Steve Finkernagel

Mark Hartenstine went 3-0 with two technical falls in Wilkes' 2-1 start to the NWCA National Duals Saturday

NO. 5 WILKES WRESTLING GOES 2-1 AT NWCA NATIONAL DUALS; WILL WRESTLE MOUNT UNION SUNDAY AT 9:00 A.M.

1/11/2014 3:56:00 PM

NO. 5 WILKES WRESTLING GOES 2-1 AT NWCA NATIONAL DUALS; WILL MOUNT UNION IN CONSOLATION ROUND ON SUNDAY AT 9:00 A.M.

DES MOINES, IOWA – The No. 5 Wilkes University wrestling team went 2-1 through its first three matches of the NWCA National Duals Saturday in the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Colonels opened with a 27-12 win over St. John's before falling to No. 4 UW Whitewater 26-11 in the quarterfinals in a battle of two top-five nationally ranked squads. The Colonels rebounded later in the day scoring a 16-15 win over UW La Crosse to continue wrestling into day two Sunday.

Wilkes will now continue wrestling in the consolation round at 9:00 a.m. against Mount Union on Sunday with a chance for fifth place on the line.

Wilkes wasted little time building its lead against St. John's as Michael Fleck (Easton, PA/Wilson Area) scored a 16-1 technical fall over John Wells to give the Colonels a 5-0 advantage. Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) continued the winning trend earning his 97^th career victory with a 7-0 decision over Mike Pleski at 133-pounds as Wilkes led 8-0.

After St. John's grabbed a 6-5 decision at 141-pounds, Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) cruised past Joseph Hessing at 149-pounds with a 16-0 technical fall for his 21^st victory of the season as Wilkes kept a 13-3 edge.

Phillip Racciato earned a hard-fought 11-10 decision at 165-pounds and Kyle Diesel (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) breezed past Theodore Erickson 8-0 at 174-pounds to pushed the Wilkes lead to 20-3. Levi Veppert (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) (184) and Eric Bach (Newton, NJ/Kittatiny) (197) closed out the Colonels victory with an 11-3 major decision and 8-4 decision respectively in their bouts.

The quarterfinals match featured two top-five nationally ranked teams as UW Whitewater entered the tournament ranked fourth in the country. Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) opened with a 10-5 decision win to give Wilkes a 3-0 lead early. UW Whitewater used a major decision at 133-pounds to take its first lead, 4-3, after two bouts.

Another decision win at 141-pounds upped the UW Whitewater advantage to 7-3. Hartenstine picked up his second win of the day with his second consecutive technical fall (17-0) over Elroy Perkin giving the Colonels the lead back at 8-7 through four bouts.

Kris Krawchuk (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) earned a 3-0 decision at 157-pounds to keep Wilkes ahead 11-7 with five bouts remaining. From there, UW Whitewater recorded wins in all the remaining bouts including extra point victories with a major decision and fall at 165 and 285 respectively to advance to the semifinals.

In the late match against UW La Crosse, the squads split the bouts with each grabbing decision wins in five matches.

For Wilkes, Pankil Chander (Cedarhurst, NY/Lawrence) rallied from a 5-0 deficit to post a 10-8 overtime win against Mason Geary at 141-pounds. William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) was another overtime winner for the Colonels notching a takedown in the extra frame to secure the 3-1 victory.

With the teams tied at 15-15 after ten bouts, Wilkes was awarded the victory posting 52 total team points to UW La Crosse's 50 points thus gaining the one point edge.

The Colonels will wrestle Mount Union University at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow for a spot in the fifth place match at 1:00 p.m.

Wilkes 27, St. John's 12
125 – M. Fleck (Wilkes) over John Wells (St. John`s) TF 16-1
133 – M. Mendoza (Wilkes) over Mike Pleski (St. John`s) Dec 7-0
141 – Ben Henle (St. John`s) over P. Chander (Wilkes) Dec 6-5
149 – M. Hartenstine (Wilkes) over Joseph Hessing (St. John`s) TF 16-0
157 – Ryan Arne (St. John`s) over K. Krawchuk (Wilkes) Dec 4-3
165 – P. Racciato (Wilkes) over Brandon Seppelt (St. John`s) Dec 11-10
174 – K. Diesel (Wilkes) over Theodore Erickson (St. John`s) Maj 8-0
184 – L. Veppert (Wilkes) over John Friesen (St. John`s) Maj 11-3
197 – E. Bach (Wilkes) over Ryan Michaelis (St. John`s) Dec 8-4
285 – Matt Kadrlik (St. John`s) over W. Fletcher (Wilkes) Fall 3:27

UW Whitewater 26, Wilkes 11
125 - G. Rea (Wilkes) over Zac Denny (UW Whitewater) Dec 10-5
133 - Jimmy Nehls (UW Whitewater) over M. Mendoza (Wilkes) Maj 10-0
141 - Matt Adcock (UW Whitewater) over P. Chander (Wilkes) Dec 7-5
149 - M. Hartenstine (Wilkes) over Elroy Perkin (UW Whitewater) TF 17-0
157 - K. Krawchuk (Wilkes) over Tom Gerszewski (UW Whitewater) Dec 3-0
165 - Cedric Gibson (UW Whitewater) over S. Lombardi (Wilkes) Maj 15-4
174 - Jordan Newman (UW Whitewater) over K. Diesel (Wilkes) Dec 2-0
184 - Andrew Pettit (UW Whitewater) over M. Duque (Wilkes) Dec 9-6
197 - Shane Siefert (UW Whitewater) over E. Bach (Wilkes) Dec 6-0
285 - Anthony Edgren (UW Whitewater) over W. Fletcher (Wilkes) Fall 0:48

Wilkes 16, UW La Crosse 15 (52-50 match points for Wilkes)
125 – G. Rea (Wilkes) over Ryan Weinmann (UW La Crosse) Dec 10-3
133 - Dustin Weinmann (UW La Crosse) over M. Mendoza (Wilkes) Dec 3-1
141 – P. Chander (Wilkes) over Mason Geary (UW La Crosse) SV-1 10-8
149 – M. Hartenstine (Wilkes) over Dylan Shaffer (UW La Crosse) Dec 7-3
157 – K. Krawchuk (Wilkes) over RJ Dilcher (UW La Crosse) Dec 10-3
165 - Tyler Schneider (UW La Crosse) over P. Racciato (Wilkes) Dec 12-6
174 - Richard Carlson (UW La Crosse) over K. Diesel (Wilkes) Dec 5-1
184 - Eric Twohey (UW La Crosse) over L. Veppert (Wilkes) Dec 6-2
197 - Mike Minske (UW La Crosse) over E. Bach (Wilkes) Dec 6-2
285 – W. Fletcher (Wilkes) over Jake Minske (UW La Crosse) SV-1 3-1

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