WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's wrestling team is set to debut the 2025-26 season this Saturday, November 2, at the Ned McGinley Invitational Tournament, hosted by King's College with matches starting at 9:00 a.m.

"We've got 46 guys in the room right now (...) and they're all excited to be on the mat against other schools" head coach and Director of Wrestling, Jon Laudenslager '99 said. 

Laudenslager enters his 23rd year leading the navy and gold. The team is coming off a 2024-25 campaign where they finished with a 13-7 dual record. That set the team up for a third-place finish of 19 teams in the Southeast Wrestling Tournament, with seven top eight finishers and two NCAA Qualifiers in recent graduates Cameron Butka (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Caleb Burkhart (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville).

"We lost some good ones" Laudenslager says on the loss of Butka and Burkhart, "but Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) has been to the national tournament before so he's got that experience, and Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) and Connor Kerwin (Totowa, NJ/Passaic Valley) have been close (...) We're excited to see where the leadership goes with these three." 

"We have a great incoming class to push our upperclassmen…guys that may have been behind others, but are ready to step up."  

Wilkes starts the season with five wrestlers ranked in the National Wrestling Coaches Associations Region II rankings including Kerwin at No. 4 (125lbs), Santiago at No. 5 (141lbs), Hartranft at No. 4 (157lbs), Colton Thorpe (Southington, CT/Southington) at No. 5 (165lbs), and Trevor Gitski (Alburtis, PA/Emmaus) at No. 6 (285lbs). They'll be tested against a schedule consisting of eight standalone dual matches, three dual match tournaments, and seven invitational tournaments, which includes the program's first Wilkes Invitational.

"It's a little bit of work, but it'll be worth it (...) There's a lot of good teams, but it's good to challenge our guys (...) our home people can see us, and our families can be comfortable." Laudenslager says about the invitational. 

The Colonels hold a team of 46 wrestlers including seven seniors, 11 juniors, 13 sophomores, and 15 first-years. 30 are set to weigh-in at the season-opening Ned McGinley Invitational this Saturday. 

"We're getting them ready for the first tournament" Laudenslager said of the first-years, "We have some impact kids, and I expect many of them to place this weekend. There are kids that are challenging for a starting spot (...) The more we get on the mat, the better they're going to get." 

Weight-by-Weight Preview

125 – Returning for Wilkes is junior Noah Rosa (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) with a career record of 9-23, and sophomores Thomas Longo (Montville, NJ/Montville) (9-13) and Marco Meneses (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) (1-14). Joining the trio at 125 pounds is first-year Gus Smith (Royersford, PA/Springford).

133 – Wilfred Jimenz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) joins the program for his first year of competition as a senior, and is joined by Sam Kimmel (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) who has a career record of 9-39. Leading the junior class is Kerwin who finished his sophomore year with a record of 45-34 and Ethan Washburn (Ringwood, NJ/Bergen Catholic) (15-37). Pravith Siriwardhana (Chester, NJ/West Morris Mendham) moves into his second year with a record of 2-12. Two first-years join the weight class in Brady Frank and Brady Bogues.

141 – Junior Santiago leads the 141 weight class coming off a hot season last year with a record of 31-15. He is joined by fellow junior Constantino Kocoronis (Mount Wolf, PA/Northeastern) (0-3), and first-year Ashton Romberger (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg).

149 – Returning to 149 class are seniors Ben Grater (Saddle Brooke, NJ/Saddle Brook) and Braden Sitton (Cross Junction, VA/James Wood) who have garnered a 43-52 and 4-16 career record respectively. Backing them is junior Jackson Brady (Goshen, NY/Goshen Central) (17-27) and sophomore Kevin Murphy (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) (8-15). Joining the group are first-years James Sloan (Hewitt, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) and Austin Smith (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights).

157 – Hartranft leads the Colonels at 157 pounds going into his senior year with a record of 67-32 including wins at the Shenandoah invite, Elizabethtown tournament, and claimed 4th place at the NCAA regional. Returning with Hartranft is junior Conner Sklavounos (Township of Washington, NJ/Westwood Regional) (16-32) and sophomore Jose Lagunes (Hopatcong, NJ/Hopatcong) (1-5). Wilkes adds four more to the group including first-years Elijah Brito (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall), Jahaan Fields (Elkton, MD/North East), Raymond McNulty (Huntington, NY/Cold Spring Harbor), and Jasper Nkemtitah (Upper Malboro, MD/Bowie).

165 – Returning for the 165 weight class is junior Colton Thorpe (Southington, CT/Southington) who accumulated a 41-35 career record, and sophomores Jacob Bettencourt (Dighton, MA/Bristol Plymouth) (15-20), Sam Keppel (Cape May Court House, NJ/Middle Township) (2-13), Brayden Shannon (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) (13-18), Hunter Troutman (Valley View, PA/Tri-Valley) (11-14), and James Weikel (Frackville, PA/North Schuylkill) (5-10). Kevin Wilson (Hamburg, NJ/Pope John) is the lone first-year to join the group.

174 – Three return for the 174 weight class including senior Souleymane Diarra (Philadelphia, PA/Overbrook) (9-27), junior Omari Watson (Clayton, NJ/Clayton) (12-13), and sophomore Joshua Wilkins (Mount Laurel, NJ/Holy Cross) (10-16).

184 – Juniors Jared Bilinski (Dolgeville, NY/Dolgeville Central) and Lucas Miller (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) represent the 184 class, and have amassed career records of 22-29 and 35-28 respectively.

197 – Sophomore Patrick Gordon III (South Riding, VA/Freedom) (14-19) is joined by three first-years including Elliot Black (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom), Nicholos Doktor, and Xaiden Schock (Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack).

285 – Senior Trevor Gitski (Alburtis, PA/Emmaus) leads the heavyweights with a career record of 30-31. He is joined by sophomore Luke Abilio (Montville, NJ/Montville) who goes into his second year with a record of 4-14. First-year Christopher Dellabella (Dingsman Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) rounds out the 285 pound trio.