WILKES-BARE – The Wilkes University men's wrestling team opened its season finishing in fifth place at the 2025 Ned McGinley Invitational on Saturday at the Scandlon Gymnasium.
 
Wilkes finished with 95.5 team points for fifth place, 7.5 points behind fourth place York College (103). New York University took home first place with 160.5 team points while Rochester Institute of Technology (151.5) and Stevens (113) rounded out the top three teams. Five Wilkes wrestlers finished in the top six of the event with two Colonels earning titles.
 
At 141-pounds, Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) was the first Colonel to take home first place in his respective weight class. The top seed, he started the day with an 8-1 decision oer RIT's Amari Payton before winning 9-3 over Cortland's Nell Paulercio. Santiago dominated in his quarterfinal win over Adam Ramadan of Stevens posting a 20-4 technical fall. In the semifinals, Santiago took care of Dominick Vinci (No. 5 seed)  by major decision 14-3 before cruising to a 12-5 decision over NYU's James Carlock (No. 6 seed) in the championship bout.
 
At 165-pounds, top seed Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) was the other Colonels first place winner at the event. Hartranft used a technical fall (15-0) over Logan Williamson then pinned York's Mark Forry in 1:46 to earn his way to the quarterfinal bout. From there Hartranft went 12-7 decision and his second fall in 2:46 to reach the finals. There Hartranft dominated Josh Warland, the third seed from RIT, 10-0 on way to the title.
 
At 184-pounds, six seeded Lucas Miller (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) earned third place for Wilkes. He began his day with a fall in :51 before a dominant 17-1 technical fall over York's Jack Wendel in the quarterfinals. Miller then fell by a 5-1 decision against Washington and Jefferson's seven seeded Vitali Daniels in the semifinals before taking third with an 11-0 major decision over US Merchant Marine Academy's Porter Gresko.
 
At 125-pounds, first year Gus Smith (Royersford, PA/Springford) made his collegiate debut earning fifth place at the event. The fifth seeded Smith opened with a fall in :59 before falling in the next round by an 11-6 decision. Smith wrestled back with a 13-11 decision, 5-2 decision and 21-9 major decision in the fifth place bout.
 
At 141-pounds, Wilkes saw its second competitor reach the podium as first-year Ashton Romberger (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) took home sixth place. Romberger fell in his opening bout in a hard-fought 7-6 decision only to wrestle back with five straight wins to earn sixth. Four of the five wins were for extra points including two falls, a technical fall and a major decision.
 
In total, 30 Colonels wrestled at the event.
 
The Colonels open dual match play Friday when they host The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) at 6:00 p.m. at the Marts Center.