COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Four Ursinus College wrestlers reached the championship bout as the team hosted its annual Will Abele Invitational on Saturday, senior Derek Arnold taking first place in the 157-pound bracket to highlight a full day of grappling in the field house.
Arnold dominated all three of his matches, stretching his individual winning streak to eight. He pinned Jimmy Flood of West Chester Club in the first round, shut out Wilkes' Ashton Gyenizs, 11-0, in the quarterfinals, and stormed to the final bout with a 16-0 blanking of Wilkes' John Ritter. Arnold was handed the crown when Wilkes' Nicholas Racanelli bowed out of the championship with a medical forfeit.
Sophomore Zachary Goranson at 165, junior Cody Richmond at 184, and sophomore Michael Newman at 197 each advanced to the final round of their respective brackets.
Goranson pinned Valley Forge's Edwin Rodriguez in a mere 25 seconds before moving to the semifinals with a DQ. He then edged Michael Paskas of Wilkes, 3-1, but Alderson Broaddus' Keith Stednitz captured the title with a pin in 56 seconds. Senior Victor Fernandez and sophomore Jarret DiGiantomasso each won one bout in the same bracket.
Richmond advanced to the semifinals with a 6-1 victory over Oneonta's Andrew Werther to set up an all-Bear showdown with junior Deon Edmund, who had reached the final four via a major decision against Case Western's Cito Balsells and a 4-2 triumph against Jacob Brook of Wilkes. Richmond got the better of his teammate by the slimmest of margins, marching on to the final with an 8-7 decision. Richmond was pinned by Cody Spinks of Alderson Broaddus, who won all four of his matches by fall.
Another intra-squad battle emerged with Newman and sophomore William McGinley at 197, and this one was just as tight. Newman, who had pinned Valley Forge's James Craig and scored a 12-3 major decision against VF's Andrew Brabazon, eked out a 3-2 result against McGinley to reach the championship bout. Newman was defeated, 11-3, by Muhlenberg's Scott Schaeffer in the final.
McGinley, who pinned Wilkes' Alexis Santana-Quintan in the quarterfinals, responded with an 18-5 rout of Case Western's Gavin Dersh-Fisher to set up another all-Bear brawl in the third-place round. This time the opponent was sophomore Zebulin Pfeiffer, who rolled past Brabazon, 9-2, pinned Santana-Quintain in the third period, and reached the third-place match via injury default.
Sophomore Brandon Miller took fourth at 125. After a bye, he pinned Penn State-Mont Alto's Jacob Sechrist in just 1:47 before bowing to Case Western's Jacob Frosch in the semifinals. Miller secured another pin, this time at the expense of Alderson Broaddus' Breandon Coughlin, but dropped an 8-6 final to Case Western's Matt Moy.
Sophomore Patrick Rowe picked up a pair of pins at 149, one against Middlesex College's Nezzar Dimes in the main draw and the other over Case Western's Ben Kring in the consolations, and freshman Patrick O'Toole needed just 32 seconds to dispatch Valley Forge's Riley Gruppo in the consolations.
At 141, freshman Thomas Boldosser made the semifinals thanks to a pin of Wilkes' Richie Gilson at an even 4:00. Junior teammate Scott Baker, meanwhile, won a consolation bout.
Freshman Theodoros Vlahos won a heavyweight match, pinning Mont Alto's Ricardo Alvarez late in the first period of his first-round clash.
The wrestling team gets right back on the mat tomorrow, heading to Philadelphia to meet Temple's club team and West Chester.
