ITHACA, N.Y. – The Wilkes University men's wrestling team saw five wrestlers earn top-six finishes including one NCAA qualifier as the Colonels finished in ninth place at the NCAA Region II Championships on Saturday hosted by Ithaca College.
 
The Colonels finished with 79.5 total team points on way to ninth place of the 20-team field. Stevens Institute of Technology took home the regional crown finishing with 147.5 team points while host Ithaca followed in second place with 144 team points.
 
Jaryn Hartranft (Catasauqua, PA/Catasauqua) became a two-time NCAA qualifier as he finished in third place at 157-pounds at the event. Hartranft fell in the semifinals to eventual champion Ryan Smith of Stevens before wrestling back to earn third place. Hartranft began with a 4-3 decision over Tyler Rossini of Brockport State in the consolation semifinals before earning a 5-1 victory in the third place bout over RIT's Josh Warland to earn the NCAA berth.
 
Ashton Romberger (Chambersburg, PA/Chambersburg) posted a fourth place finishes at 141-points narrowly missing his chance at an NCAA qualification. After falling in the quarterfinals, Romberger wrestled back with wins in the consolation fifth round 9-0 and pinning the fifth seed Joseph Innamorato of Centenary in the consolation semifinals in 2:39. He then fell to Kaden Ware of Penn College 8-4 in the third place bout to settle for fourth.
 
Ryan Santiago (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) and Trevor Gitski (Alburtis, PA/Emmaus) both earned fifth place finishes at 149-pounds and 285-pounds respectively. Santiago went 3-2 in the event including a pin of Trevor Bishop of St. John Fisher in 4:37. Gitski earned five wins at the event including four straight after falling in the opening round to the top seed and regional champion Josh Harkless. Gitski bested Michael Sipps of Lycoming in the fifth place bout 5-0.
 
Gus Smith (Royersford, PA/Springford) was the final top-six finisher for Wilkes taking home sixth place in his rookie campaign. Smith went 3-3 at the event falling in the fifth place bout 7-1 to Christian Lievano of Cortland State to settle for sixth.
 
Hartranft will now await his seeding and the brackets for the 2026 NCAA Championships set for March 13 and 14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.