Westmoreland campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Spencer Lee opens season with victory

There were doubts about Spencer Lee returning to the wrestling mat this season at Iowa after Lee tore his ACL last year but still competed in — and won his third title at — the NCAA Championships.

But Lee came back, with a usual label attached to his name — No. 1 at 125 pounds — and kept winning.

In his first match since NCAAs, the two-time Hodge Trophy winner won a 17-0 technical fall and an 8-0 decision in a tri-match against Central Michigan and Lehigh as No. 1 Iowa earned a sweep.

Lee, a redshirt senior and Franklin Regional product, upped his winning streak to 37 straight, outscoring his opponents 457-42 during the run.

Men’s basketball

Charlotte: Grad student guard Austin Butler (Latrobe) had a season-high 22 points, on 9-of-14 shooting, and grabbed eight rebounds as the 49ers defeated Western Carolina, 98-82, to improve to 7-5.

The former Holy Cross standout has started all 12 games and is averaging 12.4 points.

Pitt-Greensburg: Junior JoJo France became the 14th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points when he scored 17 in a 93-62 victory over Franciscan.

Sophomore Micah Jones had 14 points and 11 rebounds, freshman Octavius Hardy added 12 points and freshman Jaylen Williams chipped in 10 for UPG, which moved to 4-7 overall and 2-1 in the AMCC under first-year coach Chris Klimchock (Greensburg Salem).

Women’s soccer

Westminster: Freshman Brooke Horvath (Franklin Regional) was named to the All-Eastern College Athletic Conference First Team after a breakthrough rookie season with the Titans.

Horvath finished first in the ECAC in assists (11) and was second in points (33). She also had 11 goals.

She also was an all-region and All-PAC first-team pick.

Football

Ohio Northern: Senior kicker Dom DiFalco (Franklin Regional) made the Don Hansen Division III All-Region 4 team. He was chosen as a third-team specialist.

DiFalco made 43 of 44 extra points and 8 of 12 field goals this season with a long of 44 yards.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore running back Justin Huss (Derry) was named to the All-ECAC Second Team as a specialist.

Huss, a second-team All-Region pick, finished third in Division III in punt-return average (34.6 yards) and took two kickoffs back for touchdowns.

He finished the season with 1,296 all-purpose yards.

Baseball

Seton Hill: The Griffins, who returned to the NCAA Division II Tournament last year, will open the season ranked No. 11 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball 2022 NCAA Division II Preseason Poll. Seton Hill finished 39-8 last year and swept through the Atlantic Regional.

The Griffins will face five of the top 13 ranked teams this spring: Tampa (No. 1), Minnesota State (6), Ashland (10) and Augustana (13) and Millersville (12).

The season opens Feb. 19. Seton Hill will play Limestone in Gaffney, S.C.