Wilkes University Athletics

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

Guesseppe Rea leads Wilkes into a dual match with TCNJ Friday night and the Messiah Open on Saturday

NO. 9 WILKES WRESTLING SET FOR TCNJ/MESSIAH OPEN

2/6/2014 1:00:00 PM

NO. 9 WILKES WRESTLING SET FOR TCNJ/MESSIAH OPEN

No. 9 Wilkes (15-3) vs. No. 25 TCNJ/Messiah Open
Saturday • Sunday, February 7 • 8
Start Time: 7:00 p.m. • 10:00 a.m.
Ewing, N.J. • Grantham, Pa.

Colonels Notebook
• Wilkes returns to the mat competing at No. 25 The College of New Jersey Friday night and the Messiah Open on Saturday. Wilkes and TCNJ did not wrestle last year due to weather.

• Seventeen Colonel wrestlers have ten wins or better and 29 wrestlers stand .500 or better through the competition season for Wilkes.

• At 133-pounds, senior Myzar Mendoza (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) (103-29) became the sixth Wilkes wrestler to reach the 100-win plateau and the second in three years as Anthony Dattolo eclipsed the mark in 2011-12. Mendoza earned his 100th victory when he pinned his opponent in the second round of the MAC Championships in 4:34. Mendoza settled for fourth at the event.

• Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) (29-1) and Kris Krawchuk (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) (7-4) each claimed individual titles at the MAC Championships at 149-pounds and 157-pounds respectively. As a team, Wilkes finished second in the event behind champion Messiah.

• Wilkes features two wrestlers ranked in the most recent NWCA individual rankings as Mark Hartenstine (Easton, PA/Easton) is tabbed fifth in the country at 149-pounds and Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) is ranked tenth at 125-pounds. Hartenstine went a perfect 2-0 at the Wilkes tri-match on Saturday with a technical fall and pin. Hartenstine has not lost a match (his only loss this season) since the Wilkes Open in late December. Rea stands 22-5 on the year finishing second at the MAC Championships two weeks ago.

• Hartenstine (31-1) stands as the seventh most dominant wrestler in the nation in Division III and third in technical falls this season (7 tech falls).

• The Colonels claimed six top six finishers at last year's Messiah Open. Phil Racciato (Pen Argyl, PA/Pen Argyl) (157), William Fletcher (Ottsville, PA/Palisades) (285) and Chase Martino (Hixson, TN/The McCallie School) (174) eached finished in second place, while Levi Veppert (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) (184) earned a third place spot.

• TCNJ features two wrestler ranked in the top ten in the country including Brian Broderick (No. 1 at 184) and Zach Zotollo (No. 10 at 174). Broderick stands 8-3 overall and just two wins shy of 100 for his career. Zotollo is 16-3 on the year.

• The Wilkes wrestling program needs just two more victories to reach the 800 win mark in the program's 68 years.

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