Wilkes Wrestlers Conclude Day One of NCAA Championships; Rea, Grossmann Advance to Semifinals

Wilkes Wrestlers Conclude Day One of NCAA Championships; Rea, Grossmann Advance to Semifinals

HERSHEY, PA – Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) and Matthew Grossmann (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) continued the trend of Wilkes University All-Americans both advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Championships Friday at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pa.

It marks the seventh straight year a Wilkes qualifier has earned All-American status dating back to the 2009 season.

Rea, the fourth seed at 125-pounds, used two back-and-forth matches to move into the semifinal round. He opened his first round bout with a takedown to take a 2-0 lead before Jakob Stageberg answered with back-to-back escapes midway through the second period. After Rea escaped to start the third period, a takedown midway through the final frame and added riding time sealed the four-point decision win for the Colonel junior.

Rea then wrestled Daniel Page of Central (IA) who upset the fifth seed in the opening round claiming a 3-2 decision in the bout to move into the semifinals and guarantee All-American status with no worse than a sixth place finish. It marks Rea's first-ever All-American nod in his strong three-year career in the Navy and Gold. He will face top-seeded Mike Fuennffinger of Augsburg in the semifinals with the winner moving onto the NCAA final bout.

Grossmann, seeded fifth at 133-pounds, made it look easy in his two matches of the day. The rookie wasted little time pinning Jacob Spearman of Washington and Jefferson in 3:56. He followed that performance with a pin of fourth seeded and No. 6 Connor Campo of Wartburg in 6:02 to move onto the semifinals and claim All-American status in the process. Grossmann will face the second ranked wrestler at 133 and top seed Nathan Giorgio of US Coast Guard Academy in one of the semifinal bouts tomorrow morning.

Kyle Diesel (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley) wrestled strong in his opening match at 174-pounds against top-seeded Conner Lefever of Wabash holding a one-point lead in the second period before falling 8-6. He answered back with an 11-1 major decision over Nicholas Allen of Olivet. Diesel's run came to a close in his third match of the day falling 4-1 to the second seed and fifth ranked wrestler Josh Thomson of Messiah in the consolation second round. His season ends with a 24-10 overall record.

Josh Evans (Palmerton, PA/Palmerton) fell in both of his matches at 149-pounds in his first action in the NCAA Championships. Evans fell 7-3 against Eamonn Gaffney of Ithaca in the opening round before being pinned in 3:41 by Trevor Engle of Cornell College in his consolation match. He finishes his rookie season with a 15-7 overall record.

Semifinal action will resume Saturday morning as Rea and Grossmann compete for a chance at a national title.

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