Westmoreland campus clippings: Jeannette grad Redman gets to play on ESPN

Senior Swade Redman plans to graduate from Carlow in the spring. He longs to play one final basketball season with the Celtics.

For now, he will settle for one game.

Redman, a Jeannette graduate, led his teammates in their national television debut last week at Youngstown State in a game televised by ESPN3.

“Playing on ESPN is something we all dreamed about, and this is something that we’ll all remember for the rest of our lives,” Redman said.

Carlow lost to Youngstown State in its season opener 109-56. Redman finished with 13 points and six rebounds.

Coach Tim Keefer said the NAIA-level Celtics lost 12 games from their schedule because of covid-related issues with other teams.

The River States Conference is attempting to plug on while many other leagues have closed down for the winter.

Keefer and his staff are beginning their seventh season. The program still fits the fledgling tag: The Celtics went 1-27 last season and were 0-15 in conference. But those numbers seem irrelevant now as the team embraces a simple chance to play, counting its blessings with each practice and game it is afforded along the way.

“Last year we got to go down and play in Miami, and it was great,” Keefer said. “We are still taking baby steps, but the guys are coming in and graduating and getting good jobs so it’s worth it.”

Other local players on the Carlow roster are sophomores AJ Sharp (Jeannette) and Hunter DeStefano (Penn-Trafford), who has seven points in the opener.

Men’s basketball

Holy Cross: Senior guard Austin Butler (Latrobe) had 16 points and nine rebounds and made 4 of 6 3-pointers, but the Crusaders lost to Army, 83-68. He added 13 points and 14 rebounds — his seventh career double-double — as Holy Cross (2-2) posted a 70-61 victory over Army.

West Liberty: Sophomore guard Bryce Butler (Latrobe) scored 18 points in the Hilltoppers’ season opener, a 98-77 win against Notre Dame (Ohio). The 6-foot-5, 200-pound Butler made 8 of 14 shots and grabbed seven rebounds. Last season, he played in all 31 games, contributing 8.3 points and 4.o rebounds.

Wrestling

Iowa: Senior Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) was presented in person the WIN Magazine/Culture House Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s most dominant college wrestler from the 2019-20 season.

The two-time NCAA champion was named the winner in March but could not receive the award because of covid-19 restrictions. He accepted the Hodge on Tuesday at a news conference in the press box at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium.

“It was an honor to be nominated,” Lee told hawkeyesports.com. “I’m humbled to have won.”

A 125-pounder, Lee went 18-0 during the regular season and outscored his opponents 234-18. After winning a Big Ten title, he earned the No. 1 seed for the NCAA championships, but the event was canceled because of the pandemic.

He also won the AAU James E. Sullivan Award as the most outstanding amateur athlete in the nation in 2019-20. He shared the honor with Oregon basketball standout Sabrina Ionescu. He added the NCAA Most Dominant Wrestler and Big Ten Wrestler of the Year.

Pitt: Redshirt junior Micky Phillippi (Derry) picked up a 10-5 decision at 133 pounds as the 13th-ranked Panthers defeated No. 17 Lehigh, 24-9.

Football

Cal (Pa.): Chandler Daniel (Yough) was named an assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Vulcans. The former Yough and Duquesne lineman earned a master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion with a concentration in performance enhancement and injury prevention from Cal.

Baseball

Penn State: Catcher Josh Spiegel (Penn-Trafford) has transferred in from Oklahoma State. He did not play as a freshman, then appeared in three games as a redshirt freshman at OSU and had two hits and a RBI.

Spiegel will get to play four seasons because the NCAA gave athletes a year back because of season cancellations caused by the covid-19 pandemic.