Stark County NCAA wrestling stars David Carr, Ben Pasiuk, Ben Smith are nationally-ranked

The NCAA announced the first coach’s ranking for the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship on Monday and it included three area wrestlers.

Iowa State senior David Carr (Perry) was ranked second in the 165-pound class. Army senior Ben Pasiuk (Carrollton) is ranked 11th at 174 pounds and Cleveland State senior Ben Smith (Hoover) ranks 33rd at 197 pounds.

Carr, who captured the 157-pound title as a redshirt sophomore, is a four-time All-American. He moved up to 165 pounds last season and was the NCAA runner-up. This season, Carr is 14-1 overall and 9-0 in dual matches with four falls, five technical falls and four major decisions.

Pasiuk is 23-7 overall and 9-3 in dual meets and has four falls, a technical fall and four major decisions. Smith is 13-5 and 7-3 in dual matches and is 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference.

The NCAA tournament is March 21-23 in Kansas City, Mo.

Luke Laubacher (Perry)

The junior is 3-0 competing in the 60-meter hurdles this winter for the Youngstown State men’s indoor track team after posting a victory at the YSU indoor Invitational last Friday. His time was 7.89. Laubacher posted a personal-record 7.88 when he won the Jud Logan Memorial, Jan. 13, in Kent. He opened the season by running 7.91 in the YSU Icebreaker on Dec. 2. Penguin senior Tye Hunt (Lake) finished second in the 60 dash last Friday with a personal-record 6.84.

Lily Bottomley (Northwest)

The 6-foot-2 freshman has come off the bench in all 18 games for the Loyola (Md.) women’s basketball (8-10, 3-4 Patriot League). Bottomley had her best game of the season in a 59-55 league win over American on Jan. 17 when she had 10 points and eight rebounds in 21 minutes. She is averaging 2.6 points and 3.9 rebounds and leads the Greyhounds with nine blocked shots.

Clayton Elder (Louisville)

The senior is back on the track for the Alabama men’s indoor track team. He opened his indoor season by finishing third in the 60 hurdles with a personal-record 9.32 at the Harry Glance Dual on Jan. 11 and came back to help the 4x400 relay finish third (3:19.25), and was third in the open 400 (49:79) at the Samford January Invite last Friday. Both meets were in Birmingham. This is Elder’s third year running for the Crimson Tide after competing at Memphis as a freshman.

Sofia Istnick (Jackson)

The sophomore distance runner kicked off her indoor track season with the William & Mary women’s team winning the 5,000 at the Brant Tolsma Invitational last weekend in Lynchburg, Va. Her time was 16:46.61. Istnick is coming off a solid cross country season. She finished eight in the Coastal Athletic Association championship with a 3.73-mile time of 21.27 and was 19th in the Division I Southeast Regionals with a personal-record 6,000 time of 20:18.5.

Kendal Fisher (Perry)

The sophomore posted a personal record when she finished third in the pole vault for the Cincinnati women’s indoor track team at the Indiana Invitational last weekend. She cleared 13 feet, 0.25 inches. It was Fisher’s third meet of the winter. She finished sixth at the Rod McCrary Memorial meet Jan. 12-13 in Louisville, Ky. (12-6.25) and was sixth at the Indiana indoor Opener on Dec. 8 (12-1.50).

Annie Roshak (Hoover)

The graduate student who led the Ashland women’s basketball team to an NCAA Division II national title a year ago is having another big season for the No. 2-ranked Eagles. She leads the team in scoring at 15.5 points per game, while averaging 5.8 rebounds a game. Roshak scored 29 points in an 89-52 win over Cedarville last Saturday to give the top-ranked Eagles a 9-0 mark in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

Hayley Smith (St. Thomas Aquinas)

The 6-1 junior forward for the Ashland women’s basketball team is averaging 8.7 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds a game. The Eagles are 16-1 overall. She had a career-high 31 points in a 100-68 victory over West Liberty.

Payton Triplett (Lake Center Christian)

The junior has started all 19 games for the Geneva (Pa.) men’s basketball team (17-2, 13-1 Presidents’ Athletic Conference). Triplett had a game-high 17 points in an 81-56 victory over Franciscan on Wednesday. On the season, he’s averaging 11.5 points and 6.2 rebounds with 36 assists and a team-high 23 blocked shots. He has connected on 16 of 27 3-pointers (59.3 percent). He had a career-high 33 points in a 79-74 win over Thiel on Jan. 10.

Boston Sullivan (Hoover)

The sophomore is a key performer for the Wooster men’s swim team and he had a solid meet as the Fighting Scots topped Ohio Wesleyan 169-39 last Saturday at home. Sullivan won the 100 breaststroke (59.52) and was second in the 200 IM (2:03.54). He also swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay (1:38.70). Sullivan is the team’s top swimmer in the 50 and 200 breaststroke as well. Wooster is 6-1 in dual meets.

Zach Schering (Jackson)

The junior diver continues to be a key performer for the Clarion men’s swim team (7-1). Schering won both dives in the PennWest duals last Saturday at his home pool in Clarion, Pa., posting a 305.55 score in the 1-meter and a 343.73 total in the 3-meter. At the Zippy Invite earlier this season in Akron, he won the 1-meter with a score of 301.85 facing primarily Division I competition.

Grace Craig (Hoover)

The 6-2 freshman has played in all 18 games off the bench for the Tiffin women’s basketball team (4-14, 2-8 G-MAC). She is averaging 5.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game with 14 assists, 12 steals and 11 blocked shots. Craig had back-to-back-to-back 12-point games against Hillsdale, Ashland and Malone.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: College updates on David Carr, Ben Pasiuk, Ben Smith, others