JANUARY 10, 2013

KING'S WRESTLERS TO MAKE HOME DUAL DEBUT FRIDAY VERSUS 22ND RANKED DELAWARE VALLEY

WILKES-BARRE —Two months after beginning the 2012-13 season, the King's College wrestling team will finally make its home debut. On Friday, the Monarchs will take to the mats against one of the traditional Division III powers in the East when Delaware Valley College invades Scandlon Gym for a 6:00 p.m. matchup.

King's enters the match as healthy as they have been all season and own a 2-5 record after posting wins over R.I.T. and Oswego State on Saturday.  The Aggies, meanwhile, enter the match ranked 22nd nationally with a 4-0 mark after winning the North/South Duals.

The Monarchs are headed by returning Metropolitan Conference runner-up Shane Stark who has missed part of the season but is 5-1 on the year at 184-pounds. Junior Chris Mazzocchi, who was fourth in the 2012 Metro tournament, is 10-4 at 149 while Tommy Desir is 13-4 at 165. Senior heavyweight Peter Dwyer, who was third in the 2012 Metro tourney, owns a 7-2 record while freshman DeMarquis Holley is 10-5 at 141-pounds.

Other King's wrestlers expected to compete include freshman Jamie Scarantino (8-8) at 125; sophomore Aaron Perez (2-5) at 133; Gordon Custer (3-5) or Nathaniel Seals (2-6) at 157; Ahmed Burton (2-0) at 174; and Ryan Longenberger (8-9) or Cemah Tudae-Torboh (1-2) at 197.

Delaware Valley features three grapplers ranked in the top-six nationally in the respective weight classes. At 149, senior Emmanuel Ajagbe is the top-ranked wrestler in the nation with a 20-1 record.  Sophomore Aaron Karns of Berwick is ranked fourth at 197 pounds with a 18-2 record while senior Charlie Frankel is ranked sixth at 125-pounds with a 7-5 record.


DELAWARE VALLEY PROBABLE LINEUP
125 - Charlie Frankel (7-5, Ranked 6th in D3wrestle.com, 2012 All-American (8th)
133 - Pat Davis (8-9) or David Davidson (12-4)
141 - Shawn Phillips (15-10) or Dale Fava (0-1)
149 - Emmanuel Ajagbe (20-1, Ranked 1st in NWCA, 3rd D3wrestle.com, 2010 National Qualifier)
157 - James Dugan (18-10)
165 -  Nick Della Fera (17-10)
174 -  Dallas Winston (15-6)
184 -  Kyle Tufts (3-4) or Connor Gabriel (8-6)
197 -  Aaron Karns (18-2, Ranked 4th in NWCA, 9th in D3wrestle.com, 2011 National Qualifier)
285 -  Mike Boardman (10-6)

KING'S PROBABLE LINE-UP
125 – Jamie Scarantino (8-8)
133 – Aaron Perez (2-4)
141 – DeMarquis Holley (10-5)
149 – Chris Mazzocchi (10-4, 2012 Metro Conference Tournament 4th)
157 – Gordon Custer (3-5) or Nathaniel Seals (2-6)
165 – Tommy Desir (13-4)
174 – Ahmed Burton (2-0)
184 – Shane Stark (5-1, 2012 Metro Conference Tournament 2nd)
197 – Ryan Longenberger (8-9) or Cemah Tudae-Torboh (1-2)
285 – Peter Dwyer (7-2, 2012 Metro Conference Tournament 3rd)