COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – A pair of Ursinus College wrestlers powered their way to the final match in their respective weight classes at the Fall Brawl on Saturday, with one coming away with a gold medal.
Freshman Ben Maack took home the 184-pound title, pinning Navy's Connor Doyle in 4:01. It was his third pin of the tournament, after he won by fall in the second and quarterfinal rounds. He earned a pair of victories by major decision in the first and semifinal rounds.
Maack is the first Bears freshman to take first place at the Fall Brawl since Chris Donaldson won the 125-pound bracket in the 2011-2012 season. The rookie was dominant all day, recording three pins and a pair of major decisions.
Senior Christopher Tan ran through the 125-pound bracket before falling to Navy's Logan Treaster in the final by a 3-0 decision. Tan opened his day with a pin before taking his next two matches by decision.
Elsewhere at the Fall Brawl:
125
Freshman Matt Wilde, fresh off a 4-1 performance at the Messiah Invitational, continued his strong start with an 11-3 defeat of McDaniel's Robert Kaminski and a 15-7 major against Liberty's Keegan Smith.
Tan eased his way into the quarterfinals with a 42-second fall over TCNJ's Christian Deehan in his first match of the season to set up an intrasquad showdown with Wilde. It was the veteran Tan who got the best of that one, progressing to the semifinals with an 8-3 decision to snap Wilde's five-match winning streak.
Tan advanced to the final by battling Apprentice's Kolin Johnson to a 12-10 decision. His day ended with a silver after falling to Navy's Logan Treaster in a 3-0 decision in the final.
Brandon Miller earned a victory in the second consolation round, topping Navy's Caleb Kelly in a 6-3 decision.
133
Junior Colin Monahan and freshman Ray Calderaio each won their first-round bouts in thrilling fashion against Centennial Conference foes. Calderaio edged McDaniel's Ryker Eckenbarger – who had defeated Calderaio 7-1 at Messiah – by a 5-4 count, while Monahan eked past Johns Hopkins' Connor Mauriello, 6-5. Junior Derek Gulotta also reached the second round courtesy of a forfeit. Monahan, unfortunately, suffered an injury in his second-round match that cost him the rest of the tournament.
Calderaio moved on to the quarterfinals with a 7-3 victory opposite Elizabethtown's Josh McLaughlin, where junior Derek Gulotta joined him with a 15-5 major against Camden County's Terrell Coleman. Gulotta lost a 9-2 decision to Johns Hopkins' Ricky Cavallo, the reigning CC Wrestler of the Week, while Calderaio ran into No. 25 Kordell Rush of Delaware Valley and fell by a 9-0 count.
141
Sophomore James Harkness dominated McDaniel's Zachary McAleer, 16-1, in the first round for his first technical fall of the season, but dropped out of the main draw with an injury.
Freshman Daniel Bliss and senior Patrick Ammirati each bounced back from first-round setbacks with pins in their opening consolation bouts. Bliss, following a 15-6 defeat to No. 9 Tim Ambacher of Delaware Valley, dropped McDaniel's McAleer in 4:03 for his first career pin, and Ammirati downed Apprentice's Shalek Colon in 2:05 for his first fall of the year. The senior kept his run intact, securing a 3-1 decision over Gettysburg's Robert Garnett. Ammirati fell in the fifth round of the consolation bracket, 14-5 to TCNJ's Ryan Erwin.
Bliss continued his surge with a 5-3 victory against Liberty's Ashton Robinson before falling in the next round of consolations.
149
Sophomore Alfred Corradetti downed Apprentice's Tyler Allen, 7-1, to join teammate Patrick Rowe, the beneficiary of a forfeit, in the second round. Corradetti ran into a buzz saw in eighth-ranked Gregory Warner of York (Pa.), while Rowe was pinned by Elizabethtown's Joseph Ghione.
Corradetti shut out Gettysburg's Patrick Briody, 6-0, in his opening consolation tilt, and continued to torment the Bullets with a hard-fought 2-1 defeat of Traken Sutton in the next bout.
157
Freshman Jake Folk began his collegiate career with a bang, pinning Delaware Valley's Chris Richardson in his debut. The rookie nearly doubled down against York's Eric Hutchinson, but succumbed to a narrow 3-2 defeat.
Folk rallied to post a 6-3 decision against WPI's Ronan Ball before fighting to a 9-4 win over Camden County College's Vaughn McFerren. He kept rolling in the next round of the consolation bracket, pinning Camden County College's Vinny DelliGatti in 3:30. Folk's day would end in the consolation semis.
165
After falling in the second round, junior Zachary Goranson earned a 7-1 decision over Apprentice's Jeremy Moseley.
174
Freshman Val Bogachev picked up his first career win in impressive fashion, pinning Gettysburg's Henry Scavone to reach the second round alongside senior Patrick Rafferty, whose first opponent forfeited.
After Bogachev dropped an 11-2 decision to fall into the consolations, Rafferty went through to the quarterfinals with a 15-7 major over McDaniel's Garrett Vandervalk.
Bogachev recorded his second pin, just beating the buzzer with 10 seconds remaining against York's Ryan Doyle before falling the next round in a 5-0 decision to Gettyburg's Sal Puglisi.
Senior Patrick Rafferty moved onto the quarterfinals, getting past McDaniel's Garrett Vandervalk in a 15-7 major decision before being pinned by Johns Hopkins' William Gilliam in 4:34. An injury forced Rafferty to sit out the rest of the tournament.
184
Maack recorded a 9-0 major decision over James Gear of York (Pa.) before cruising into the quarterfinals on the strength of a 69-second pin of Elizabethtown's Dayne Ross.
Maack continued his run by advancing to the semifinal, pinning Camden Country College's Juan Ramos in just 45 seconds. He'd clinch a berth to the final winning a major decision, 13-5, over TCNJ's Thom Anderson, before pinning Doyle in the second period to claim his first collegiate title.
Freshman Liam Tibbett notched his first win of the day in the consolation bracket, pinning Camden County College's Jason Carter in 3:19.
197
Senior Deon Edmund kicked off his season by pinning McDaniel's Jamie Rodriguez in just 1:17.
Edmund fell in the quarterfinal match in a 2-0 decision to Elizabethtown's Quinn Ruble.
After a second-round loss, junior Zebulin Pfeiffer turned the tables with a 16-0 technical fall over Liberty's Mitch Rice for his first win of the season. Pfeiffer dropped his second round match, but won a close 11-10 decision in round three of the consolation bracket over York's Matthew Cosh.
Freshman Charlie Wildermuth got a win under his belt in the third round of consolations, pinning Camden County College's Cameron DiGiovannangelo in just 22 seconds. He followed up the pin with another in the next round – this time matting Delaware Valley's Xavier Ferrizzi in 6:00.
Wildermuth pinned his third opponent in a row, this time a bit more quickly, putting Liberty's Alex Hicks on the mat in just 36 seconds to advance to the consolation semis. Wildermuth's run would come to a close in the next round, as he was pinned by Ruble in 4:40. Five of Wildermuth's six wins this season have come via fall.
285
Sophomore Theodoros Vlahos won his first consolation bout, 8-5, over WPI's Logan Mendelson.