The luck of the Irish must have been with the Penn State boxing team Saturday night.

After the final bell sounded on the NCBA Northeast Regional Championships at the White Building, the team crowned six regional champs with two runner-ups. All eight boxers will advance to Nationals in Reno, Nev., April 5-7.

The evening's most exciting bout was the 147-pound war between Penn State's Nathan Labuda, who defeated Army's Brian Collins in Friday's qualifier, and defending national champ Comanche Garcia of Lock Haven.

From the opening bell, both fighters hammered away at one another relentlessly as they wheeled each other around the ring. Garcia was the clear aggressor, but Labuda countered the attacks with a series of punishing combinations.

As the crowd came to its feet late in the third round, neither fighter showed signs of fatigue or surrender. The close decision was awarded to Labuda, who also won the Homer Boone award for outstanding fighter of the night.

"Labuda's a hell of a fighter," said Army coach Ray Barone. "They finished 1-2 in the region, and I wouldn't be surprised if they finished 1-2 in the country."

In the 132-pound championship, Penn State's Nick Bair out-pointed Army's Greg Auerbach to earn a victory by decision. Auerbach began each round looking to attack but was turned back by Bair's precision jabs.

"Nick has all the technical skills," said Penn State coach Bill Wrable. "He wanted to put the hurt on somebody, you could see it in his eyes."

Also finding success by maintaining disciple was 156-pound Alex Komlev, who defeated Mansfield's Steve Quigley by decision. Komlev, who defeated Army's David Hawk on Friday, never let Quigley get comfortable, cutting off the ring, and stifling his advances with power punches that eventually forced Quigley to take an eight count in the third.

After illness forced him to stop training for a week, 139-pound Doug Bayly defeated Army's Henry Chavez by decision. Bayly began the fight looking to brutalize Chavez but could not find his rhythm. Chavez tired rapidly in the third round as Bayly began to punish him, eventually taking an eight count.

Heavyweight Rick Slater forced Penn State's only early stoppage of the evening, after sending Mansfield's Gordon Hills to the canvas twice in the second round. The bout began with a furious exchange of punches that resulted in Hill being cut earlier in the first round. Slater pounded Hills for almost a minute of the second round before Hills went down to his knees. After the restart, Hills made a desperate charge at Slater only to be knocked down again, when Referee Bernard Bruni stopped the contest.

112-pound Jon Whitbred was awarded the regional title as a walkover.

Suffering the night's only defeat was 185-pound Briama Cooper, who lost a decision to defending national champ Chuck Mussachio of Lock Haven. The fight, which turned the gym into a screaming asylum, was even until the third round, when Mussachio unloaded a series of merciless combinations on Cooper, who defeated Shippensburg's Andreas Aguirre Friday night.

"I tip my hat to him," Mussachio said. "He's got a lot of heart. I don't know if there was a clear cut winner in that fight."

165-pound Miles Rivas was defeated by VMI's Anthony Bravo on Friday, but will advance to Nationals on as the region's runner up.

"I saw heart in a bunch of people who would not quit," Wrable said. "Our boys were very aggressive tonight. We have a lot of things to work on but I like our chances at nationals."