COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College wrestling team retained its unbeaten record with three victories in a series of competitive matches at the North/South Duals on Saturday.
Alfred Corradetti, Jake Folk, and Malcolm Hunt each went 2-0 individually for the Bears, who moved to 5-0 with tight wins over Southern Maine (23-19), SUNY Oneonta (25-20), and Scranton (30-15) at their annual event inside the Floy Lewis Bakes Center field house.
The victory over Southern Maine was a thriller that went down to the last bout. Trailing 12-0 after three matches, Shawn Marchesano picked up a technical fall at 149 and Folk pinned his opponent at 157 before Corradetti gave Ursinus a brief lead with a 7-3 decision at 165.
Down 19-14 after a pair of Southern Maine triumphs, Hunt gave the Bears a chance by edging out a 7-6 decision at 197. In a do-or-die heavyweight bout, Ben Maack walked it off with a pin to hand Ursinus a scintillating win.
The Bears came from behind again to SUNY Oneonta, trailing 11-6 before a pin by Noah Supsic at 157 kicked off a run of four consecutive victories. Folk notched a 12-2 major decision at 165, Gary Nagle tallied a pin at 174, and Kyle Schaffer outlasted Jake Mansman for a 9-7 decision at 184 to render the last two bouts moot.
A 10-3 decision by Terry Adams and a pin from Romeo Rodriguez had the hosts off and running with a 9-0 lead on Scranton, and Marchesano made it 15-6 with a pin of his own at 149. Corradetti eked out a 6-5 decision at 157, and Nagle and Schaffer produced back-to-back decisions at 174 and 184 to clinch the match. Hunt put a bow on it with his second pin of the afternoon at 197.
"We started a bit slow today but picked up steam as the day went on," coach Joe Jamison said. "To their credit, a lot of guys on the team stepped up and performed well. We had three regular starters not in the lineup, so it took every ounce of effort from all ten guys who wrestled each dual. Good teams are able to pull out wins when things are getting tough, and we did that today. The coaching staff is impressed with the team's resilience."
The Bears are back inside the field house to host the annual Will Abele Invitational next Saturday.