College Corner: Dallas’ Monk working his way back on the wrestling mat

After a few years away from the sport, Ryan Monk is back on the mat competing in wrestling.

The redshirt junior from Dallas was one of the state’s top heavyweights in high school for the Mountaineers before choosing to walk on to the Penn State football team to start his college career.

Now Monk is at North Carolina Pembroke competing with the Braves wrestling team.

“Ryan’s adaptation to the team was slow at first, mostly because he was in a new environment,” coach O.T. Johnson said. “He was not able to compete in the fall semester and trying to understand his role on the team. Once he was able to compete after exams, you could see both joy and uncertainty, which is common for anyone that has been away from a sport four years would have.”

Monk, who competes at 285 pounds, was a standout wrestler at Dallas. He had a career record of 141-35 and finished 39-5 and placed third in the PIAA championships his senior year. With Pembroke, he’s 4-7 overall and 4-5 in dual meets with a pin.

Johnson doesn’t think that Monk’s time away from the sport due to football has slowed his progress.

“The athleticism and knowledge of wrestling is and always was there,” Johnson said. “The biggest thing he’s catching up with is his confidence on the mat.”

The coach has seen Monk gaining more and more of that with each match.

“The more he wrestles, the more you can see his confidence coming back both in his wrestling and his conditioning,” Johnson said. “We understand that this is a marathon, and it’s going to take time to get him where he needs to be and where we need him to be.”

Monk and the coaching staff will find out how far he’s come back when the Braves travel to West Liberty, W.Va., on Feb. 1 for the Mountain East Conference Championship.

Alexis Lewis (Seton Hall)

The women’s basketball team scored a pair of Big East Conference victories last weekend and the Holy Redeemer graduate played a big part in both of them.

Lewis had 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in an 82-70 victory over Creighton last Friday and scored 20 points, aided by 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range, with five rebounds and two assists in a 97-55 triumph over Providence last Sunday to push the Pirates to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in league play.

Lewis is averaging 12.1 points and 5.3 rebounds a game with 23 assists, a team-high 41 steals and nine blocked shots.

Adam Mahler (East Carolina)

The freshman continued his solid season with the men’s swim team as the Pirates wrapped up their home dual meet slate and opened the second semester with a tough 156-144 loss to South Carolina on Jan. 11. The Holy Redeemer graduate finished first in the 200 butterfly in 1:48.18, 0.31 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

He also took second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.93. He captured the 200 butterfly (1:49.87) in a 199-96 win over UNC Wilmington in the final dual meet of the first semester.

Megan Hayward (Kutztown)

The junior opened the second semester with a solid effort to help the Golden Bears beat Cedar Crest 150-84 and St. Joseph’s (N.Y.) 136-94 in a tri-meet on Jan. 11. The Tunkhannock graduate captured the 500 freestyle in 5:51.50 and the 1650 freestyle in 19:59.01. She also finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:22.16.

Hayward won the 500 free (5:49.75) and the 1000 free (11:47.23) in a 126-085 PSAC victory over Millersville during the first semester.

Ashley Blannard (Bloomsburg)

The sophomore finished second in the triple jump and third in the long jump at Susquehanna’s Orange and Maroon Invitational to begin her indoor track season last weekend. The Wyoming Valley West graduate posted a leap of 34 feet, 101⁄4 inches in the triple jump and hit 16-103⁄4 in the long jump. Both are PSAC qualifiers.

Her personal best in the triple jump is 37-111⁄2, and her top effort in the long jump is 18-21⁄2, both marks coming during the outdoor season in her freshman year.

Jacelyn Shaver (Rochester)

The freshman has been solid all year long diving for the women’s swim team and she opened the second semester with another strong effort as the Yellowjackets dropped a 185-115 decision to crosstown rival Rochester Tech last Saturday. The Dallas graduate finished first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 256.90 and was second in the 1-meter dive with a 252.70.

She earned her first college victory when she finished first in the 3-meter dive in a meet against Grove City on Nov. 23.

Draig Ruff (Eastern)

The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard and the men’s basketball team worked overtime against FDU-Florham on Jan. 15, the Eagles winning 77-73 in the extra session. The Wyoming Valley West graduate had a key basket and two free throws in the overtime period. He finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists.

He followed that up with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 67-62 triumph over Wilkes last Friday. He’s averaging 12.3 points and 5.1 rebounds with a team-high 38 assists.

John Porter Luksic (Widener)

The Dallas graduate was one of six members of the men’s swim team honored on senior night last Saturday. The Pride dropped a 147-115 decision to Arcadia, but Luksic had a big performance in the team’s final home dual meet. He finished first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.16 and then touched the wall first in the 200 breaststroke in 2:14.30.

He earned Middle Atlantic Conference third team honors in the 200 breaststroke last season when he finished third with a personal record time of 2:08.81.

Ashton Ashby (St. Joseph’s)

The sophomore began her season with the women’s track team by finishing second out of 21 athletes in the high jump at the 2020 Moravian College Indoor Invitational last Saturday. She posted a personal best leap of 5 feet, 1⁄4 inches and she finished behind a senior.

The Pittston Area graduate finished 17th in the high jump with a 4-11 effort at the Atlantic 10 Conference Indoor Championship last February.

Christian Scotti (Marywood)

The junior finished second in the heptathlon for the men’s indoor track team at the Orange and Maroon Invitational last weekend. He totaled a career best score of 3,565 for the seven events with a second in the 1,000, five fourths and a fifth.

The Tunkhannock graduate is a standout in the 10-event decathlon during the outdoor season. He finished first in the Atlantic East Conference Championship (4,878) and then set a personal record when he finished fourth in the ECAC Championships (5,034) last spring.