Steve Finkernagel

Wilkes swept all four matches Saturday at the North/South Duals including wins over No. 22 Messiah and No. 21 York

NO. 24 WILKES WRESTLING GOES PERFECT 4-0 AT NORTH/SOUTH DUALS SATURDAY

1/5/2013 5:08:00 PM

NO. 24 WILKES WRESTLING GOES PERFECT 4-0 AT NORTH/SOUTH DUALS SATURDAY

COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The No. 24 Wilkes University wrestling team made an important statement Saturday at the North/South Duals held on the campus of Ursinus College. The Colonels swept all four matches, including two wins against ranked opponents.

Wilkes began the day with a comfortable 33-10 win over No. 22 Messiah College, then followed with a 35-9 victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy in its second match of the day. The Colonels best showing may have been in the third bout of the afternoon dominating No. 21 York College 31-3 before concluding the duals with a 43-9 win over West Chester University.

Wilkes moves to 8-3 overall in dual matches on the season and will likely move up the rankings when the latest polls are released next week.

In the win over Messiah the Colonels stormed out to a 27-0 lead after six bouts and never looked back. Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) gave Wilkes a 6-0 lead when the freshman pinned Kurt Rodrigues in 6:59 at 125-pounds. Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) continued the trend with a 4-2 decision at 133 and Jeff Peterson (Edison, NJ/Edison) claimed a 6-5 decision over No. 8 Kaleb Loht at 141 to push the advantage to 12-0. New transfer Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) moved his season mark to 5-1 with a 10-3 win at 149, while Kris Krawchuk (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) moved up to 157 and picked up a pin in 1:04.

After a Nathan White (Ellicott City, MD/River Hill) pin at 165 gave Wilkes a 27-0 lead, Messiah took the next two bouts at 174 and 184 before Matt Transue (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) closed out the Wilkes scoring pinning his opponent at 197 in 4:09.

Wilkes continued to roll in match two against USMMA as Rea grabbed a tech fall (16-1) at 125 followed by pins from Mendoza (4:42) and Peterson (2:57) to give the Colonels a 17-0 lead after three bouts. Hartenstine recorded his second win of the afternoon with a 3-0 decision and Phil Racciato (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl) and White each posted decision wins in their respective matches to extend the advantage to 26-0.

Dave Oberrender (Freeland, PA/Hazleton) (197) scored an 8-2 victory and Mike Shannon (Montvale, NJ/Northern Valley Regional) (285) pinned his opponent in 2:46 to round out the Wilkes scoring.

In the match against York, Rea kept Wilkes on top early with a 13-5 major decision at 125. After a Mendoza decision, Hartenstine topped No. 7 Vinny Pisani 5-2 to give Wilkes a 10-3 cushion. Krawchuk (6-2) and White (5-0) each earned decision wins. Dustin Stough (Friendsville, MD/Northern Garrett) took a 4-0 win and Seth Gray (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) collected a 10-6 victory in their first wins of the afternoon as Wilkes led 22-3. Transue took a 7-2 decision at 197 and a pin from William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) at 285 sealed the 31-3 victory.

Wilkes concluded the perfect sweep against West Chester as Rea, Peterson and Hartenstine each received forfeits as the Colonels led 24-0 after four bouts. Tyler Lauchaire (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) earned a major decision win (11-2) at 157 and Chase Martino (Hixson, TN/The McCallie School) pinned his opponent at 174 to give Wilkes a commanding 40-3 advantage.

Wilkes will make its much anticipated home dual match debut Wednesday when the Colonels host Division II power East Stroudsburg University at 7:00 p.m. at the Marts Center.

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