GRANTHAM, PA (January 15, 2022) — The King's College wrestling squad competed at the 2022 Middle Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday along with the seven other Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) schools, including host Messiah University. 

The Monarchs finished the championship in eighth place as a team with 47.5 points. Stevens earned first place while Messiah placed second and Alvernia rounded out the top three. 

Gus Petruske notched third place in his MAC Championship debut at 133. The junior who has battled several injuries throughout his career put the conference on notice with his performance on Saturday. Petruske started off the day with a first period pin on Joseph Carpenter of York. He followed up with another pin, this time in the second period on Rashad Stratton of Delaware Valley. He was defeated in the semifinals by eventual second place finisher Jack Bauer of Wilkes but would bounce back in the consolation semifinals, posting his third pin of the day. In the third place match, Petruske faced off against Stratton again and got the best of the Aggie for the second time of the day, earning a 5-3 decision win to claim third. 

Kade Kravits placed fourth at 174 in his final showing at the conference championships. The senior fought hard all day and showed great leadership to his younger teammates. Kravits pinned Wyatt Bingaman of Messiah in the first period in his first bout of the day. He then fell to eventual third place finisher Joel Martsinovsky of Stevens in the quarterfinals. Kravits made a run in the consolation bracket which included a fall and a tech fall. In the third place match Kravits faced off against Martsinovsky for the second time of the day. The Stevens wrestler got the upper hand on Kravits again to take the bronze.

Nicholas Germano also showed well in his MAC Championship debut, earning a sixth place finish at 133. After receiving a bye in the first round, the first-year Monarch earned a closely contested 2-0 decision in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals. Germano would drop his semifinal bout to eventual conference champion Dalton Rohrbaugh of York before falling in the consolation semifinals to Rashad Stratton of Delaware Valley. 

Senior Isaac Mensah had a strong performance in his final appearance at the MAC Championships. Mensah pinned Christian Conner of Messiah in his first match of the day. After falling in the second round, Mensah bounced back with a fourty second pin in the second round of the consolation bracket on Joseph Russel of Stevens. Mensah would fall in the third round of the consolations to Nevin Rauch of Wilkes.

King's also received solid performances from first-year Monarchs Bret Murphy and Noah Clawson who both made it to the third round of the consolations in their respective weight classes. At 141, Clawson responded well after losing his opening bout by earning a first period pin on Ian Shaubach of York. He followed up with a 15-0 tech fall on Payton Jackson of Messiah before falling in the third round to Wiley Kahler of Lycoming. At 149, Murphy also dropped his opening bout before responding with a first period pin of his own in the second round of the consolation bracket. The first-year would fall in the third round to Logan Bartlett of Lycoming.

The Monarchs will return to action on January 21 at Delaware Valley. The MAC showdown will begin at 6:00 PM at James Work Gymnasium.