Boxers set for competition at Shippensburg

Penn State boxing coach Bill Wrable knows the more experience his boxers gain now, the better off they'll be in the long run. For that reason, Wrable tries to arrange bouts each week for as many of his boxers as possible.

But sometimes Wrable gets frustrated because there are either too many schools at an invitational with too many requests for bouts, or there aren't enough competing schools for him to pit his boxers against.

The second problem fits the bill for tomorrow's Shippensburg University Invitational. Aside from Penn State and Shippensburg, the only other competitors will be from Mansfield and the Naval Academy. The event's organizer was only able to set up bouts for five of Wrable's boxers.

"I gave him like 11 names," Wrable said. "He said he had only five bouts."

Brad Raybold leads things off for Penn State at 125 pounds against Navy's Jason Lavarias. Raybold will look to make it two straight victories after winning his bout last weekend against Lock Haven's Antonio Ward.

At 139 pounds, Mike Brown battles with John Sheppard from Navy. Like Raybold, Brown won last weekend, defeating Shippensburg's Mike Brady.

"We've gotta just work on him throwing straighter punches," Wrable said.

Penn State's lone representative at 147 pounds will be Kurt Decker, who is matched against Shippensburg's Chris Holterman.

Decker said the team as a whole has grown much closer in recent weeks because of the hard work it has put in.

"We've been working pretty hard," Decker said. "Whenever we work hard and we see each other working hard it makes you want to work hard."

At 190 pounds, Penn State's Gotce Peev faces Navy's Ryan Miller. Penn State's fifth and final boxer will be heavyweight Tim Scott, who steps into the ring against Navy's Tom Donaldson.

The fact that only five Penn State boxers will see action this weekend did not deter Wrable from pressing his team hard all week. Wrable put his squad through the most intense practice of the week Monday afternoon and then backed off Tuesday and yesterday. He, however, does not plan to get soft at any time in the near future.

"It seems like if you don't keep challenging people they get stale," Wrable said. "You have to make it intense to challenge them."

The challenge Wrable has been offering to his team is one including much team sparring, rope jumping and sweating -- activities he said have helped make Penn State more of an actual team rather than a bunch of individuals.

"This is the tightest team we've had," Wrable said. "Usually at this time we have five or six guys. We have 17 or 18 now."