For junior Eric Bradley and sophomore Luke Runion, Sin City held no surprises.

After reaching the championship bout in their respective weight classes at the National Collegiate Boxing Championships held in Las Vegas, Nev., April 3-5, Runion and Bradley found themselves in a familiar place.

They were about to square off against the same two Army boxers they had defeated for individual titles at the Eastern Regional tournament, held at Penn State in March.

But that was just fine with them. They simply made it a repeat performance.

Bradley was able to win the national collegiate boxing title in the 195-pound weight class with a 3-2 decision.

Runion claimed the heavyweight national collegiate title by knocking out his opponent in the third round of the bout with a Referee Stops Contest (RSC) call.

Bradley and Runion were part of the six-member Penn State boxing club team that capped off its season with a fourth-place finish at the championships.

They also turned in four All-Americans in addition to the two individual national champions.

Also boxing for the team were junior Miles Rivas and sophomore Jude Leriche, who both made it to the semifinal bout.

Sophomores Joe Smith and Patrick Sullivan were eliminated the first night of competition.

Air Force, which won the overall team title with a 12-member squad, held quite an advantage over the six-member Penn State team.

"Even if they lose half their team the first night, they already have what we started with," Penn State boxing coach Bill Wrable said.

"It is hard to beat them."

Despite the disadvantage in the team competition, the Penn State boxers were still able to beat their competition individually.

For Bradley, the national championship came in an unusual place.

Originally a wrestler for the Penn State varsity squad, he was told that his wrestling career was over after he sustained two stress fractures in his vertebrae.

Bradley turned to boxing and found unexpected success, due in part to his experience as a wrestler.

"I started boxing in the spring semester, so I was still in pretty good conditioning from wrestling," Bradley said. "For the six minutes, I was able to keep going. I got tired, but I was able to push through it. I was able to wear down my opponent."

Bradley also found unexpected success in the healing of his vertebrae, as he has now been cleared to return to the wrestling squad and will leave boxing behind. Runion also wrestled in high school but was not able to continue at Penn State, so instead decided tp turn to boxing.

"I joined the club team last fall as a freshman because I wanted to try a new sport and stay in shape," Runion said. "But I didn't have any idea [that I would win a championship]."

Runion credited both internal and external motivation for his championship.

"Having a great coach and a great team helped," Runion said.

"I had wanted to win this because I lost in the semifinals last year."

"Luke is a very tough guy," Wrable said.

"He got hit by a guy from Miami of Ohio a couple of times, and I didn't know if he was going to make it up, but he fought back."

Runion also noted that since this may be his last year to compete in a sport competition, he wanted to make the most of it and walk away with a championship.

"I knew it [may] be my last year to compete in a sport and I just thought about that," Runion said.

While Runion is only a sophomore and could still box for two more seasons.

However, the status of next year's boxing club squad is still unclear, as Wrable will resign after 13 years of coaching.

"I've got to spend time with the kids at home," Wrable said. "It's just taking up too much time."

Wrable is unsure of the plans to find a replacement or even to keep the boxing program going next year, but the competitor in each of the boxers is hoping for the best.

"If there's another coach, I'll definitely return," Runion said. "[I'd like to] defend my title."