COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College wrestling team trotted out 21 members to the mats on Saturday as they hosted the Will Abele Invitational.
The Bears had five top-four finishers on the day, including senior Deon Edmond, who was the team's only first-place finisher. Edmond, wrestling Castleton's Cedrick Stephens in the 197-pound final, had all eyes on him as he trailed 4-0 late. Edmond used a nifty spin move for a takedown and then pushed Stephen's front shoulder down to grab four more points on the near fall, ultimately winning the bout 6-4.
Freshman Matt Wilde took third in the 125-pound bracket, winning his final four matches while senior Cody Richmond also won four straight to take third in the 174-pound tournament. Junior Derek Gulotta (133) and freshman Jake Folk (157) each took fourth in their respective brackets.
Ursinus finished fourth in the team standings with 90.5 points. Wheeling Jesuit University won the team total with 152.5 while Castleton (135.0) and Oneonta State (125.5) closed out the top three.
125
Freshman Matt Wilde fell in the quarterfinal round by pin to Oneonta State's Michael Muldoon (2:45) after a first-round bye. Sophomore Max Liggett fell in a close 3-2 decision in a first-round battle with Oneonta State's Michael Savello.
Liggett fell in the second round of consolations by technical fall.
Wilde earned his first win of the day in convincing fashion, putting up a victory by major decision, 18-6, against Elizabethtown's Austin Jones. The momentum would build for Wilde, who dominated in a 14-4 major decision over Southern Virginia's Aaron Freidhof in the next round. He'd win by technical fall (22-7) in the consolation semis to advance to the third-place bout.
Wilde took the third place bout by technical fall, 24-9, over Oneonta State's Michael Savello, finishing the tournament with a 4-1 record.
133
Junior Derek Gulotta kicked off his day, winning by technical fall (21-2) over Oneonta State's Eric Branch while freshman Ray Calderaio pulled out a close 5-4 decision over Josh McLaughlin (Elizabethtown).
Gulotta moved onto the semifinal, beating Elizabethtown's Colton Rex by decision, 8-2, but lost in a 3-0 decision to Oneonta State's Kevin Knox.
Calderaio fell in the quarterfinal round to Oneonta State's Austin Sisco due to an injury at the 2:30 mark, but earned a 4-3 win in the second round of consolations over Middlesex Community College's Mohammad Dhillo. He'd make it back-to-back wins with a 9-5 decision over Oneonta State's Eric Brach in the third round of consolations.
Gulotta and Calderaio met in the consolation semifinals, where Gulotta won a 4-0 decision to advance to the third-place bout, but end his teammate's day. Calderaio wrapped up the day 3-2.
Gulotta was not able to compete in the third-place match due to injury, finishing the day 3-2 and in 4th place.
141
Freshman Daniel Bliss fell in the opening round to Wheeling Jesuit University's Tyler Warner by pin in 4:12 while classmate Sebastian Zucker battled to the wrong end of an 8-4 decision vs. Castleton's Ethan Ives.
After receiving a bye in the first round, junior Patrick Ammirati fell to Southern Virginia's Jayson Cody by pin (5:29). He'd earn a win in the second round of consolations, topping Temple's Jake Yoder, 11-4. Ammirati would ride the wave into another win, this time over Oneonta State's Anthony Messina in a 13-5 major decision. He finished the day 2-2 after falling to Oneonta State's Ahken Chu
Zucker was bounced in the second round of consolations suffering a pinfall. Bliss pinned Castleton's Ethan Ives in the second round of consolations but was eliminated in the next round by major decision.
149
Junior Patrick Rowe and freshman Leroy Brown each had a bye in the first round. Rowe pinned Western New England's Dimitrios Tartsinis in 4:50 while Brown fell to Wheeling Jesuit University's Daniel Romero, 5-0.
Brown got his first W of the day with a close, 5-3, decision over Southern Virginia's Blaine Phillips in the second round of consolations. He made it two in a row with a tight 3-2 battle over Castleton's Jeb Hodsden, but fell in the fourth round of consolations in a 6-1 decision, finishing the day 2-2.
Rowe moved onto the semifinals with a win over Castleton's Max Temple in a 12-6 tilt, but fell to Trinity's Grant Sorenson due to an injury. Rowe wasn't able to wrestle the rest of the way because of the injury.
157
Freshman Jake Folk opened the day with a quick pin of Elizabethtown's Khai Do, putting him on the mat in just 1:10. Junior Jarrett DiGiantamasso was pinned by West Chester's Dan Vossbein in 4:31 in a first-round bout.
Folk moved to the semifinal thanks to an 8-5 decision over Middlesex Community College's Xavier Jenkins, where he lost to Wheeling Jesuit's Connor Craig by technical fall. He'd advance to the third-place match with a pin of Oneonta State's Daniel Murphy in the consolation semifinals.
Folk fell to Wheeling Jesuit's Christian Rivera in double-overtime, 5-3, in the third-place match, finishing the day with a 3-2 record.
DiGiantamasso got on the winning side of things in the first round of consolations, topping Elizabethtown's Chad Rosenberger by major decision, 12-3 and advanced in the consolations after his opponent was disqualified. He was eliminated in the third round of consolations in a 7-2 decision.
165
Junior Zachary Goranson received a bye in the first round, and made his first appearance of the tournament in the semifinal, pinning Southern Virginia's Matthew Rohrdanz in 2:46. Goranson lost to Castleton's Jared Costa in a major decision, but advanced to the third-place bout with a 5-3 decision over UMBC's Tyler Rendina.
Goranson finished the day with a loss in the third place match to UMBC's Anthony Solis (Fall, 3:22). His record on the tournament was 2-2.
174
Junior A.J. Cutrufello opened his day on the winning side of a pin, putting University of Maryland Baltimore County's C.J. Ashby in 1:43. Senior Cody Richmond followed suit in round one, pinning Penn State Mont Alto's Justin Eline in 46 seconds while classmate Patrick Rafferty fell in a first-round match, 12-7, to Wheeling Jesuit University's Peyton Geary.
Freshman Pete Scuderi met the same fate, falling in the first round by pin in 14 seconds at the hands of Western New England's Ryan Guers. Southern Virginia's Keaton Gomez bounced Scuderi in the first round of consolations. Rafferty, however, stayed alive, pinning Western New England's Daniel Price in 2:49 during the first round of consolations.
Cutrufello lost in the quarterfinals to Castleton's Nolan Viens in a 6-2 decision, while Richmond also fell in the quarters, but by major decision.
Richmond and Rafferty met in the second round of consolations, with Richmond getting the win in overtime, 9-7. Richmond got his third win of the day in round three of consolations with a 15-2 major decision over Southern Virginia's Keaton Gomez. Richmond advanced to the third-place match after winning the consolation semifinal by injury default.
Richmond won the third-place bout over Oneonta State's Jacob Mansman in an 8-4 decision, wrapping up with a 5-1 record in the tournament.
197
Senior Deon Edmond opened his day with an 11-2 major decision over Southern Virginia's Quigley Whitaker in the quarterfinals after receiving a first-round bye. He'd pin Middlesex Community College's Michael Okaro in 3:52 to advance to the final.
Edmond, trailing 4-0 late in the first-place match, used some nifty moves to come back and beat Castleton's Cedrick Stephens in a 6-4 decision, earning 1st place, and finishing the day a perfect 3-0.
Junior Zebulin Pfeiffer fell in his first match of the day in a 14-6 major decision to Temple's Ernie Tessein. He would earn a W in the second round of consolations, topping Southern Virginia's Quigley Whitaker in a 16-6 major decision. He'd win his second match in a row, topping Trinity's Devon DeFilippi in an 8-2 decision. Pfeiffer finished the day 2-2, falling in the consolation semis in a tight, 6-5 decision.
285
Junior William McGinley got on the board, pinning Castleton's Mason Osborn in 4:37 in the first round while sophomore Theo Vlahos fell to Southern Virginia's Nico Ramirez in a 6-4 decision.
McGinley made it back-to-back pins in 4:37, matting Joshua Lewis (Southern Virginia) to advance to the quarterfinals, where he'd fall to Wheeling Jesuit's Devan Uzelak in a 7-3 decision. McGinley earned his third win of the day in the fourth round of consolations, topping Western New England's Nicholas Fortini in a 3-1 decision. McGinley wrapped up the tournament with a 3-2 record, falling by pin in the fifth round of consolations.
Sophomore Ryan Kidwell lost in the second round to Castleton's Nicholas Scott in a 10-0 major decision. Kidwell had a first-round bye. He was eliminated in the second round of consolations after a 7-2 decision.
Vlahos was also bounced after suffering a tight 10-9 decision in round two of consolations.