JANUARY 21, 2017

WRIGHT, KILPATRICK PLACE THIRD TO PACE KING'S WRESTLERS AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS

FULL BRACKETS

GRANTHAM — The King's College wrestling team had six wrestlers place in the top six as the Monarchs finished fifth in the 2017 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships Saturday at Messiah College.

Defending champion Messiah defended its team title with 166.5 points, followed by Wilkes (132), Lycoming (126), Delaware Valley (99.5) and King's (52.5).

Individually for King's, sophomore James Wright placed third at 133-pounds; junior Howard Kilpatrick finished third at 165; sophomore Eddie Merrill was fourth at 197; freshman Dakota Quick placed sixth at 125; junior Jake Daniel was sixth at 133; while sophomore Nick Price finished sixth at 184.

 

Wright opened the tournament with a bye before losing in the semi-finals to Edwin Fiscal of Wilkes 8-7. In wrestle backs, Wright earned a 7-4 decision over Tucker Velez of Delaware Valley before pinning Brooks Robinson of Messiah in 1:05. Wright then advanced by a medical forfeit over Monarch teammate Daniel to reach the consolation finals. There he pinned Richie Gilson of Wilkes in 2:14 to finish third.

 

Kilpatrick, meanwhile received a first-round bye and then defeated Brett McGill of Wilkes 16-4. Kilpatrick then fell to eventual champion Larry Cannon of Messiah 7-1. In consolations, Kilpatrick earned a 8-3 decision over Kevin Keppler of Lycoming. In the consolation finals he registered a 8-2 decision in a rematch with McGill to capture third-place. Kilpatrick was second in the MAC championships last season at 157-pounds.

 

Merrill received a bye into the quarter-finals where he won a 10-8 overtime decision over Karrington Washington of Messiah. There, Merrill fell to top-seeded eventual champion Kyle Kosar of Messiah by a pin in 0:54. In wrestle backs he earned a pin over teammate Devin Steele in 0:42. In the consolation finals, Merrill faced a rematch with Washington but this time lost by a 5-2 decision.

 

At 125, King's freshman Dakota Quick fell in the semi-finals to fourth-seeded Brenden Velez 16-0. In wrestlebacks, he posted a 9-2 decision over Garrett Lockwood of Lycoming. In his next match he dropped a 8-6 overtime decision to Denzel Tovar of Wilkes. Quick then fell to Marshall Myers of Messiah in the fifth-place match.

 

In the 133-pound class, Daniel won his opening match 8-4 to Tucker Velez of Delaware Valley before advancing to the semi-finals with a 7-6 decision over Richie Gilson of Wilkes. From there he was pinned by top-seeded eventual champion Hunter Harris of Messiah in 3:40. From there, Monarch head a coach Ned McGinley elected to sit Daniels and give up a pair of medical forfeits to settle for sixth place.

At 141, junior Matt Sparks dropped both of his matches, the first by a pin in 3:29 to Cory Fleming of Wilkes. The second was a 5-3 decision to Jessie Lopez of Wilkes.  Also at 141, King's freshman Alex Maya-Romero lost both his matches. The first was by fall  in 1:15 to eventual winner and 2015 NCAA Division III national champion Matt Grossman of Wilkes. The second was a fall in 4:56 to Andres Aguilar of Lycoming.

 

In the 184-pound class, King's sophomore Nick Price lost his first match by a fall in 5:44 to Brody Keefe of Lycoming. In wrestle backs he earned a 7-1 decision over David Furmato of Delaware Valley before posting a 18-2 technical fall over Nassar McCummings of Wilkes. Price then fell in the consolations by fall to second-seeded Victor DeFrance in 5:58 before dropping a 5-3 decision to Brandon Wilson of Lycoming in the fifth-place match

In the 149-pound weight class, King's junior Tony Immediato lost both his matches. The first was a 10-2 major decision to Jake Dimarsico of Wilkes while the second was a pin in 1:52 to Robert Duxbury of Delaware Valley.

At 157-pounds, King's sophomore Josh Nagle lost both his matches. Nagle fell in his opening match 18-0 to eventual runner-up John Ritter of Wilkes, before being pinned in 0:42 by Trevor Coral of Lycoming.

Ay 197. Devon Steele went 0-2, dropping his first match 11-2 to Jordan Nochimson of Wilkes before being pinned by teammate Merrill in his first consolation match.

King's did not field wrestlers at 174 or 285.

The Monarchs return to action Wednesday with a 7:00 PM matchup at Oneonta State University.