WILKES-BARRE -- The King's College wrestling team built a 15-0 lead and held off a late University of Scranton rally as the Monarchs posted an exciting 24-16 Metropolitan Conference dual meet victory Tuesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, King's improved to 1-2 on the year while Scranton slipped to 0-3

In the first match at 125-pounds, Scranton's Scott Puglisi (2-9) took a 4-1 lead over Lenny Viggiano into the second period on the strength of a pair of takedowns. Viggiano scored a second period takedown to close to within 4-3, then added three back points to enter the third period with a 6-4 advantage. Viggiano (3-3) earned two more near fall points and a riding time point for 9-4 decision.

At 133-pounds, King's defending Division III national champion David Morgan (7-0) used a quick takedown and built a 6-0 lead before pinning Raymund Claudio (1-5) in 1:06 to give the Monarchs a 9-0 lead.

After a scoreless first period in the 141-pound bout, King's Tony Miele would break through or a 1-0 lead with an escape with1:29 left in the second period against Scranton's Richard Russell to take a 1-0 lead. In the final period Miele (7-6) would gain a penalty point on a stalling call while riding out Russell (7-6) for the rest of the match to gain a 2-0 victory while giving the Monarchs a 12-0 lead.

At 149, King's Frankie Davis would use three takedowns to build a 6-2 first period lead over Michael Ebert. Ebert would tally a second period escape to close to within 6-3 but neither wrestler would score the remainder of the period. In the final stanza Ebert (5-9) would ride Davis for the entire period but could not register back points as Davis (8-6) held on for a 6-4 win as King's led grew to 15-0.

In the 157-pound bout, Scranton's Mike Guenther used two takedowns to build a 4-2 first period lead over Val Poleto (3-7). Guenther would pick up two second period stalling points to take a 6-2 lead heading into the third period. Guenther (6-8) would post a late takedown to register a 8-2 victory while cutting the Monarch lead to 15-3.

At 165, Steve Gray of Scranton scored a takedown of Dan Liss to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. Gray would add a takedown and five near fall points to extend the lead to 9-0 entering the third period. After Liss (3-3) scored two near fall points Gray (5-7) would escape and followed with a takedown en route to a 13-4 major decision, trimming the King's lead to 15-7.

In the 174-pound match, King's suffered a key loss when senior captain Bob Baresse (6-3) was unable after failing the pre-match skin test. Scranton took advantage when Kevin DiGiulio (5-7) took a 2-0 first period lead with a takedown of Monarch freshman Lewis Snover (0-3). DiGiulio would add a second period takedown and two more in the final period to secure a 9-3 decision while bringing the Royals to within 15-10.

At 184, King's Zach Martinez scored two takedowns and two sets of near fall points to build an 8-2 first period lead over Joe Williams (0-1). Martinez (7-6) would then turn Williams to his back, registering a critical pin at 3:50 to give King's a 21-10 lead.

In the 197-pound bout, Michael Byrnes of Scranton scored an early takedown of Eric Steltzer. Steltzer escaped in the second period but Byrnes responded with a takedown to up the lead to 4-1 Byrnes would escape and promptly took Steltzer down to stretch the lead to 7-1. Byrnes (3-7) added two near fall point and a locked hands penalty point to build a 10-4 lead before pinning Steltzer (4-8) in 5:50 as the Royals drew to within 21-16.

In the final match at 285-pounds Scranton's Neil Slocum needing a pin over King's Chris Rash to garner the win for the Royals. The pair would battle through two scoreless period to enter the final stanza deadlocked at 0-0. Slocum (7-8) would escape to take a 1-0 lead but Rash (2-5) would score a decisive takedown with 0:21 left to clinch the match with a 2-1 victory as King's held on for a 24-16 triumph.



King's 21 - Scranton 16
125 - Lenny Viggiano (K) dec. Scott Puglisi (S), 9-4
133 - David Morgan (K) pinned Raymund Claudio (S), 1:06
141 - Tony Miele (K) dec. Richard Russell (S), 2-0
149 - Frankie Davis (K) dec. Michael Ebert (S), 6-4
157 - Mike Guenther (S) dec. Val Poleto (K), 8-2
165 - Steve Gray (S) major dec. Dan Liss (K), 13-4
174 - Kevin DiGiulio (S) dec. Lewis Snover (K), 9-3
184 - Zach Martinez (K) pinned Joe Williams (S), 3:50
197 - Michael Byrnes (S) pinned Eric Steltzer (K), 5:50
285 - Chris Rash (K) dec. Neil Slocum (S), 2-1