GRANTHAM, PA – The Wilkes University wrestling team finished in second place at the 2017 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championships Saturday afternoon hosted by Messiah College. Matthew Grossmann (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) led eight Colonel medalists capturing the 141-pound title at the event.

Full Results

Wilkes earned 132 points with one individual title, four runner-ups and three third-place finishers for a total of eight medalists. Messiah claimed their second-straight conference championships finishing with 166.5 team points including five of the ten individual winners. Lycoming came in third with 126 points, Delaware Valley fourth with 99.5 points and King' fifth with 52.5 total points.

The champions are named to the All-MAC First Team; second-place is named to the All-MAC Second Team; and third-place is named All-MAC Honorable Mention.

Grossmann earned his first MAC title using two extra-point victories to reach the semifinals. He pinned Alex Maya-Romero of King's in the first round before a 16-1 technical fall over Messiah's Matt Darok in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Grossmann bested Joseph Santomarco of Lycoming 6-1 setting up a rematch with Tim Ambacher of Delaware Valley in the finals whom beat Grossmann 9-5 in the North South Duals two weeks earlier. Grossmann got his revenge in the match posting a 3-2 decision to claim the title.
 
Jessie Lopez (Everett, WA/Everett) wrestled to third place and honorable mention status at 141 when he bested Santomarco in the third place bout by a 4-2 decision.
 
Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) was one of four runner up finishers for Wilkes settling for second place at 125-pounds. Following a bye, Rea opened with a fall over Max Styer of DVU before a 5-1 decision over teammate Denzel Tovar (Wall, NJ/Wall) moved the senior into the finals. In the finals Rea met returning champion Lucas Malmberg of Messiah where he fell in 6:00.
 
Pankil Chander (Cedarhurst, NY/Lawrence) was the second runner up finisher for Wilkes taking home second place at 133-pounds. Chander started his day with an 18-3 technical fall over Chris Coakley of King's before another technical fall (16-1) over teammate Edwin Fiscal (Bogota, NJ/Bogota) to reach the finals. There Chander fell in 6:30 to eventual champion Hunter Harris of Messiah.
 
At 149, Kyle Medrow (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson) earned honorable mention honors after finishing third in the weight class. Medrow began the day with a fall and technical fall to reach the semifinals before dropping that match to Stephen Maloney of Messiah. Medrow wrestled back with a fall in :59 before posting another fall in :34 in the third place bout to earn his first career all-conference honors.
 
At 157, Wilkes saw two wrestlers medal with John Ritter (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) taking home second while Nicholas Racanelli (West Creek, NJ/Southern Regional) finished in third. Ritter used an 18-0 technical fall in round one before a 12-10 deicison in the quarterfinals to setup a semifinal matchup with top seed Jeff Hojnacki. Ritter upset the top seed 7-4 to earn a spot in the finals. There he fell 7-0 to Hadyn Swartwood of Lycoming to settle for second place. Racanelli went 2-0 to reach the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Swartwood. Racanelli rebounded dominating his opponent 12-1 in the third place bout.
 
Jacob Brook (Layton, NJ/Kittatiny) rounded out the Colonel medalist at the tournament finishing in second place at 184-pounds. After opening with a bye, Brook went 7-0 and 8-5 to reach the finals. There he fell in 2:56 to top seed Derek Beitz of Messiah.
 
Other Wilkes finishers included Jordan Nochimson (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) (5^th at 197), Justin Morel (Corona, NY/Mt. St. Michael Academy) (4^th at 174), Brett McGill (Collegeville, PA/Spring-Ford) (4^th at 165), Morgan Fuller (Hamlin, PA/Western Wayne) (6^th at 149), Fiscal (5^th at 133) and Tovar (4^th at 125).
 
Wilkes finally makes its home debut Saturday hosting a quad match at the Marts Center. The Colonels opened with a match against SUNY Oneonta at 11:00 a.m. before dates with Keystone College at 1:00 p.m. and Washington and Jefferson at 3:00 p.m.