A busy weekend for the Apprentice School Lady Builders and the wrestling team this weekend as both teams headed north.
WRESTLING (18-5)
The wrestling team competes twice this weekend in Pennsylvania in a pair of U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association events. Saturday night the Builders will face Penn State DuBois in DuBois, Pa. in a 6pm dual match. These teams have met once already this year with the Builders taking a 27-13 win over Penn State DuBois (4-6) at the University of Scranton Electric City Duals in November.
On Sunday, the Builders will be on the campus of Penn State University where they'll compete in the USCAA/PSUAC Invitational at Rec Hall. The Builders have won this invitational the last three years, including last year when they edged Penn State DuBois 176-168 in the team race.
The Builders are coming off a 3-0 performance last weekend in the Builder Duals as they defeated East Carolina University (42-19), Longwood University (55-6) and James Madison University (32-16).
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (16-4)
The Lady Builders also ventured north for their games this weekend – but to the Big Apple in New York.
Apprentice School faces Briarcliffe College on Saturday night at 6 pm in West Hempstead, NY. These teams faced off on January 19 in the Martin Luther King Classic and the Lady Builders won 81-25. Briarcliffe (9-7) pulled off an impressive 74-67 win on Friday night over USCAA 6th-ranked St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn), a team that defeated the Lady Builders 67-60 on December 1 in Newport News.
On Sunday, the Lady Builders will face Berkeley College in New Rochelle, NY at 4 pm. Berkeley enters the game with a 13-4 record and having won four of its last five games, including wins over Briarcliffe and St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn). Last year these teams split as Berkeley won 65-61 in New York, while the Lady Builders won 76-51 in Newport News.
OTHER NEWS – USCAA RANKINGS
Both basketball teams remained in the top seven of the latest USCAA Coaches Polls that were released on Friday afternoon.
The Lady Builders, who were tied for fourth last week, came in fifth in the poll. Lindenwood University-Belleville continues to lead the Women's Division I poll, followed by Iowa Wesleyan College, Robert Morris-Springfield and Ave Maria University. Apprentice School has two games against USCAA Division I ranked opponents left – Briarcliffe tonight (16) and Washington Adventist on Feb. 16 (19). They'll also face a Berkeley College squad on Sunday that's ranked fourth in Women's Division II.
The men's team dropped one slot to seventh in the latest poll. Daemen College continues to lead that poll, followed by Lindenwood University-Belleville, Rochester College, Victory University, Concordia-Alabama and Washington Adventist University. The Builders have one game left against a nationally-ranked opponent and that's Tuesday when they'll host sixth-ranked Washington Adventist University at 6 pm on Senior Night.
SENIOR NIGHT – MEN'S GAME
The men will conclude their home slate on Tuesday night with a 6pm tip against Washington Adventist University on Senior Night. A pre-game ceremony will honor the three men's basketball seniors along with seniors from the Cheerleading and Drumline squads. The parking garage will be open 60 minutes prior to tipoff.
This will be a huge game for the men's team with potential USCAA National Championship Tournament implications. Apprentice School defeated Washington Adventist 82-78 on January 25 at Washington Adventist.