LEXINGTON, Va. – Senior Chris Tan finished runner-up at 125 pounds at the Centennial Conference Championship, one of three placewinners for the Ursinus College wrestling team.
Senior Deon Edmond (197) and junior William McGinley (285) each placed third for the Bears, who finished sixth in the team standings with 43.5 points. Freshmen Ray Calderaio (133) and Ben Maack (184) finished fourth in their championship debuts.
Stevens ran away with its fourth consecutive conference crown with 100 points, and was followed by Merchant Marine (61.5), host Washington and Lee (56.5), Gettysburg (56), Johns Hopkins (51), Ursinus (43.5), Muhlenberg (31.5), and McDaniel (4.5).
Tan wasted no time booking his spot in the semifinals, as the top seed and defending champion pinned Merchant Marine's Jace Garza to set up a rematch with Gettysburg's Lenny Ogozalek, a 15-0 technical fall victim to Tan just a week ago. Tan had no trouble in the second edition either, racking up 14 points in the first period (on two four-point near falls and a pair of two-pointers) before clinching a 17-0 shutout – and another trip to the championship bout – with a takedown 18 seconds into the second period.
Bidding to become the ninth back-to-back conference champion in Ursinus history, Tan held a 2-1 lead on Stevens' Joey Borai in the second period of the title bout before suffering a head injury that necessitated a medical forfeit.
Edmond was pinned by Stevens' Colin Myles in the first period of their matchup two weeks ago, but Ursinus' 197-pound starter turned the tables in the rematch. Edmond trailed 1-0 after two periods, but quickly knotted the match with an escape to begin the third and went ahead 3-1 with a takedown. Myles' escape cut the margin to one, but Edmond's second takedown secured a 5-2 victory and a berth in the semifinals.
Edmond then matched up with number one seed Blake Bunce of Merchant Marine. Seeking a finals appearance, Edmond nearly pulled off the upset, but dropped a nip-and-tuck decision by a 2-1 count.
Edmond rallied to pin W&L's Zach England in 2:45 to reach the third-place bout, and was awarded third place when Gettysburg's Anthony Puca pulled out with a medical forfeit.
McGinley was pinned by eventual finalist Victor Raigoza of Merchant Marine in the quarterfinals, but rebounded to make a run in the consolation bracket. He edged past Stevens' Joe Moreno, 8-6, before pinning McDaniel's Brendan Woody.
That set up a rematch with W&L's Matthew Kaminer, who had defeated McGinley 3-1 in overtime in the regular season. McGinley, however, returned the favor when it counted, picking up third place with a 3-1 triumph on a sudden-victory takedown.
Like Tan, Calderaio picked up his fifth pin of the season against a grappler from Merchant Marine in his opener. In his championship debut, the rookie dropped Tyler Craig with 48 seconds remaining in the third period to bring up a showdown with top-seeded and undefeated Troy Stanich of Stevens, ranked number one in the nation. Stanich rolled on with a pin in 2:30, sending Calderaio to the consolation rounds.
Calderaio then got a rematch with Gettysburg's Louie Carusillo, who edged Calderaio 7-5 in the teams' dual match last weekend. This time, Calderaio flipped the script with a second-period pin to reach the third-place bout. Muhlenberg's Austin Sherman prevailed there by a 6-2 final.
Maack joined Tan and Calderaio in the semifinals with the latest in a recent string of dominating performances. The freshman jumped out to a 6-0 lead on Muhlenberg's Mike Cannon with a four-point near fall and controlled the proceedings the rest of the way to a 10-2 major decision.
Maack then got the opportunity he was looking for, a fourth crack at Johns Hopkins' Isaac Morales. Maack had lost to Morales three times in the regular season, but gave the top seed all he could handle and was locked in a scoreless deadlock after two rugged frames. Ultimately, Morales broke the stalemate with an escape to start the third and held on for a 2-0 victory with riding time to gain the finals.
Maack defeated Gettysburg's Crawford Oswald, 6-1, to attain the consolation final. There, he dropped a 7-3 decision to Merchant Marine's Kurtis Hahn.
After losing to third-seeded Kieran Duggan of Merchant Marine in the main draw at 157, junior Jarret DiGiantomasso pinned McDaniel's Cole Nagle in 4:20. He lost to Dominick Reyes of Johns Hopkins by pin in the consolation semifinals.
Senior Donte McCarthy (149), junior Zachary Goranson (165), and junior A.J. Cutrufello (174) each went 0-2.