FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Freshman Collin Wickramaratna gained the semifinals and senior William McGinley remains alive in the consolation brackets after the Ursinus College wrestling team's opening day of competition at the Citrus Invitational.
Wickramaratna advanced to the semifinals at 125 pounds for the third time in his fourth career tournament appearance. He used a second-period reversal to gain a 4-2 advantage en route to a 7-3 defeat of Oneonta's Tyler Skala, then edged Ferrum's Carl Cramma by a 2-1 count with a reversal midway through the third period. He will face Andrew Perelka of John Carroll in Sunday's semifinals.
Wickramaratna is now 12-4 on the season and the Bears' leader in overall wins.
McGinley reached the quarterfinals with a pair of tight decisions in the heavyweight class. In the first round, he trailed St. John's grappler Quincy Spiering, 2-0, entering the third period before taking control with a 4-point near fall and closing with a takedown for a 6-3 final. His second-round bout with John Carroll's Luca Santillo was level at 4, but McGinley's last-second escape sent him through to the final eight.
McGinley was pinned by Cornell's Chris Lyons but will have a chance to place during Sunday's consolation rounds.
Freshman Noah Supsic won his first-round bout at 157 pounds, scoring a 12-3 major decision against Caleb Jungling of St. John's before succumbing to a pin by RIT's Kaidon Winters. The rookie moved on via medical forfeit in the consolations but dropped his next contested bout.
Freshman Brady Herr lost both of his matches at 197.