Seneca wrestler Trevor Beiter signs his letter of intent to Gannon recently as assistant coach Hudson Harrison, left, Principal Keith Miller, center, and athletic director Kris Hudnall watch.

Seneca wrestler Trevor Beiter recently signed a letter of intent with Gannon University.

This past season Beiter won the District 10 Class AA title at 195 pounds, placed third at the Northwest Regional and qualified for the PIAA tournament. He was a two-time section champion and a two-time first-team Region 3 all-star. He also was an Erie Times-News District 10 All-Star after finishing his senior season with a 29-5 record.

Beiter plans to major in mechanical engineering.

Gannon is an NCAA Division II member of the PSAC in wrestling.

Another area wrestling standout, McDowell’s Paul Deitz, committed to Gannon today.

Edinboro sophomore Mitchell Port settled for second place Saturday night in a close title match at the NCAA wrestling championships in Des Moines, Iowa.

Port (34-4) battled unbeaten Kendric Maple (30-0) of Oklahoma throughout the 141-pound final, but Maple was able to fight off Port’s late push to hold on for 4-3 decision.

Read more about the title match and Port’s thoughts afterward.

Meanwhile, Edinboro’s A.J. Schopp also earned All-America status. The 133-pounder went 1-1 in consolation matches Saturday and claimed a fourth-place medal.

Penn State won the NCAA team title for the third straight season and Cornell’s Kyle Dake made history by winning his fourth title in his fourth weight class.

Previous updates:

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Video highlights from Mercyhurst’s 23-13 victory over Gannon in a recent wrestling dual meet:

2012 Gannon-Mercyhurst Wrestling Highlights/Interviews (1/26/12) from Gannon University Athletics on Vimeo.

While wrestling unattached as a redshirt last season, A.J. Schopp often thought about what Friday night would feel like.

When it finally arrived, it measured up to his expectations.

“I spent the whole year wrestling in opens, a lot of times wrestling alone, and I couldn’t wait for this year to come,” said Schopp, an Edinboro redshirt freshman who nailed down one of 10 starting spots during wrestle-offs at Mike S. Zafirovski Sports & Recreation Dome. “I’m ready to go and I’m excited about our team.”

That team will be a young one. Edinboro is expected to eventually field as many as seven true and redshirt freshmen this season, including Schopp, who breezed to a win by fall in his only bout Friday against freshman Anthony Michael at 141 pounds.

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We’re changing things up here. Look for Old School photos from time to time but not daily from now on.

Feb. 22:

Kevin Darkus, top,won the 1982 NCAA Division I wrestling championship for Iowa State. He won silver at the 1985 world championships and was a two-time national champion. Darkus, a 1980 Cathedral Prep graduate and a PIAA champion in 1979 and 1980, was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1993.

How it works: Every day we’ll post a photo of a former college athlete from the Erie Times-News archive. You guess who it is, then check back the next day for the answer and another Old School athlete photo.

Feb. 21:

Mike DeAnna took over the Edinboro wrestling program in 1984 and guided the Fighting Scots to five top-10 national finishes during a six-year stretch. He was the Division II coach of the year in 1986.

Today’s Old School Athlete:

College sports with a northwestern Pennsylvania slant:

• Three Penn State Behrend players are on the Collegiate Baseball Magazine Division III watch list. The Lions open their season March. 6
• Former District 10 star Caitlin Lehberger (Wilmington) is the Presidents’ Athletic Conference swimmer of the week for Westminster.
• Gannon will serve as host for the NCAA Division II East Wrestling Regional Feb. 25-26 at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion.

College sports with a northwestern Pennsylvania slant:

• Congratulations to Edinboro women’s basketball coach Stan Swank, who earned his 400th career victory Monday when the Scots defeated Alderson-Broaddus 86-35 at McComb Fieldhouse.
• Swank’s big win came days after Mercyhurst College women’s hockey coach Michael Sisti won his 300th career game. He’s hoping for 301 tonight when his No. 4-ranked Lakers play host to No. 2 Cornell, the team that knocked them out of the 2010 Frozen Four.

Elsewhere:

• Andrew Church, a Penn State redshirt freshman, went 2-2 and brother David Church, a freshman, went 3-2 at the Floyd “Shorty” Hitchcock Memorial Classic wrestling tournament.
• Gannon’s women’s swim team knocked off Division I Canisius 154.5-86.5 Saturday with help from McDowell graduates Jackie Rzymek and Sarah Anderson.
• Villa Maria graduate Kayla McBride and No. 11 Notre Dame take on No. 16 Georgetown tonight at 7 in a game that can be seen on CBS College Sports.
• General McLane graduate Kat Zimmerly, an Ohio Wesleyan senior, was named NCAC indoor track and field distance runner of the week.
• Pitt-Bradford senior Kyle Lewis, a North East graduate, earned a Scholar All-East Region Honorable Mention award from the National Soccer Collegiate Athletic Association. He captained the Division II UPB men’s soccer team.
• Edinboro offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Yurcich will take a similar position at Shippensburg.
• Cathedral Prep graduate John Hill won the 200 freestyle for Dartmouth in its swim meet against Penn.
• Harbor Creek graduate Brittany DiSanti and McDowell graduate Kelsey Herbst were Pitt’s performers of the meet at Saturday’s Maryland quad.
• Allegheny College first baseman Matt Stahl is a d3baseball.com preseason Division III All-American.

How it works: Every day we’ll post a photo of a former college athlete from the Erie Times-News archive. You guess who it is, then check back for the answer and another Old School athlete photo.

Jan. 13

Middleweight Robert Taylor wrestled at Edinboro from 1988-90.

Today’s Old School athlete (ID coming Monday):

How it works: Every day we’ll post a photo of a former college athlete from the Erie Times-News archive. You guess who it is, then check back the next day for the answer and another Old School athlete photo.

Jan. 12

Marcel Arribi scored 545 points for Gannon College from 1971 to 1973, then made a bigger mark on Erie basketball in 12 seasons as Cathedral Prep’s coach. The Ramblers went 251-87 from 1987 to 1999, winning a PIAA championship in 1993.

Today’s old school athlete: