NOVEMBER 7, 2009
KING'S WRESTLERS FOURTH AT MONARCH INVITATIONAL
WILKES-BARRE – The King's College wrestling team opened the 2009-10 season by finishing fourth in a 10-team field at the annual Monarch Invitational Tournament Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
Wilkes won the team title with 195 points while Oneonta State was second with 123.5 points. Army J.V. was third with 115 points while King's followed with 101. Rochester Institute of Technology was fifth with 98.5 points while York was sixth with 70.5. Muhlenberg (64.5) was seventh, Gettysburg (63.5) finished eighth, Scranton (58) stood ninth while West Point Prep (56.5) was 10th.
For King's, two-time defending Metropolitan Conference champion Mike Reilly captured the 184-pound weight class and was named the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament after a vote of head coaches. Reilly dominated his weight class winning two matches bay fall and two by major decision. In his first match Reilly pined Shawn Sweaney of West Point Prep in 2:59. He followed up with a 15-2 major decision over Brian Kramer of Oneonta State. In the semi-finals be posted a 16-5 major decision over Kevin Digiulio of Scranton before pinning Collin Wittmeyer of Army in the finals in 1:42.
King's received a fine effort from freshman Dave Foley who was second at 174-pounds. In his first match, Foley posted a 7-4 decision over Tyler Pickard of Wilkes before winning a 10-9 decision over Kris Stafford of Oneonta State. On the semi-finals, Foley posted a 7-5 overtime decision over Monarch teammate Frank Marinucci to reach the finals. There, he would drop a hard-fought 4-3 decision to returning Wilkes all-American Frank Heffernan.
At 285. King's senior Chris Rash placed second. He posted an 18-6 major decision over Kevin Poplaski of Gettysburg in his first match, then won a 13-3 major decision over Shane Cooley of York. In the semi-finals, Rash tallied a 2-1 overtime victory over second-seeded James Lomonica of Oneonta before falling in the finals by a 7-4 margin to Bobby Christopher of Gettysburg.
Marinucci, meanwhile, placed fourth in the event, downing D.J. Neri of Gettysburg in the quarterfinals before falling to Foley. In the consolations, Marinucci again faced Neri and won a 7-4 decision. In the consolation finals, Marinucci fell by a 3-1 decision to Ben Johnstone of R.I.T.
At 149, King's freshman Noah Blackwell of G.A.R. was fourth going 5-2 on the day. He dropped a 7-4 decision to J.P. Sala of Oneonta in his opener before fighting all the way back through the consolations. Blackwell earned a 4-3 win over Tom Andresen of Wilkes; pinned Will Carr of York in 1:42, decisioned Frank Siclari of Scranton 8-1, and posted a 2-1 decisions over Matt Ellery of Wilkes. In the consolation semi-finals, Blackwell avenged his first-round defeat to Sala with a 2-1 verdict but fell in his seventh match of the day to Joey Walters of Army in the consolation finals by a 6-1 decision.
At 157-pounds, King's senior Taylor Green placed sixth on the day. The third-seeded Green posted an 11-1 major decision over Scranton's Steve Glickman before pinning John Rocha of Oneonta in 4:24. Green would end his day with a medical forfeit in both the consolation semi-finals and the fifth-place match.
At 197, Monarch freshman Brendan Dwyer placed sixth on the day. In his first match Dwyer downed Chris Smith of Wilkes 3-2 before falling to eventual champion Casey Hedash of Army in the semi-finals. In the consolations, Dwyer advanced past Jeff Ducote of West Point Prep via medical forfeit before falling by a 16-0 technical fall to John Starcevich of York. Dwyer would surrender a medical forfeit in the fifth-place matchup.
King's returns to action Saturday with the John Reese Duals at Wilkes University.
