Wilkes Men's Wrestling Match Notes: Budd Whitehill Duals
Wilkes University at Budd Whitehill Duals
Friday-Saturday, January 10-11, 2025
Start Time: 9:00 a.m.
Williamsport, PA / Lamade Gymnasium
Tournament Central
Live Results
Live Video (all mats)
Colonels Notebook
• The Wilkes University men's wrestling team begins competition at the 36
th annual Budd Whitehill Duals on Friday and Saturday. Round one wrestling begins Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. Wilkes will compete in group B with No. 10 Roanoke College, Cortland State and York (Pa.). The Colonels open with Cortland before wrestling Roanoke and York on day one round robin action. On day two, teams will be reseeded depending on their finish in round robin competition.
• The Colonels saw two wrestlers place at the 91
st annual Wilkes Open before the break as
Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and
Caleb Burkhart (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville) each finished in third place at 197-pounds and 285-pounds respectively at the open tournament.
• On December 7, Wilkes captured its first team tournament title taking home first place at the Blue Jay Classic hosted by Elizabethtown College. Four Colonels earned championships at their respectively weight classes including
Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) (141),
Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) (157),
Melquan Warren (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) (174) and Butka (197).
• The Colonels went 1-1 earlier this season in dual matches including a 23-22 victory at Elizabethtown before falling 29-18 against No. 16 Delaware Valley University at home in the Marts Center. In the victory at Elizabethtown, Burkhart came up with a huge fall in 2:31 to tie the match, his team-leading ninth pin of the year. That forced the review of criteria to decide the match winner. Needing to get to the third criteria, total team scoring, Wilkes totaled more points in the matches, 55-52, to get the additional team point to win the match.
• Wilkes finished in second place at the Shenandoah Invitational. The Colonels saw three wrestlers earn champion status and 15 wrestlers place within the top eight of their respective weight classes. Hartranft (157), Butka (197) and Burkhart (285) all won individual titles in their respective weight classes.
• The Colonels cruised to three victories in their home quad match posting wins over Keystone College (44-9), Elmira College (52-4) and New Jersey City University (36-12) to move its dual record to 3-1 entering tonight's match.
• Wilkes opened the 2024-25 season by placing fourth place at the Ned McGinley Invitational. The Colonels saw four wrestlers place within the top six of their respective weight classes and had one champion. Butka earned the crown at 197-pounds and surpassed the 100-career win mark in the process. He posted five total wins on way to the title including extra point victories in every match leading to the finals. In the finals Butka bested Spencer Fetrow from Roger Williams.
• The Colonels 2024-25 roster goes 40 deep with a class breakdown of: one graduate student, six seniors, five juniors, 13 sophomores, and 16 first years.
• The roster features student-athletes from eight states: Pennsylvania – 17; New Jersey – 15; New York – 4; Connecticut – 1; Massachusetts – 1; Virginia – 2
In the Rankings
• In the latest Open Mat individual rankings, Butka (197) was ranked 6th, Hartranft (157) 16th, and Burkhart (285) 13th. As a team, the Colonels were tabbed 19th overall in the dual rankings.
• Two Colonels earned individual honors in the latest NWCA national rankings. Butka was tabbed No. 4 nationally and first in Region 2 at 197-pounds. Burkhart was selected No. 12 nationally and second in Region 2 at 285-pounds. Other regionally ranked wrestlers included Hartranft (2
nd/157), Santiago (4
th/141),
Christopher Nuss (Gore, VA/James Wood) (4
th/184) and Warren (4
th/174).