WILLIAMSPORT, PA – Thomas Stokes (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem) and Nicholas Racanelli (West Creek, NJ/Southern Regional) were each crowned NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Champions at their respective weight classes Saturday and earned a trip to the NCAA Championships in the process as the two seniors helped lead the Wilkes University wrestling team to a fourth place finish out of 20 teams at the regional tournament hosted by Lycoming College.

Wilkes has now had at least one National Qualifier for the past 15 seasons under the guidance of head coach Jon Laudenslager. The fourth place team finish is the best for the Colonels since winning the regional championship during the 2014 season. Stokes and Racanelli took home the first individual regional titles since the 2015 season when two Colonels placed first.

Full Results

Stokes, the No. 2 seed at 141-pounds, became a first-time National Qualifier by winning his semifinal bout with a 4-3 decision over the No. 3 seed Hai Siu of Greensboro. Stokes followed that up by winning the finals bout against the No. 5 seed Mario Vasquez of Ferrum in a thriller by sudden victory 9-7. Stokes will enter Nationals with a 27-5 overall record this season.

Racanelli, the No. 1 seed at 165-pounds, also picked up two victories on Saturday to make the fifth-year senior a three-time National Qualifier. He first defeated the No. 5 seed Shane Conners of Washington & Lee with a 3-0 decision in the semifinals. Racanelli then won his first regional championship with a nail-biting sudden victory over the No. 3 seed Jared Walker of Washington & Jefferson, 5-3. Racanelli will enter Nationals with a 31-1 record this season.

Ashton Gyenizs (Madison, CT/Daniel Hand) was the other Colonel grappler in the semifinals today. At 174-pounds Gyenizs, the No. 5 seed, dropped a 6-2 decision to top-seeded Colin Kowalski of Gettysburg. Then in the consolation semifinals the senior lost to No. 4 seed Brian Shermeyer of Messiah. Gyenizs was awarded the fifth-place bout victory by medical forfeit when his opponent from Penn College could not go.

Also placing at the tournament were Dylan O'Connor (Somerset, NJ/Bishop George Ahr) (133) and Moustafa Almeky (Shavertown, PA/Dallas) (197) in fifth, Kyle Trout (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape) (125) in sixth and Kyle Medrow (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson) (149) in seventh.

O'Connor started today with a victory in his consolation third round bout with a 7-2 decision over Korpesh Gootee of Averett. The sophomore, seeded at No. 5, dropped his consolation semifinal bout by a 5-1 decision to Josh Kuslock of Waynesburg before defeating Paul Bauberger of Greensboro with a 5-2 decision in the fifth-place bout at 133-pounds.

Almeky, the No. 6 seed at 197-pounds won his consolation ladder third-round match with a 5-2 decision against Antavian Leary of Ferrum before falling by a 3-1 decision to No. 5 seed Jared Mooney of Penn College in the consolation semifinals. The sophomore then took fifth place with an injury victory over the No. 3 seeded wrestler from York (Pa.).

Trout won his third round bout in the consolation ladder with a sudden victory decision over Dylan Williams of Waynesboro. Trout, the No. 7 seed at 125-pounds, then dropped his consolation semifinal to No. 3 seed Jalen White of Ferrum and a close 2-0 decision to Shane Casey of Lycoming in the fifth-place bout as the sophomore finished sixth.

Medrow, the No. 6 seed at 149-pounds, lost his third-round bout of the consolation bracket to Austin Smith of Ferrum. The junior then won the seventh-place bout by pin at the 1:32 mark of the first period over Matt Sparks of King's.

Wilkes earned fourth place as a team with 106 points. Messiah won the team championship with 121 points while No. 25 Ferrum and Lycoming tied for second with 114.5 points.

Stokes and Racanelli will now compete at the NCAA Division III Championships on March 8-9 in Roanoke, Va.