WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University athletic department has announced the Colonels 2024-25 men's wrestling schedule Wednesday afternoon, continuing a series featuring schedule releases for its winter sports teams.

Coming off a 2023-24 season that saw three wrestlers go to the NCAA Tournament, the Colonels will compete in 20 events in 2024-25 under the leadership of head coach Jon Laudenslager who enters his 22^nd season at the helm of the program. The schedule features 11 standalone dual matches, three team dual competitions, and six individual tournaments. Eight of those dates will be hosted at the Marts Center.

To view the full schedule, click here.

Wilkes opens the 2024-25 season just down River Street at the King's Tournament hosted by cross-town rival King's College on Saturday, November 2 starting at 9:00 a.m. The team then travels to Ewing, N.J. to face The College of New Jersey in a dual match on Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:00 p.m. The next day, the Colonels open their home schedule with the Wilkes Quad as they host Keystone College, Elmira College, and New Jersey City University starting at 4:00 p.m.

Back on the road, the Colonels travel to Winchester, Va. to compete in the Shenandoah Invite on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 10:00 a.m. They continue the road stretch with two dual matches against Elizabethtown College and Lackawanna College on Nov. 22 (7:00 p.m.) and 23 (time TBD) respectively. The blue and gold wrap up the month at the Marts Center with a dual against Delaware Valley University on Nov. 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Wilkes opens the final month of 2024 in Elizabethtown, Pa. at the Elizabethtown Tournament on December 7 at 9:00 a.m., followed by the 91^st annual Wilkes Open on Dec. 20 also starting at 9:00 a.m.

The team opens 2025 on the road in Williamsport, Pa. competing in the Budd Whitehill Duals on January 10-11, starting at 9:00 a.m. Rolling from one team dual event to the next, Wilkes will compete in the NY/PA Duals hosted by New York University on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m. An individual dual match with the University of Scranton on Thursday, Jan. 23 (7:00 p.m.) will be the final tune-up for the team ahead of the John Reese Duals on Saturday, Jan. 25, starting at 11:00 a.m. at the Marts Center.

The Colonels then travel to Wheaton, Ill. to compete in the Wheaton Tournament on Jan. 31 and February 1, starting at 10:00 a.m., and return to the Marts Center for two dual matches against Ithaca College on Friday, Feb. 7 and against King's on Friday, Feb. 14. Both matches start at 7:00 p.m.

The final dual match of the season comes on the road in Dallas, Pa. against Misericordia University on Feb. 15 at 12:00 p.m., the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The regular season ends on Sunday, Feb. 23 at the Futures Tournament in Ewing, N.J. at 10:00 a.m.

The NCAA Regional will take place on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1 with the top three finishers in each weight class advancing to the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15.

Wilkes was 3-4 in the 2023-24 season against teams on the 2024-25 dual calendar which included TCNJ, Lackawanna, Delaware Valley, Scranton, Ithaca, King's, and Elizabethtown.

Wilkes will continue to release its 2024-25 winter schedules with men's ice hockey on Thursday.