Penn State New Kensington sophomore Phillip Marra finished runner-up in the 174-pound division at the NCWA national championships.
Suffers first defeat of the year in NCWA Final
UPPER BURRELL, Pa. -- Sophomore Phillip Marra became Penn State New Kensington’s first wrestler to reach the national finals March 15 at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association national championships in Allen, Texas.
Marra finished runner-up in the 174-pound division after an 8-2 loss to Josh Lopez of Liberty University. Marra’s defeat was his first of the season as he finished with a 26-1 record, best in the history of the campus. Ranked ninth going into the nationals, the Lower Burrell resident worked his way through the bracket to earn a shot at the title and procure All-America honors.
A product of the storied Burrell High School wrestling program, Marra is the second New Kensington wrestler accorded All-America status. His teammate, sophomore Dean Lusk, merited the distinction a year ago, finishing fifth at the nationals in the 285-pound class. The top eight of each weight class earn the national honor. Last year, Marra finished ninth at the nationals in the 149-pound class.
Although a national title eluded him, Marra can take solace in the two conference titles he secured during the post-season. He captured the Penn State University Athletic Conference title in February and the Mid-East Conference championship in early March. The top PSUAC finishers are invited to the mid-east regional, which is a stepping stone to the NCWA national tournament.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Francis Healy, three New Kensington wrestlers qualified for the national tournament. In addition to Marra, Lusk (Ringgold High School) and freshman Trey Turnblacer (Mars) used the Mid-East tourney as a springboard to Texas.
Lusk, the PSUAC champion this year and the mid-east regional champion a year ago, was ranked 10th nationally at 285 pounds. He finished out of the top eight. A year ago, he took fifth place. The cornerstone of the campus' fifth-year wrestling program, Lusk owned a 14-1 record during the regular season. The Monongahela, Pa., native finished second at the Penn State University Athletic Conference championships.
Turnblacer, who was raised in Butler, was ranked 54th at 235 pounds. The 6'2" political science major went 7-8 on the year and finished fifth at the regionals. He did not make the trip to the nationals due to an injury.
As a team, New Kensington earned a 17th-place NCWA ranking, also the best ever for the campus. The finish was better than many bigger wrestling schools, such as University of Maryland, Baltimore County (19) and the University of South Florida (20). Three other PSUAC teams -- Penn State DuBois (11), Penn State Mont Alto (15) and Penn State Greater Allegheny (25) -- cracked the NCWA Top 25. Liberty won the team title.
NCWA is the governing body for collegiate club wrestling teams in the United States and Canada. It is divided into seven regional conferences: Mid-East; Northeast; Mid-Atlantic; Southeast; North Central; Southwest; and West coast. The New Kensington Lions compete in the 18-member Mid-East region that includes programs from the University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers University, University of Delaware and Lehigh University.
The campus ties to the NCWA are strong. Former Penn State New Kensington student Jim Giunta, a wrestler for the original campus program in the early '70s, is the founder and executive director of the organization. Giunta, a 1971 graduate of Burrell High School, was a biology major at the campus. He switched to education after transferring to Texas A&M University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in education and a master’s degree in exercise physiology and cardiac rehabilitation. After graduation, he began teaching high school in Richardson, a North Dallas suburb, and served as the head wrestling coach there for seven years.
A resident of Dallas, he launched the Texas Interscholastic Wrestling Association in 1987 to promote wrestling in high schools. He formed the NCWA in 1997. Giunta was honored in 2004 with a lifetime achievement award by the Texas Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
For more about the campus wrestling program, visit http://psnkathletics.com/sports/wrest/index
Penn State New Kensington
Post-Season Wrestling
(2011-present)
NCWA National Championships Participants
Year, Participant, National Ranking (weight class), Result
2015: Phillip Marra, 9th (174), 2nd;
Dean Lusk, 5th (285), 9th; Trey Turnblacer, 54th (235), DNP
2014: Dean Lusk, 5th (285), 5th;
Phillip Marra, 9th (149), 9th; Colin Austin, 21st (165), 20th
2013: John Dopplehauer, 18th (285), 24th;
James Melnyk, 63rd, (149), 24th
2011- Lou Gardone (197), 4th, forfeit; Mark Irwin (149), forfeit
Conference Champions
Year, Name (weight class) Conference
2015: Phillip Marra (174), Mid-East, PSUAC
Dean Lusk (285), PSUAC;
2014: Dean Lusk (285), Mid-East Conference
2012-Matt Kepple (184), Penn State University Athletic Conference
2011- Lou Gardone (197), Mid-East Conference