WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Ursinus College wrestling team split a pair of duals in its final tune-up for the Centennial Conference Championships on Saturday, falling 24-14 to Gettysburg before grabbing its first league win with a 39-9 rout of host McDaniel.
Senior Chris Tan and freshmen Jake Folk and Ben Maack were each 2-0 on the day for the Bears (6-6, 1-6), who head to Washington and Lee for the conference meet next weekend. Tan registered a pair of technical falls at 125 to run his individual winning streak to 15, while Folk and Maack each picked up a pin.
Gettysburg 24, Ursinus 14
Ursinus won just three of the ten contested bouts, but were on the short end of a number of nip-and-tuck battles that could have swung the match the other way. Instead, Gettysburg got the better of two bouts that were decided by one point, another that was decided by two points, and a fourth that came down to a tiebreaker.
Tan continued to dominate his recent competition, need just over a period to pick up enough points to end his bout against Lenny Ogozalek at 125 with a 15-0 technical fall. It was just the second tech fall of the season for Tan, who made it look easy against a Bullets grappler who came in with 14 pins on the year.
The Bears came up on the wrong end of three tight decisions in the next trio of weight classes. Freshman Ray Calderaio lost a 7-5 final to Louie Carusillo at 133, fellow rookie Matthew Wilde was edged 5-4 by Sean Thompson in his debut at 141, and senior Donte McCarthy fell by a 9-6 score to Colin Devlin at 149.
Now trailing 9-5, freshman Jake Folk put Ursinus right back on top with a dramatic pin at 157. Trailing Jake Bracken late, the Bears rookie scored a takedown in the final 20 seconds and secure a fall with 11 seconds left in the bout, his seventh of the year.
Colin Kowalski's technical fall at 165 gave the Bullets a 14-11 lead, and the Orange and Blue never gave it up.
After sophomore A.J. Cutrufello lost another razor-thin margin, 6-5, to Austin Roskos at 174, freshman Ben Maack registered a 7-0 shutout of Crawford Oswald at 184.
It was another tight bout that gave Gettysburg enough of a margin to pull the match out. Senior Deon Edmond held a slim lead in the third period, but Anthony Puca knotted the match and forced overtime with an escape. Puca used a quick escape and a two-point near fall to eke out a 4-2 triumph.
Junior William McGinley lost by a 12-0 count to Bullets star heavyweight Paul Triandafilou, who came in ranked 10th in the nation by the NWCA.
Ursinus 39, McDaniel 9
The Bears racked up four pins and a tech fall to close the day with their first CC victory of the season.
Tan tallied his second technical fall with an 18-1 rout of Jake Reid at 125, moving him to second on the team with three on the year and making him a perfect 7-0 in conference action.
Calderaio collected his first CC win after pinning Nick Malinowski in just 1:09. Wilde also grabbed his first career conference victory with a 16-6 major over Jahmally Willie at 141.
Folk scored a 9-2 triumph over Cole Nagle at 157, giving him three consecutive CC wins, and Cutrufello secured his first conference win with a 7-2 final opposite Garrett Vandevalk at 174.
Ursinus dominated the higher weight classes, scoring falls in each of the final three bouts. Maack needed only 42 seconds to down Ronnie Wuest at 184. That stretched Maack's personal winning streak to six, five by pin, and stretched his team-leading total to 10.
Edmond pinned Jake Pooton in 2:04 at 197, his fourth of the season, and McGinley gave himself a sixth pin by felling Brendan Woody in 4:01 at heavyweight.
Gettysburg 24, Ursinus 14
125: Christopher Tan (U) tech. fell Lenny Ogozalek 15-0 (3:49); (0-5)
133: Louie Carusillo (G) dec. Ray Calderaio 7-5; (3-5)
141: Sean Thompson (G) dec. Matthew Wilde 5-4; (6-5)
149: Colin Devlin (G) dec. Donte McCarthy 9-6; (9-5)
157: Jake Folk (U) pinned Jake Bracken 6:49; (9-11)
165: Colin Kowalski (G) tech. fell Zachary Goranson 18-2 (4:45); (14-11)
174: Austin Roskos (G) dec. Anthony Cutrufello 6-5; (17-11)
184: Ben Maack (U) dec. Crawford Oswald 7-0; (17-14)
197: Anthony Puca (G) dec. Deon Edmond 4-2 (TB1); (20-14)
HWT: Paul Triandafilou (G) maj. dec. William McGinley 12-0; (24-14)
Ursinus 39, McDaniel 9
125: Christopher Tan (U) tech. fall Jake Reid 18-1 (4:33); (5-0)
133: Ray Calderaio (U) pinned Nick Malinowski 1:09; (11-0)
141: Matthew Wilde (U) maj. dec. Jahmally Willie 16-6; (15-0)
149: Scott Miser (M) pinned Donte McCarthy 3:33; (15-6)
157: Jake Folk (U) dec. Cole Nagle 9-2; (18-6)
165: Wade Bishop (M) dec. Zachary Goranson 11-6; (18-9)
174: Anthony Cutrufello (U) dec. Garrett Vandevalk 7-2; (21-9)
184: Ben Maack (U) pinned Ronnie Wuest 0:42; (27-9)
197: Deon Edmond (U) pinned Jake Pooton 2:04; (33-9)
HWT: William McGinley (U) pinned Brendan Woody 4:01; (39-9)