WILKES-BARRE, PA – Junior Colton Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) made his Wilkes University wrestling debut by taking the 184-pound championship at the Ned McGinley Invitational hosted by King's College at McGrane Gymnasium Saturday and the Colonels placed third of 15 teams overall.

First years Austin Fashouer (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) reached the finals in their respective weight classes and earned runner up finishes in their Wilkes debuts. Junior James Geiger (Dallas, PA/Dallas) placed third at 165 and first year Charles Everdale (Freeland, PA/Hazleton Area) debuted with a fourth place finish at 157.

Full Results

Wilkes earned 101 team points to place third overall. Rochester Institute of Technology earned the team championship with 112 points and Averett University placed second with 105 points. Averett had the most individual title winners with three of the 10.

Babcock, a transfer from Shippensburg University and the No. 1 seed, began his trek to the 184-pound title with a Round of 16 victory over Garrett Butt of York (Pa.) by fall at 1:09. He then defeated eighth-seeded Gabe Rodrigues of NYU by fall at 26 seconds in the Quarterfinals. Babcock then won by decision in the Semifinals by a 9-4 count over No. 5 seed Cole Shaughnessy of Roger Williams University. Bobcock finished the day 4-0 with a victory in the Finals over third-seeded Colby Giroux of NYU with a 14-7 decision.

Fashouer opened his Wilkes career as the No. 3 seed at 125 and started the tournament with a fall at 1:48 over Jestin Poruban of Pitt-Bradford in the Round of 32. He then picked up a Round of 16 fall at 4:36 over Justin Amendola of Cortland. In the Quarterfinals Fashouer knocked off Lee Rubin of RIT with his third fall of the day, this time at 3:42. He won his Semifinal with an 11-1 major decision over Tyler Crew of NYU who was seeded second. Fashouer then battled top seeded Samuel Braswell of Averett in the Final coming up just shy in a 7-5 decision as he placed second and was 4-1 on the day.

Butka was unseeded in the 197-pound bracket and won his debut match with a pin at 1:17 in the Round of 32 over his opponent from Greensboro. In the Round of 16 Butka knocked off seventh-seeded Josh Karkless of RIT with an 8-4 decision. Butka then picked up a fall over second-seeded Luke LaVanway of Waynesburg at 4:49 of the Quarterfinals. He continued his run with a win of the No. 6 seed from Greensboro in the Semifinals by a 9-6 decision. Butka then placed runner-up and finished the day 4-1 as he dropped his First-Place Bout to top-seeded Camden Farrow of York by a 7-1 decision.

Geiger was seeded fourth at 165 and won by fall in the Round of 32 at 5:23 over Steven Gazzillo of Cortland. He then beat Cooper Kidd of Delaware Valley 7-3 in the Round of 16 and picked up another decision win in the Quarterfinals with an 11-4 finish over Timothy Sparks of York. Geiger then dropped his Semifinal bout to top-seeded Alex Turley of Averett but rebounded with a victory over seventh-seeded Jayden Curley of Roger Williams in the consolation semifinals with a fall at 4:16. Geiger then earned third place with a victory over second seeded Morgan Peterson of Southern Virginia with a tight 8-6 decision. He went 5-1 on the day.

Everdale was seeded sixth at 157 for his Wilkes debut and won a tight Round of 32 bout over Thomas Baldwin of Averett by an 11-9 decision. Everdale then won by fall over Cameron Leslie of King's in the Round of 16 at 1:38. He took a technical fall at 3:59 by a 17-2 score over Zachary Zuckerman of Delaware Valley in the Quarterfinals. Second-seeded Chandler Merwin of Cortland defeated the first year by an 8-7 decision in a close Semifinal. Everdale then won his consolation semifinal over No. 8 seed Kevin Luker of Roger Williams by a 7-5 decision before dropping the Third-Place Bout to third seeded Trent Furman of NYU to place fourth with a 4-2 record.

The rest of the Colonels lineup produced results on the day as well, going a combined 35-46.

Nicholas Bauer (Coplay, PA/Wyoming Seminary) was seeded fourth at 125 and went 2-2 on the day. At 133 first year Rene Trevino (Rio Grande City, TX/Rio Grande City) went 1-2 and sixth seeded Jack Bauer (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) was 1-1 overall before exiting with a medical forfeit.

At 141 Max Shaffer (Doylestown, PA/Archbishop Wood) was seeded seventh and finished the day 3-1 overall. He lost in the Quarterfinals and then took a medical forfeit in the consolation round of 4 to end his tournament. Michael Richardson (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) finished 3-2 with his losses coming to the No. 3 seed and No. 8 seed. Josef Lundin (Edmonton, AB/Vimy Ridge Academy) debuted for the Colonels, going 0-2.

Kyle Tino (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) finished the tournament 4-2 as he was seeded fourth at 149. He wrestled back to the consolation round of 4 with three-straight falls. Allen Kokilananda (Springfield, VA/Annandale) went 2-2 overall including a victory over the 149 No. 6 seed. Ezra Neff (Walnutport, PA/Northern Lehigh) finished 1-2 and Benjamin Griffith (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) was 0-2.

Fourth-seeded Liam Flaherty (Needmore, PA/Southern Fulton) went 3-2 at 157 as he reached the consolation round of 4 after making the Quarterfinals. Carson Wells (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Township) debuted with a 2-0 record for Wilkes but had to end his day in the Round of 16 with a medical forfeit. Ayden Dillon (Littlestown, PA/Littlestown) was 0-2 at 157 while Trevor DuBoff (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland) and Devin Doty (Port Jervis, NY/Minisink Valley) went 0-2 at 165.

John Devito (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) was seeded fifth at 174 but was 0-2 for the Colonels while Christopher Nuss (Gore, VA/James Wood) went 2-2 on the day with two pins in the weight class as he reached the Quarterfinals. First year Quentin Day (Annapolis, MD/Severn School) finished 2-2 including a win by fall at 184. Also at 184, Brady Mitchell (Brunswick, ME/Mount Ararat) and Dawson Tallant (Cape May, NJ/Middle Township) went 1-2 overall.

Austin Cominsky (Cape May Courthouse, NJ/Middle Township) was seeded fifth at 197 and finished 1-2 overall. Kevin Falcon (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) won his Round of 32 Bout with a decision over the No. 6 seed and went 1-2 overall. At 285 Sean McCurdy (Philadelphia, PA/Academy of the New Church) had a strong showing as he went 3-2 overall including wins over the No. 2 and No. 4 seeds. Hunter Lowe (Westminster, MD/Winters Mill) and Brian McKinnon (Highland Lakes, NJ/Ridgewood) went 1-2 overall.

Wilkes returns to the mat on Friday to open its home slate at the Marts Center with a dual match against TCNJ at 7:00 p.m.