Bald Eagle Area wrestler Lucas Fye announces college commitment

It’s become quite the norm for Centre County wrestlers to continue their careers at the collegiate level.

As of late, several of those wrestlers have been so good that they are hitting the mats at the highest level.

Bald Eagle Area’s Lucas Fye joined the group that has been able to have the opportunity to continue their wrestling careers on the Division I level on Saturday when he decided to commit to Lock Haven.

So, what drew him to the Bald Eagles?

“The coaching staff. They are really good and care about the kids,” he said. “The program is close. I’ve been going there for the camps and everything since I was little.”

Add in the fact that former Eagles teammates Noah Foltz and Grace Stem are there, along with the closeness to home, and it was a no brainer.

Besides Lock Haven, Fye had West Virginia and Navy as options. He even went on a visit to the Midshipmen on Friday before fully making up his mind.

Fye said it was a nice campus in Annapolis, Maryland, but it was “a bit too far (away).”

According to his mother, Deanna, the soon to be senior had several colleges contacting him.

“It was the first day, he got phone calls. He said he wanted to hunt and fish,” she said. “If they had that, he was all about it. He didn’t talk to a lot of places. He said, ‘If it’s Philadelphia, New York City, I’m not going to talk (to them).’ Ron (Guenot) told him if you don’t want to talk to anybody, then don’t talk to them. He took that philosophy. He ignored a lot.”

Fye said he projects to wrestle at 133 pounds when he joins Lock Haven in two years. He’s not sure what he plans to major in yet, but as his mom said, he’s all about being in the outdoors when he’s not wrestling.

However, he’s leaning toward possibly fisheries biology or a degree that would help him become a park ranger.

Fye said it was his intention to stay close to home, so that was a big reason why he choose the Bald Eagles over the Mountaineers. His decision not only made his family happy, but also Guenot.

“It’s exciting to know that the hard work and everything that he’s put in has paid off. It’s exciting to see that going forward,” Guenot said, “he’s going to continue his career academically and athletically at Lock Haven, and being able to follow him and watch him. As a coach, it’s what you want to see, your kids continuing to go on and be successful outside of the high school room, whether they go to college or not.”

Fye was asked when he felt that he could see himself competing on the Division I level. He said it was when he earned his fifth-place finish at the PIAA Championships as a sophomore.

For Guenot, he said that when Fye joined the varsity program as a freshman is when he knew because of his love for the sport. For Deanna, she agreed with her son because she said that’s when he really started believing in what he was being told from others about how great of a wrestler he was.

The love of the sport as Guenot mentioned is something that Fye said he couldn’t “imagine life without it.”

Ever since he stepped onto the mat at the age of 5, he never felt he was going to leave the sport.

“It’s definitely a blessing. It’s been there for me and helped me out along the way,” Fye said. “It’s always just part of my life. It’s what I do.”