WILKES-BARRE, PA (NOVEMBER 4, 2023) -- The King's College wrestling team opened their season on Saturday afternoon for their annual Ned McGinley Invitational. The squad finished sixth of thirteen teams in McGrane Gymnasium. The Monarchs witnessed great performances that included Frankie Theroux taking third place and Rich Fronheiser taking fourth. 

Alex Ballantyne- 165
Ballantyne fell against Roger Williams' Michael Forte in 2:34. He turned around and won in a 13-7 decision against Scranton's Salem Essis. Ballantyne defeated York's Josh Stahl, then took a technical 17-1 fall to Scranton's Timothy Greff.

Alex Martinez- 174
Fisher fell to Roger Williams' Jaden Curley at 0:41. He would then fall to York's Jaden Curley in 0:53. 

Bret Murphy- 157
Murphy lost in a 11-5 decision against Rochester Institute of Technology's Josh Warland. He won in three straight decisions against Rochester Institute of Technology's Josh Sam, Waynesburg's Seth Evans 14-2, and New York University's Josh Heisey 7-2. Scranton's Daniel Kosinski overtook Murphy in 3:42.

Brian Hopkins- 149
Hopkins made his debut and lost to York's Nick Paolicci in 0:18 and Wilkes' Colton Thorpe in 1:46.

Cole Anderson-133
Anderson lost his first bout of the afternoon against US Merchant Marine Academy's Corey Haney in 1:15. He won his next two matches against York's Daniel Barra 7-3 and Rochester Institute of Technology's Gurjaan 14-4. Anderson lost his last match in an 8-2 decision against Washington & Jefferson's Hunter Swedish.

Connor Wrobleski- 184
Wrobleski placed sixth for the afternoon invitational. His first match was a no contest and lost his next two in pinfalls, 0:55 against US Merchant Marine Academy's Tyler Withers and 4:18 against Roger William's Cole Shaughnessy. Wrobleski won his last three in falls, 0:51 to York's Kian Payne, Stevens' 2:14 Giorgio Corica, and Washington & Jefferson's Jaden Fields. 

Elias Hernandez- 165
Hernandez lost to New York University's Rex Jacobs in 1:04 and Roger Williams' David Ras in 0:26.

Francis Theroux- 174
Theroux placed third place for the Monarchs. He beat Rochester Institute of Technology's Ben Dougherty and Roger Williams' Jayden Curley 10-0. Theroux would then lose in a 10-5 decision to Waynesburg's Colby Morris. He would come back and win his last three in a decision against Rochester Institute of Technology's Tyler Balent, a 10-3 decision to US Merchant Marine Academy's Trevor Badiu, and a technical 15-0 fall to Hunter's Timothy Babayev.

Hugh Bittenbender- 141
Bittenbender fell to Rochester Institute of Technology's Bryson Vaughn in 3:16. He would come back with an 18-1 technical fall win to York's Jack Doran. Bittenbender fell to Stevens' Carmen Cortese in 4:25 and then took a 15-0 technical fall win to Keystone's Malachi Jones. He ended the afternoon with a win against Rochester Institute of Technology's Mac Davidson. 
 
Jacob Hachtmann- 141
Hachtmann made his debut against Stevens' Ben Sanders and lost in a 4-3 decision. He lost in a 11-4 decision to Christian Mcchesney of Washington & Jefferson. Hachtmann ended on a high note as he pinned Therrol Lafayette from Hunter in 1:38.


Kaleb Paulin- 184
Paulin fell to Lucas Miller of Wilkes in 1:52. He then went against a tough opponent and fell to seventh seed Tyler Withers of Us Merchant Marine Academy in 0:38.
 
MJ Turi- 149
Turi lost in a 5-0 decision to number one seed Mike Glynn of Rochester Institute of Technology. He the won his next two in decisions, the first was against Roger Williams' Jack Forte at 14-8 and the second was to Stevens' Aidan Harper at 15-5. Turi pinned Blake Bender of York in 3:44. Jared Lee of Rochester Institute of Technology won by a 7-3 decision against Turi. He would win his last bout to Wilkes' Caden Temple in a 7-3 decision.

Nick Germano- 141
Germano lost his first contest against Rochester Institute of Technology's Bryson Vaughn in 0:54. He would come back and win his second bout in a 16-1 technical fall to Mac Davidson of Rochester Institute of Technology. Germano lost in a 7-3 decision to Keystone's Quinton Frampton. In his final match of the afternoon, the Monarch was victorious in a 14-2 bout against Nicholas Harder of Scranton.

Nick Valenzano – 285/HWT
Valenzano faced a tough opponent in his opening match in fifth-seeded Derek Martin from York, falling early in the second period, before defeating Waynesburg's Jaron Polk by a fall in 1:54. Despite his late efforts, Valenzano fell by a 9-6 decision to Scranton's Sean Cordaro to end his day.
 
Noah Clawson – 141
Clawson returned to the mats to earn his opening bout by a 6-3 decision over fourth-seeded Bryan Diaz of York. Clawson continued his winning streak with a pin in 1:07 over Matthew Lawrence of Wilkes before battling to a 6-0 decision loss to fifth-seeded Josh Post from RIT. Clawson was then downed by second-seeded Jack Bauer from Wilkes by a 9-4 decision to see his day come to a close. 

Patrick Horvath – 125
Horvath won his first match of the day with a statement pin in 1:37 over United States Merchant Marine Academy's Calvin Burton and won his second straight bout by a 17-4 major decision over fourth-seeded Ben Dubois of Roger Williams. The fifth-seeded Horvath faced the top seed in New York University's Benny Bautista, dropping a 12-2 major decision, before falling by a technical fall to second seed Lee Rubin from RIT. Horvath finished the day with a sixth-place finish at 125 as he fell by a 12-4 major decision to Connor Kerwin of Wilkes. 


Richard Fronheiser – 197
Fronheiser had a great opening weekend as he earned fourth place in the 197-bracket. The fourth seed enjoyed a first-round bye before defeating James Dunagan of the United State Merchant Marine Academy by a 4-1 decision. Fronheiser dropped a 9-6 decision to a tough opponent in fifth-seeded Jack Farinaro of New York University but earned a win by medical forfeit in his next matchup against United State Merchant Marine Academy's Grant Mathias. A 5-3 decision over Washington and Jefferson's Christian McChesney allowed Fronheiser to climb through the consolation bracket, and after a quick medical forfeit victory over second-seeded Spencer Fetrow of Roger Williams, Fronheiser earned his fourth-place finish in a 16-7 major decision loss to New York University's Jack Farinaro in their second battle of the day. 


Bill Grace – 197
Grace was dropped in his opening bout of the day by the sixth-seeded Blaise Wanger of Stevens before responding as he pinned Peter Grippo of Stevens to remain alive in the invitational. A gritty 6-3 decision over James Dunagan of United State Merchant Marine Academy saw Grace head into the next round before falling to seventh-seeded Nick Smith of RIT in the consolation quarterfinals. 
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday, November 11^th for the Rachich Rumble Invitational starting at 10 a.m. in Collegeville, PA. The squad are back in McGrane Gymnasium to battle against Gettysburg at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 18^th.