WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Malcolm Hunt posted a fourth-place finish at 197 pounds to pace the Ursinus College wrestling team at a loaded Wilkes Open on Sunday.
The Bears finished 10th overall in a 44-team field that included a host of Division I programs.
Hunt pinned each of his first two opponents to reach the semifinals, including a 47-second fall over conceding an early takedown to Muhlenberg's Hunter Gill in the sophomore's second bout of the day. Hunt registered a reversal and a takedown against Binghamton's Sam Deprez, but came up short in a 10-5 final. He was then pinned by a wrestler from Lehigh in the third-place bout.
Jason Carter also stood out in the 197-pound tournament. He registered a pair of bout wins, including one over a wrestler from Franklin & Marshall, and was only denied a spot in the fifth-place match by a tight 4-2 decision against an opponent from Penn State.
The Bears were also well represented at 125 pounds, where Terry Adams and Romeo Rodriguez each made a dent in the bracket. Seeded fourth, Adams suffered an 11-7 loss to Penn State's Baylor Shunk in his opener but rebounded to win a pair of consolation tilts. The rookie notched an 18-0 technical fall against teammate Hunter Brown and did the same to a grappler from Union County College before bowing out.
Rodriguez cruised to a 12-0 major decision over Union County's Frank Silva in the consolation rounds.
Gary Nagle was a quarterfinalist at 174 pounds. He dominated F&M's Chris Bolletino, 15-3, and needed only 58 seconds to take Muhlenberg's Scott Horry to the mat before giving Lehigh's Jake Logan a battle in a 12-6 decision. Nagle then nipped Wilkes' John Devito in a 10-9 thriller, overcoming a late reversal and using an escape with 12 seconds remaining for the winning point. A 7-0 defeat at the hands of American's Colin Shannon ended Nagle's day at 3-2.
Jake Folk (157), Kyle Schaffer (184), and Gavin Range (285) each won a match in their respective brackets.
Ursinus gets back on the mats on January 4 at the F&M Open.
"The team competed well today; we battled with some of the country's toughest Division 1 teams," head coach Joe Jamison said. "The goal for this tournament was to push our limits and see how we respond when we're outside of our comfort zone. Overall, I'm proud of how we wrestled, but we can do more. There were some situations in which we need to respond better. But that's why we came here and that's why we're headed to the F&M Open. Both tournaments help us prepare for March."