GRANTHAM, PA – The Wilkes University wrestling team completed day one action at the Messiah Petrofes Invitational held at Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena on Friday in eighth place out of 19 teams. John Devito (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central), Cody Dix (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor Township), and Moustafa Almeky (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) are all still alive for the Colonels heading into Saturday's action and will place at the invitational.

Full Brackets

Devito pinned Nolan Smith of Gettysburg in 1:22 in his Round of 32 bout in the 174-pound bracket. Devito then pinned Isaiah Castellucci of Messiah in just 14 seconds in the Round of 16. In his quarterfinal bout the freshman won with a 10-6 decision against Michael Bromley of McDaniel to advance to the semifinal round tomorrow with a perfect 3-0 day.

At 149-pounds Dix defeated Messiah's Jake Conigilo with a 6-4 decision in the Round of 32. He then defeated Erik Schreck of Penn College by fall in just 31 seconds to advance out of the Round of 16. Dix then lost his quarterfinal bout to Luke Hernandez of Mount Union to place into the consolation bracket. Dix then won by a 15-5 major decision over Gabe May of Thaddeus Stevens to finish the day 3-1.

At 197-pounds Almeky advanced to the Round of 16 with a 12-1 major decision against Vince Wilson of Greensboro. Almely then won by fall in 48 seconds over Noah Easterly of Thaddeus Stevens in the Round of 16. Almeky then dropped his quarterfinal match by a 3-1 decision to Matt Speelman of Southern Virginia. Almeky assured himself of placing with a fall at 6:00 over Alex Eaton of Alderson Broaddus in his first consolation bout as he ended Friday with a 3-1 record.

Nicholas Bauer (Coplay, PA/Wyoming Seminary) received a bye into the Round of 16 where he fell by a 9-8 decision to Luke Hewitt of Mount Union. Bauer then wrestled back with a fall at 1:49 against Zach Kremer of Washington and Jefferson and a medical forfeit advancement over Breandan Coughlin of Alderson Broaddus. He then ended his tournament with a 2-2 mark after a 7-2 decision went the way of Jordan Howard of Messiah.

At 141-pounds Dylan O'Connor (Somerset, NJ/Bishop George Ahr) won his preliminary match to earn a Round of 32 bout. O'Connor defeated Zachary Berlysz of Mount Union in the match by a 5-2 decision. He then lost the Round of 32 match to Chase Parrott of Springfield to fall into the consolation wrestle backs. There he won by fall in 1:20 against James Maloy of King's and by a 3-1 decision over Roger Moyer of Springfield. O'Connor then lost to Daniel Florentino of Washington and Jefferson to end his tournament with a 3-2 record.

James Shaw (Campbell Hall, NY/Burke Catholic) won his Round of 32 match at 157-pounds by a 12-6 decision against Jake Doyle of McDaniel. Shaw then lost in the Round of 16 to Stephen Maloney of Messiah before advancing with a medial forfeit in the consolation bracket over Trevor Crowley of Penn College. Nicolas Monteleone of Springfield then knocked Shaw out of the tournament with a 2-2 record.

Austin Cominsky (Cape May Courthouse, NJ/Middle Township) won his Round of 32 match in the 285-pound weight class over Robert Craig of Washington and Jefferson with an early fall at the 1:35 mark. Cominsky fell to Carter Urich of Messiah in the Round of 16. The sophomore heavyweight won by fall in 2:52 over Tyler LaRocca of Thaddeus Stevens in his first consolation bout. Cominsky stayed alive with a pin of Joseph Munro of Bridgewater in 2:12 before dropping a bout to Alex Brunner of Southern Virginia to finish the day 3-2 and one victory from placement.

Roger Horton (Towanda, Pa./Athens) defeated Tyson Jones of Springfield 3-2 in the first sudden victory round of his 285-pound Round of 32 match. From there Horton lost in the Round of 16 to Rocky McGeary of Waynesburg. Horton then beat Bret Nagle of Penn College by fall at 1:40 in his first consolation bout. The junior then lost to Tristen Cook of McDaniel to finish is day 2-2.

Kyle Tino (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) (149), Max Shaffer (Doylestown, PA/Archbishop Wood) (149), Allen Kokilananda (Annandale, VA/Annandale) (157), Benoit Chestnut (Roselle Park, NJ/Roselle Park) (157), Dallas Henry (Orwigsburg, PA/Blue Mountain) (184), Brady Mitchell (Bowdoin, ME/Mount Ararat) (184), and Dawson Tallant (Cape May, NJ/Middle Township) (184) all also entered the wrestle backs after Round of 32 losses. Tino defeated Grant Barber of Springfield by a 10-4 decision while Chestnut advanced by the forfeit by Luke Waggoner of Greensboro before both suffered losses to end their tournament with a 1-2 record. Shaffer, Kokilananda, Henry, Mitchell and Tallant were eliminated with a 0-2 record.

Wilkes is in eighth place after earning 51.5 team points on day one. Devito, Dix, and Almeky will return to the mat tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. for the Colonels to close out the Messiah Petrofes Invitational.