Steve Finkernagel

Myzar Mendoza became the sixth Wilkes wrestler to reach the 100 win plateau at the MAC Championships Saturday

NO. 6 WILKES WRESTLING FINISHES SECOND AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS; HARTENSTINE/KRAWCHUK CLAIM INDIVIDUAL TITLES

1/25/2014 5:51:00 PM

NO. 6 WILKES WRESTLING FINISHES SECOND AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS; HARTENSTINE/KRAWCHUK CLAIM INDIVIDUAL TITLES

GRANTHAM, PA – The No. 6 Wilkes University wrestling team finished second of six teams at the 2014 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships with two Colonels earning individual titles Saturday at Hitchcock Arena.

Wilkes finished with 94.5 total team points, eight points behind MAC champion No. 8 Messiah who claimed the title with 102.5 points. Delaware Valley followed in third with 93.5 points, while Elizabethtown (60), King's (42) and Lycoming (2) rounded out the list.

The top seed at 149-pounds, sixth-ranked Hartenstine continued his fine wrestling this season cruising to the title with three falls and a decision win. He began the day pinning Christian Felstedt in 2:09 then claimed a fall in 1:17 over Elizabethtown's Michael Henning. Following his third pin in the semifinals (2:02) over Messiah's Greg Kabakjian, Hartenstine earned the title with a 1-0 decision against Vincent Fava of Del Val in the championship bout. Fava was ranked tenth in the country according to d3wrestle.com rankings.

The reigning national semifinalist, Krawchuk was back at his winning ways in the tournament using three extra point wins on way to the title. He opened with a 16-0 technical fall over Elizabethtown's Rafi Sayada in the second round. He pinned teammate Stephen Turner (Plains, PA/Coughlin) in 3:47 before earning the title with a 13-4 major decision over Delaware Valley's Emmanual Ajagbe in the championship bout.

At 125-pounds, Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) settled for second place after falling in the final bout to top-seeded Lucas Malmberg of Messiah. After receiving a bye, Rea posted a hard-fought 5-0 overtime win over Delaware Valley's Zach Haynes

Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) became the sixth Wilkes wrestler to reach the 100-win plateau when he pinned Jared Furry in 4:34. Mendoza would fall in the semifinals to eventual champion Chad Lemmer of Elizabethtown before settling for fourth place.

Two Colonels squared off for third place at 141-pounds when Pankil Chander (Cedarhurst, NY/Lawrence) claimed the bout over Ryan Smith (Honesdale, PA/Honesdale). Smith was unable to continue wrestling (medical forfeit).

Kyle Diesel (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) wrestled his way to the championship bout at 174-pounds with a 3-2 decision over Delaware Valley's Benjamin Schweiger in the semifinals. Diesel would fall in the title bout to top-seeded Ricardo Plummer of Messiah 4-2 in overtime.

Levi Veppert (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) (184) and Eric Bach (Newton, NJ/Kittatiny) (197) each claimed third place finishes in their respective weight classes to round out the Colonel scorers. Veppert rode a 2-0 decision over Luke Fernandez of Elizabethtown in the third place bout, while Bach posted a 5-2 decision victory over Jason Wright of Messiah in the consolation round.

Wilkes returns home to the Marts Center Saturday, February 1^st hosting a tri-match with Trinity College and Washington and Jefferson College starting at 11:00 a.m.

Team Scores
1) Messiah      102.5
2) Wilkes          94.5
3) Del Val          93.5
4) E-Town         60.0
5) King's 42.0
6) Lycoming        4.0

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