WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 6, 2026)— On Friday night afternoon, the King's College wrestling team honored its six graduating players – Patrick Horvath, Cole Anderson, Shane Kibler, Alex Ballantyne, Frankie Theroux and Connor Wrobleski—ahead of a non-conference matchup with cross-town rival Wilkes University. The Monarchs fell to the Colonels, dropping to 5-8 on the season as Wilkes improves to 5-7 overall.

In the first bout of the night at 125 lbs. Patrick Horvath was taken down in a 10-0 major decision to Wilkes' Gus Smith, giving the Colonels a four-point lead heading into the 133 lb. matchup.

At 133, Cole Anderson fell in a hard-fought decision by a close margin of 13-10 against Connor Kerwin, putting Wilkes up 7-0 after the first two bouts.

At 144 lbs., Jacob Torres dropped an 11-0 major decision to Ashton Romberger, giving the Colonels an 11-0 advantage over the Monarchs.

Shane Kibler picked up the first win of the night for the Monarchs at 149, besting James Sloan in a 3-1 decision, highlighted by strong defense from the Senior and picking bringing the count to 11-3 in favor of Wilkes.

The win at 149 seemed to ignite both the crowd and the Monarchs as MJ Turi followed Kibler with an emphatic 16-3 major decision win over Conner Skalavonous to cut the Colonel lead to four at 11-7.

First year Kennedy Thomas continued his sensational start since joining the team with a win by fall over Colton Thorpe in the first round, giving the Monarchs their first lead of the night at 13-11.

Wilkes regained the lead at 14-13 in the next bout at 174 pounds as Jacob Hachtmann was edged out by Hunter Troutman in an 8-1 decision.

At 184 lbs. Jake Bobersky suffered a 15-0 technical fall setback to Lucas Miller as Wilkes extended their lead to 19-13.

The 197-pound bout was a highly contested match between Josh Brown and Patrick Gordon III, where Gordon just barely held onto a 6-3 win to give the Colonels a 22-13 lead headed into the heavyweight bout.

At 285, first year Sam Moffett took Wilkes' Trevor Gitski to the brink but unfortunately fell in a 4-2 decision, bringing the final tally to 25-13 in favor of Wilkes.

King's wrestling returns to the mat on Sunday, February 8 as the Monarchs head to Scranton, PA for the Scranton Duals starting at 9:00 a.m.