifinalists: Amonn Ohl (120
pounds), Zack Witmer (132), Caleb Dow-
ling (145), Keegan Rothrock (152), Tyler
Stoltzfus (160) and Kolby Franklin (195)
Others alive: Zach Rosenberger (170)
Eliminated: None
Team score: 62.5 points, 1st overall
Recap: Coming off their second
straight District 6 crown and crowning
five district champions, the Wolves looked
just as good at regionals.
They’re on pace to win the regional
title.
“District 6 is really good; we are dom-
inating this tournament as a district,”
SJCA coach Pat Flynn said. “I’m super
happy with how (the Wolves) are respon-
ding. I think they are hungry and ready to
SEE WRESTLING, 4B
ABBY DREY adrey@centredaily.com
Saint Joseph’s Tyler Stoltzfus controls the
160-pound championship bout during the
District 6 2A finals on Saturday.
and several people have been
arrested on sex trafficking charg-
es.
“The video that we obtained, it
shows the act that took place, on
every gentleman that you have a
list of, the acts that
took place is re-
corded on that
video,” Jupiter
police detective
Andrew Sharp told
reporters.
Sharp was asked
Robert Kraft whether the video
evidence showed
Kraft in an alleged
sex act.
“The answer to that is yes,”
Sharp said.
Police Chief Daniel Kerr said
he was shocked to learn that
Kraft, who is worth $6 billion,
was paying for sex inside a shop-
ping-center massage parlor, the
Orchids of Asia Day Spa.
The spa owner, Hua Zhang, 58,
was arrested Tuesday on 29 pros-
titution and related charges.
SEE KRAFT, 2B
6B
Sports
FROM PAGE 1B
GREAT TEAMS
the winning streak is
“cool,” it’s not his main
focus as head coach of the
Nittany Lions.
“Dual meets are impor-
tant to us. It’s the one time
you go head-to-head with
each team,” Sanderson
said in early February.
“But, ultimately, my goal
as a coach is to be ready to
go for the national tourna-
ment. That’s first and fore-
most. That’s what, in my
mind, I was hired to do at
Penn State. So that will
always be No. 1.”
In the past four years,
Penn State has certainly
done more than just win
duals, with 11 individual
national titles, three NCAA
team titles, one Big Ten
tournament title and two
Hodge Trophies so far. The
Nittany Lions are well on
their way to adding to
those totals, as well, head-
ing into the postseason as
the heavy favorite for their
eighth NCAA team title in
nine years, with four top-
ranked wrestlers and as
many Hodge contenders.
Echoing the sentiments
of his coach, sophomore
Nick Lee said the dual
streak isn’t something
that’s ever brought up or
even thought about by the
team.
“We want to win, so it’s
nice to keep that going, but
it’s not a priority,” he said.
“Every match we go out
there just trying to improve
from the last match, but it’s
nice to have that, and I
think that kind of helps us
going forward, confidence-
wise.”
With two fan favorites of
the past four years — se-
niors Jason Nolf and Bo
Nickal — set to wrestle
their final dual meet Sun-
day at Rec Hall, there’s no
telling how much longer
Penn State’s streak might
continue. So where does it
currently rank in the Happy
Valley history books?
The Centre Daily Times
recently spoke with Penn
State sports historian Lou
Prato to break down some
of the other best streaks in
the history of Penn State
athletics:
PENN STATE BASEBALL
1920-21: 30 STRAIGHT
GAMES
The time period follow-
ing World War I, which
ended in November
1918,was a difficult time in
the United States. In 1919,
some soldiers had not yet
returned home, while
others were still figuring
out how to re-adjust to
civilian life. Penn State
baseball’s captain-elect for
the 1919 season, D. Blair
Mingle, died before the
season started in a
military-related plane crash
after the war.
Mingle’s death left Penn
State baseball without its
leader, and coach Hugo
Bezdek with just two reg-
ulars upon which to mold a
team, as many former
starters had not yet re-
turned from service. Bez-
dek, who had also coached
Penn State’s football team,
then left the team for a
short period to coach the
Pittsburgh Nationals, leav-
ing ex-captain George
“Doc” Wheeling in charge
for the 1919 season, as
recorded by the 1921
edition of “LaVie,” Penn
State’s yearbook.
The rule barring fresh-
men from playing was
lifted due to special war-
time circumstances, and
the scrappy team put to-
gether a record of 9-3. The
1920 team built upon that
success, putting together a
string of 10 consecutive
wins at the end of the sea-
son.
In 1921, Penn State base-
ball pulled together one of
the most successful sea-
sons in its history, extend-
ing the winning streak to
30 consecutive victories
over the “strongest college
nines of the south and
east.” Of the 20 victories
during the 1920 season, 11
were won on diamonds
away from home.
The 30 straight victories
was a record for college
baseball at the time and
established Penn State as
the strongest team in the
east, according to “LaVie.”
The streak eventually
ended with a loss to Penn
near the end of the season,
and the Nittany Lions fin-
ished 22-3, adding two
more losses to Pittsburgh.
At least two standouts
from that team — center
fielder Henry Luther
“Hinkey” Haines and
pitcher Myles “Duck Eye”
Thomas — went on to play
Major League baseball for
the New York Yankees with
Babe Ruth.
Haines went on to play
both professional baseball
and football, owning the
distinction of being the
only athlete to have ever
played on national cham-
pionship teams for both
sports. He played a crucial
role as a pinch runner in
the 1923 World Series with
the Yankees and won the
1927 NFL Championship
with the New York Giants.
Thomas, who was born
in State College, played in
the majors from 1926-30
was part of the 1927 “Mur-
derers’ Row” Yankees
team, which included Ruth
and Lou Gehrig. He fin-
ished his career as a pitcher
at 23–22 with a 4.64 career
ERA.
GENE WETTSTONE-ERA
MEN’S GYMNASTICS:
STREAKS OF 27, 21 AND
20; 9 NATIONAL
CHAMPIONSHIPS AND
MORE THAN 200 DUAL
MEET WINS FROM
1939-76
Although his longest
winning streak was 27 dual
meet victories from 1970-
73, coach Gene Wettstone
presided over not only the
most successful era of Penn
State gymnastics, but one
of the most dominant
streaks in the history of the
sport at the college level.
In his 36 seasons as a
member of the Penn State
coaching staff, Wettstone
racked up more than 200
dual meet victories, a
record-nine NCAA men’s
gymnastics championships,
including three in a row
from 1959-61, 13 Eastern
Intercollegiate Gymnastics
League crowns, coached
his student-athletes to 35
individual national titles
and produced 13 Olym-
pians before his retirement
in 1976.
During that time, Penn
State put together several
streaks including the 27
from 1970-73, 21 from
1964-67, then after one
loss, 20 more from 1967-
69, 16 in 1952-55, and 14
from 1958-60. Despite a
few losses sprinkled here
and there, Wettstone’s
gymnastics teams re-
mained one of the most
dominant in that nearly-
four-decade span.
In a release announcing
Wettstone’s death at 100
years old in 2013, then-
athletic director Dave Joyn-
er (who wrestled for Penn
State from 1970-72) called
the coach the “John Wood-
en of college gymnastics,”
and a “great person and an
outstanding tutor that
brought Penn State and
collegiate gymnastics to
the forefront.”
When he was first hired
by Penn State in 1939 to
instruct officer candidates
in physical education dur-
ing World War II, accord-
ing to his New York Times
obituary, the “closest thing
to a gymnastics program”
at the university was “a
student circus featuring
acrobatics and tumbling.”
After collegiate competi-
tion was reinstated with the
end of World War II in
1945, Wettstone won the
first of his nine NCAA
gymnastics championships.
He also coached his teams
to victory in 1953-54, ‘57,
‘59-’61, ‘65 and ‘76.
Of Wettstone’s 13 Olym-
pians, three — Steve Cohen
(1967), Gene Whelan
(1976) and Bob Emery
(1969) — won college gym-
nastics’ version of the Heis-
man, the Nissen-Emery
Award.
Wettstone was passion-
ate about growing the sport
of gymnastics, as detailed
in his NYT obit, regularly
attracting crowds of 7,000
Penn State players, from left, Darcy Dorton, Alyssa D'Errico, Fatima Balza, Blair Brown and
Alisha Glass celebrate a 3-1 win over Hawaii in the volleyball national semifinal in 2009.
AP
One of the Nittany Lions’ most successful periods when it
came to winning streaks was from 1967-70. Led by Joe
Paterno, the team went unbeaten for three straight seasons.
StateCollege
Gene Wettstone presided
over the most successful era
of Penn State gymnastics.
StateCollege
Bellefonte’s Larry Fornicola
was on the 1953 wrestling ing shutouts of Virginia and
team that won the school’s Penn, and a 27-3 win over
first national title. Navy and a 28-5 beating of
Syracuse.
Penn State dominated its
fans in the 6,000-seat Rec way to the 1953 NCAA
Hall in the 1960s, and title, held in its home arena
generating enough interest of Rec Hall, posting five
to hold major events such All-Americans including
as three NCAA champion- Samson (first place), Dick
ships and four Olympic Lemyre (second), Jerry
trials in the venue. Lemyre (third), Don Frey
Wettstone also coached (third) and and Jerry Mau-
the 1948 and ’56 U.S. rey (third).
men’s gymnastic teams in Several Centre County
the Olympics. He was in- wrestlers were also on that
ducted into the United team, including Belle-
States Gymnastics Hall of fonte’s Larry Fornicola,
Fame in 1963. and State College’s Charlie
Ridenour and Bill Shawley.
PENN STATE Coach Speidel used the
WRESTLING: 3 success Penn State was
UNDEFEATED SEASONS having to attract more fans
AND A NATIONAL and build a larger following
CHAMPIONSHIP FROM for wrestling. According to
1950-54 the article “Penn State
This is not the first time Coach ‘Sells’ Wrestling,”
Penn State wrestling has which appeared in the 1956
been on a winning streak. New York Times, Speidel
Under coach Charlie Spei- “had a habit of buttonhol-
del, the Nittany Lions put ing students, faculty, and
together a string of 34 townspeople, talking wres-
straight dual meet wins tling and attracting to his
from 1950-54, including corner one of the most
three unbeaten seasons loyal athletic followings on
from 1950-1953 and the the campus.”
program’s first national Just as they do today,
championship in 1953. Penn State wrestling meets
Speidel was hired at under Speidel always drew
Penn State as a boxing and capacity crowds, according
wrestling coach in 1927 — to the article.
despite never having wres- Identifying Pennsylvania
tled competitively, accord- towns and cities where he
ing to his EIWA biography felt wrestling needed a
— and coached for 34 total “little push,” Speidel made
years until 1964, taking a a point to go out to various
hiatus from 1942-47 for high schools and hold clin-
Naval service in WWII. ics for all who were in-
From 1950-54, in addi- terested in learning the
tion to the NCAA cham- sport.
pionship, Penn State also By the time he retired,
had its first three-time Speidel had accrued 14
All-American in heavy- top-10 NCAA finishes —
weight Homer Barr in 1951, including the national
won three EIWA team championship — six nation-
titles and 11 individual al champs, 15 finalists, 41
conference titles, and pro- All-Americans and eight
duced 16 All-Americans EIWA conference titles.
and two national champs in
Joe Lemyre (167 pounds) in PENN STATE FOOTBALL:
1952 and Hud Samson (191 30 WINS AND 1 TIE
pounds) in 1953. FROM 1967-70
The national champion- Penn State fans might
ship year included several most fondly remember
lopsided victories, includ- 1982-1986 since it pro-
AP
duced two national cham-
pionships. But one of the
Nittany Lions’ most suc-
cessful periods when it
came to winning streaks
was from 1967-70, when
they went unbeaten for
three straight seasons, their
only blemish a 17-17 tie
with favored Florida State
in the 1967 Gator Bowl.
The 1967 season was just
longtime football coach Joe
Paterno’s second at the
helm. After two early-sea-
son losses (to Navy and
UCLA), the Nittany Lions
rattled off seven straight
wins to earn a spot in the
Gator Bowl with captains
Bill Lenkaitis and Jim Litte-
relle to finish the season
10th in The Associated
Press poll.
In 1968, Penn State put
together its first undefeat-
ed season under Paterno,
behind the talent of junior
captains, defensive tackles
Mike Reid and Steve
Smear, and the quarter-
backing of Chuck Burkhart.
That streak was tested
several times during that
season, including the
homecoming game against
Army. With two-and-a-half
minutes left in the game,
Army trailed by just six
points, then went for an
onside kick, as recalled in
Prato’s book, “100 Things
Penn State Fans Should
Know Before They Die.”
But in a scramble for the
ball, All-American tight
end Ted Kwalick came up
with the ball and ran 53
yards for the game-clinch-
ing touchdown to save the
season and keep the streak
alive.
The Nittany Lions sailed
through the rest of the
season without issue, until
the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1,
1969, against Kansas. Penn
State was down 14-7 with
the ball on the 50-yard line
with 1:16 remaining when
Burkhardt threw “a bomb”
to halfback Bobby Camp-
bell that took the Nittany
Lions to the 3-yard line,
Prato wrote. Penn State
scored, then decided to go
for the win with 2-point
conversion.
Kansas batted down
Burkhardt’s pass and start-
ed celebrating — but the
celebration proved to be
premature. The Jayhawks
had 12 men on the field,
and Penn State got another
shot. This time, Campbell
ran into the end zone to
hand the Nittany Lions the
15-14 victory. Penn State
ended the season ranked
second in the AP and UPI
polls.
Penn State took that
momentum into 1969,
where it added another 10
straight wins, bringing its
streak up to 28 heading
into the postseason. As one
of the top teams in the
country, Penn State was
looking at going to either
the Cotton or Orange
bowls. Due to racial ten-
sions in the South, Prato
wrote, the team collectively
decided against going to
Dallas to play the winner of
No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Ar-
kansas, and chose to go
back to the Orange Bowl
instead.
Seen by many outside
the program as “ducking”
the Texas-Arkansas win-
ner, Penn State received
backlash from the media
and some fans. In an at-
tempt to drum up more
southern support, President
Richard Nixon went down
to the Cotton Bowl game,
which had been hyped as
“the National Champion-
ship Game,” and presented
his National Championship
Presidential Trophy to
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23 2019
CENTREDAILY.COM
Texas — the victors over
Arkansas.
That move greatly an-
gered Paterno, who had
been a supporter of the
president. In an attempt to
smooth things over, Nixon
announced he would pre-
sent Penn State with a
plaque for “the longest
winning streak in the coun-
try.”
When Paterno received
that call from the White
House, he uttered arguably
his most famous words:
“You tell the president to
take that trophy and shove
it.”
Penn State’s streak came
to an end in Week 2 the
next season, in a 41-13 loss
to a ranked Colorado on
the road.
PENN STATE WOMEN’S
VOLLEYBALL: 109
STRAIGHT GAMES AND 4
CONSECUTIVE NCAA
TITLES FROM 2007-10
Before this current Nitta-
ny Lion wrestling team, the
most dominant team in the
modern era of Penn State
athletics was without ques-
tion Penn State women’s
volleyball.
Known in volleyball
circles simply as “The
Streak,” Penn State, under
head coach Russ Rose, put
together a record 111
straight set victories from
Dec. 15, 2007, to Dec. 18,
2008, and a 109-game
winning streak. The team
also won four consecutive
NCAA titles from 2007-
2010. No other Division I
women’s volleyball team
has won more than back-
to-back national titles.
Penn State didn’t just
win — it dominated — los-
ing just 19 sets in that four-
year period.
The dynasty didn’t end
after Penn State failed to
win a fifth consecutive title
in 2011, as the Nittany Lions
reloaded after the gradua-
tion of key seniors Arielle
Wilson, Blair Brown and
Alyssa D’Errico — who are
part of an elite group of
athletes to have been four-
time national champs — and
won two more consecutive
national titles from 2013-14.
That’s six NCAA titles in
eight years.
The dominance of Penn
State during that era has yet
to be touched by any other
women’s volleyball team.
There hasn’t been an unde-
feated champion in Division
I women’s volleyball since
Penn State in 2009,
according to NCAA.com, let
alone a team that didn’t lose
a set until the national semi-
finals.
Penn State’s success tran-
scended volleyball, as Nitta-
ny Lions women’s volleyball
became perhaps one of the
most dominant NCAA Divi-
sion I sports teams in this
generation. Comparatively,
UConn women’s basketball
won 111 consecutive games
from 2014 to 2017, and
Oklahoma men’s
gymnastics is currently on a
streak of 108 meets and
counting since Jan. 17, 2015.
During Penn State’s four-
year run, the Nittany Lions
produced many outstanding
and decorated athletes.
Megan Hodge was named
the Most Outstanding Player
for the 2007 NCAA Cham-
pionships, and the AVCA
Division I National Player of
the Year and Big Ten Player
of the Year in 2009, among
other honors. Christa Har-
motto (2007), Nicole Faw-
cett (2008) and Blair Brown
(2010) were also Big Ten
Players of the Year, and
Wilson (2007), Darcy Dor-
ton (2009) and Deja
McClendon (2010) picked
up Big Ten Freshman of the
Year accolades, just to name
a few.
Harmotto, Glass and
Fawcett would all go on to
compete in the Olympics.
For his part, Rose was
named the Big Ten Coach
of the Year for each of those
four consecutive national
champion years, and the
AVCA Division I Coach of
the year in 2007 and 2008.
In his 40th season at the
helm at Penn State, Rose is
considered a legend and a
staple in the world of colle-
giate volleyball.
Lauren Muthler:
814-231-4646, @lmuth1259