WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 28, 2023) – In their second match in as many days, Gus Petruske IV, Cole Anderson, and Connor Wrobleski all recorded pins as the King's College wrestling team fell in a close battle, 27-21, to the visiting Lycoming College on Saturday afternoon in McGrane Gymnasium. With the loss, the Monarchs drop to 3-4 in dual meets, while the Warriors improve to 8-5.
 
King's (3-4) came out to a strong start as Petruske and Anderson both recorded victories by fall, first by Petruske at 125 in 4:12 then by Anderson at 133 in 6:32 to give the Monarchs the early 12-0 edge. Lycoming (8-5) earned their first win of the meet at 141 as Wiley Kahler outlasted Hugh Bittenbender with a 3-2 decision win. The Warriors continued their rally with a 2-1 decision win by Kobin Karper at 149 over Shane Kibler before Hunter O'Connor earned a fall win in 6:46 over Cameron Leslie at 157. The final win in the stretch by the Warriors came at 165 as Bret Murphy was downed by Chase Chapman by a 9-3 decision to hold a 15-12 advantage over the Monarchs.
 
Kade Kravits got the Monarchs back on the board as he used a strong 3-0 start after the first two periods to earn a 7-3 decision over Eli Crum at 174, tying the meet at 15 apiece. Connor Wrobleski picked up the final win in regulation for King's as he pinned James Ellis in an impressive 1:13 to put King's ahead, 21-15. The rest of the match would go to the Warriors as Richard Fronheiser at 197 and Nick Valenzano at 285 would both end their bouts by fall as Lycoming earned the 27-21 win over King's in McGrane Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
In exhibition matches, Patrick Horvath earned a win by fall in 4:04 at 125 over Brayden Newman, while Nick Germano picked up a victory by an 11-0 major decision at 133 over Anthony Coukart. Alex Ballantyne also won in the 165-exhibition bout as he pinned Hunter Charles in 5:59 before Bill Grace earned a win by fall in 3:25 over Matt Knapp at 197. In the final exhibition bout of the meet, Johnny Rivera fell in 1:12 to Robbie West.
 
The Monarchs will be back on the mat next Saturday as they travel to Oswego, NY to take on Oswego State at 1:00 p.m. in Max Ziel Gymnasium.