The Wilkes wrestling team lost to two nationally ranked schools and came out of the Nov. 10 John Reese Duals with a 1-3 record.
“We certainly didn’t cash in on a great opportunity to knock off two top 10 teams in the country, but feel we learned a lot about things we need to improve on,” head coach Jon Laudenslager said. “We wrestled better as the day went along and really wrestled well in beating No. 17-ranked John Hopkins in the final dual meet.
“I wouldn’t think anyone on our team thinks we wrestled our best though, but the good thing is it’s early in the season and we have time to improve each week before the fun stuff starts in March.”
Wilkes opened with the No. 8 team in the country, Centenary. In that match the Colonels got wins from Guesseppa Rea at 125, Myzar Mendoza at 133, Kris Krawchuk got a pin at 149, and Matthew Transue at 197. Centenary swept the last six bouts from the Colonels to win the match, 24-15.
The Colonel’s second match of the day was against New York University. Wilkes had three decision winners, Sean Lombardi at 149, Matthew Transue at 197 and William Fletcher at 285, and Dustin Stough had the only pin for the Colonels at 174. The Wilkes wrestling team lost this close match, 18-16.
The Colonel’s third match of the day was against No. 7 Cortland. The Colonels had five winners in this match: Guesseppa Rea got a pin at 125, Kris Krawchuk at 149, Mason McIntyre at 157, Marlon Duque at 184, and Dave Oberrender at 197. Cortland got the victory over the Colonels, 19-18.
Wilkes’ only win came in the last match of the day when the Colonels faced No. 18 Johns Hopkins.
Winning for the Colonels were Ryan Smith with the major decision score of 9-1, Kris Krawchuk at 149, Mason McIntyre at 157, Nathan White at 165, Dustin Stough at 174, Eric Bach at 184, Dave Oberrender at 197, and William Fletcher at 285. Johns Hopkins only won the 125-weight class and the 141-weight class the Colonels swept the rest of the eight bouts to win the match, 28-6.
“At 149 and 197 we were perfect on the day,” Laudenslager said. “Krawchuk beat the No. 10-ranked kid in the country at 149, the No. 5-ranked kid at 157 and a returning national qualifier. I would say that was a great day.
“Both Dave Oberrender and Matt Transue each won two matches on the day, with Dave avenging an earlier loss from the week before,” the coach said. “ Finally, I really like what I saw from Matt Evans. He didn’t win either of his matches, but he bumped up a weight class to fill in against two good competitors and had as much fight out there as any kid we put on the mat on Saturday. It’s all about the intensity and desire as coaches we are looking for.”
Wilkes defeats Elizabethtown, competes at ESU Open
Freshman Guesseppe Rea’s major decision at 125-pounds in the final bout of the match propelled visiting Wilkes University to a 21-18 win over Elizabethtown College Friday night in the Thompson Gymnasium.
Following a dramatic win Friday night, the No. 13 Wilkes University wrestling team sent multiple wrestlers to compete at the East Stroudsburg Open Saturday.
At 133-pounds, Mark Misczenski used two straight pins first a 4:45 fall in the opening round followed by a 1:00 takedown of Owen Bradley of Lycoming to move to the quarterfinals. Misczenski would fall twice by decision to end his run through the bracket.
Griffin Panicucci scored an 11-2 win in his opening round match at 141 while Stephen Turner and Phillip Racciato each scored victories in their opening bouts. Racciato took an 8-5 decision over Zac Wawryniak-Bush of Millersville while Turner pinned Tyler Evans of Lycoming in 2:34.
Marlon Duque grabbed two wins on the afternoon at 184-pounds with one coming on a 7-3 decision against teammate Levi Veppert. Matthew Transue pinned Timothy Glauninger of Lehigh in :30 to round out the Colonel winners.
Wilkes will returns to action Friday, Nov. 30, and Saturday, Dec. 1, when the team competes in the annual Messiah Petrofes Invitational on the Campus of Messiah College. – Sports Information Department