Steve Finkernagel

William Fletcher (285) was one of four NCAA qualifiers for Wilkes at the East Regionals Saturday

FOUR WILKES WRESTLERS QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT EAST REGIONAL; TEAM PLACES THIRD IN TEAM STANDINGS

3/2/2013 9:48:00 PM

FOUR WILKES WRESTLERS QUALIFY FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT EAST REGIONAL; TEAM PLACES THIRD IN TEAM STANDINGS

GETTYSBURG, PA – The No. 7 Wilkes wrestling team saw four wrestlers qualify for the NCAA Championships with two second place finishers and two third place finishers while the team finished third overall in the team standings Saturday at the East Regionals held at Gettysburg College.

To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, a wrestler must finish in the top three of his weight class. Wilkes finished third in the team standings totaling 106.5 points, just 1.5 points behind second place No. 8 Delaware Valley College and 2.5 behind first place No. 6 Centenary College.

No. 2 Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) (149) and No. 3 Kris Krawchuk (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) (157) both finished second at their respective weight classes falling in the finals. Matt Transue (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) (197) and William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) (285) also qualified for the NCAA Championships both finishing in third place at their respective classes.

Hartenstine, the top seed in the bracket, cruised through his first three bouts to reach the finals. He pinned Eddie Carroll in 1:07 in his first match before posting back to back major decision in the quarterfinals and semifinals. From there, Hartenstine met third seeded Michael Polizzi in the finals where Polizzi captured the title with an 11-6 decision. It marked only the second loss on the year for Hartenstine (21-2).

At 157, Krawchuk entered the tournament as the second seed and seemed to be destined for a collision course with top seeded Chris Burdge of Centenary. Krawchuk pinned his first opponent in 4:11 before a 2-0 win over Jesse Bader in the quarterfinals and a 6-2 decision in his semifinal match to reach the title bout against Burdge. Burdge bested Krawchuk in this matchup taking a 11-1 major decision.

Transue entered the tourney as the second seed and used an injury default and 13-2 major decision to reach the semifinals. Transue would fall to third seeded Musa Dereese of Hunter in the semis before capturing the third place bout 2-0 over Sabino Galassi of NYU. It marks the first time Transue has qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Wilkes final NCAA qualifier came at 285 where fourth seeded William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) began the day with a 6-1 decision before falling in the quarterfinals to Delaware Valley's Mike Boardman, 9-4. Fletcher wrestled back using a 2-0 decision and 3-1 sudden victory to reach the third place bout. He claimed a 5-4 decision over Kevin Popalski in the third place match for his first ever NCAA Championship appearance.

Other notable finishers for Wilkes included Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) (5^th at 125), Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) (6^th at 133), Jeff Peterson (Edison, NJ/Edison) (6^th at 141), Nathan White (Ellicott City, MD/River Hill) (5^th at 165), and Eric Bach (Newton, NJ/Kittatiny) (5^th at 184).

Hartenstine, Krawchuk, Transue, and Fletcher will compete at the NCAA Championships March 15 and 16 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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