ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Ursinus College wrestling team opened Centennial Conference dual season with a 37-4 victory at Muhlenberg on Wednesday, stretching its winning streak to five with a strong performance up and down the lineup.
Senior Corey Markovitch at 174 and sophomore William McGinley at 197 pinned their opponents, while seniors Derek Arnold and Alexander Kramer each needed little more than a period to score technical falls.
Freshman Brandon Miller kick-started a run of nine straight victories with a 12-8 decision at 125, jumping out to a huge lead before staving off a late push by Connor McGee. At 133, freshman Trey Harkness built a 7-1 lead in the second period and hung on for an 8-6 triumph over Austin Sherman.
Junior Garrett Maged was a 4-2 winner against Quintin Bernhard at 141, starting the third period with an escape and staving off multiple takedown attempts to secure a positive result.
Kramer (149) and Arnold (157) followed with dominating victories. Kramer blanked Ben Peck, 17-0, at 3:33, and Arnold put away Will Lamb, 16-0, just eight seconds into the second frame.
Sophomore Zachary Goranson's first-period takedown was enough to clinch a 3-1 win opposite Jimmy Fratantoni at 165, avenging a loss by the same score to Fratantoni in the season-opening Fall Brawl.
Markovitch succeeded Goranson with a first-period fall against Jake Gordon (1:36), and junior Deon Edmund used a buzzer-beating escape to post a hard-won 6-5 decision over Steven Rice, who had riding time, at 184.
McGinley kept the shutout alive by pinning Lorenzo Gisonda in 2:28 at 197 before Scott Schaeffer got the Mules on the board with a 14-5 major decision in the heavyweight bout.
The wrestling team hosts its third event of the season, the annual Will Abele Invitational, on Saturday.
Ursinus 37, Muhlenberg 4
Brandon Miller (U) dec. Connor McGee, 12-8
James Harkness (U) dec. Austin Sherman, 8-6
Garrett Maged (U) dec. Quintin Bernhard, 4-2
Alexander Kramer (U) tech. fall Ben Peck, 3:33 (17-0)
Derek Arnold (U) tech. fall Will Lamb, 3:08 (16-0)
Zachary Goranson (U) dec. Jimmy Fratantoni, 3-1
Corey Markovitch (U) pinned Jake Gordon, 1:36
Deon Edmund (U) dec. Steven Rice, 6-5
William McGinley (U) pinned Lorenzo Gisonda, 2:28
Scott Schaeffer (M) maj. dec. Zebulin Pfeiffer, 14-5