WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Wilkes University wrestling team sits in third place out of 20 teams after day one of the NCAA Division III Southeast Regional hosted by Lycoming College. Thomas Stokes (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem), Nicholas Racanelli (West Creek, NJ/Southern Regional) and Ashton Gyenizs (Madison, CT/Daniel Hand) all advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight classes while four more Colonel grapplers are still alive in their consolation bracket.

The top three finishers at each weight class will advance to the NCAA Championships. Wilkes is looking to extend its streak of having at least one National Qualifier to 15 year under the direction of head coach Jon Laudenslager.

Day One Results

At 141 pounds Stokes, seeded at No. 2, defeated Lukas McClain of Thiel in a round one bout by a 13-4 major decision. The senior then took a 5-2 decision over McDaniel's Isaiah Edmond in the quarterfinals to advance to tomorrow's semifinals.

Racanelli, the No. 1 seed at 165-pounds, began his day with a first round second period fall in 3:24 over Dan Verhovsek of Waynesburg. The senior then advanced to tomorrow's semifinals with a 12-2 major decision against David Stevens of Messiah.

Gyenizs had to win three matches today to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. First, the No. 5 seed at 174-pounds, picked up a preliminary round victory against Tyron Dudley of Greensboro by an 18-0 first period technical fall. In the senior's round one match he advanced with a fall in 1:18 over Javian Moore of Averett. Gyenizs then won his quarterfinal bout by a 6-3 decision over Jaden Datz of Washington & Jefferson.

Four more Colonels remain alive for a chance to finish in third place in the consolation rounds of their respective weight class brackets tomorrow.

Kyle Trout (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape), the No. 7 seed at 125-pounds, lost his round one bout to Lycoming's Shane Casey by decision but was able to use a consolation round one bye and an 11-3 major decision in round two over Jeremy Berger of Johns Hopkins to advance to tomorrow's consolation third round.

Dylan O'Connor (Somerset, NJ/Bishop George Ahr) picked up a victory in his 133-pound first round bout by a 13-2 major decision against Colin Jens of Penn College. O'Connor, the No. 5 seed, then dropped his quarterfinal to No. 4 seed Russell Benson of Delaware Valley in a second overtime tiebreak by a 2-1 score. The sophomore then won his consolation ladder second round match over Daniel Florentino of Washington & Jefferson by way of a 7-3 decision to advance to tomorrow's consolation third round.

At 149-pounds Kyle Medrow (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson) started his day with a 19-0 technical fall in the first period over Cole Ruffo of Penn State Behrend in round one. The junior, seeded No. 6, then fell in his quarterfinal bout to No. 3 seed Michael Heinl of Washington & Jefferson. Medrow stayed alive with a 5-2 decision in his second round consolation bracket match against Caleb Harmon of Averett.

Moustafa Almeky (Shavertown, PA/Dallas), the No. 6 seed at 197-pounds, picked up a first round 7-1 decision victory against Delaware Valley's Steve Horvath before falling by an 8-4 decision to No. 3 seed Jesse Huber of York (Pa.) in the quarterfinals. The sophomore then began his wrestle back with 5-2 consolation round two decision victory over Quigley Whitaker of Southern Virginia.

John Ritter (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty), Austin Cominsky (Cape May Courthouse, NJ/Middle Township) and Roger Horton (Towanda, Pa./Athens) each won at least one bout today but were unable to advance to tomorrow's action.

Ritter, the No. 8 seed at 157-pounds, won his first two bouts today. The senior defeated Ray Martin of Gettysburg by way of a second period 18-2 technical fall in a preliminary round bout. Ritter then won with a third period 20-4 technical fall in a first round bout against Jason Miller of Thiel. He then dropped a tight 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals to No. 1 seed Trevor Corl of Lycoming and another close 3-2 decision to No. 7 seed Collin Saunders of Ferrum in the consolation second round.

At 184-pounds the No. 12 seeded Cominsky dropped his first round bout to No. 5 seed Dominic Farabaugh of Thiel. The freshman then won his consolation first round bout with an 11-1 major decision over Isaac Mensah of King's before falling to Bradley Miccio of Lycoming in the second round.

Horton, the No. 12 seed at 285, dropped his opening round bout by decision to No. 5 seed Alveno Matthews of Ferrum. The sophomore then defeated Ethan Wolf of McDaniel by a 6-1 decision in the consolation ladder first round before falling to No. 6 seed Sam Colebert in the second round.

Wilkes is in third place in the team standings with 63.5 points after day one. Messiah is currently first with 71.0 points and No. 25 Ferrum is second with 66.0 points.

Action on day two gets underway at 10:00 a.m. Saturday with the semifinals and consolation third round. The consolation semifinals are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. followed by the championship finals and third, fifth and seventh place matches starting at 1:30 p.m.