WRESTLING

FEBRUARY 18, 2007

KING’S MORGAN, REILLY EARN D-III NATIONAL TOURNEY BERTHS BY WINNING METROPOLITAN TOURNEY

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Tournament Brackets

EWING, NJ – King’s College wrestling standouts David Morgan and Jason Reilly earned trips to the 2007 NCAA Division III National Tournament as the Monarch duo both won individual weight class championships at the Metropolitan Wrestling Conference championship Sunday at The College of New Jersey, Ewing.

Overall, the Monarchs finished third in the team standings with 75.5 points, trailing champion College of New Jersey (89.5) and York (83.0), while Hunter (59.0) and Wilkes (55.0) were fourth and fifth respectively.

Morgan the top-ranked wrestler nationally in Division III, captured the 133-pound championship with a 3-2 decision over second seeded and fifth-ranked Ray Sarinelli of The College of New Jersey. With the match tied 1-1 in the third period, Morgan scored the decisive takedown with just 0:23 left to post a 3-2 victory to earn his second straight trip to nationals. Morgan, who improved to 33-2 on the year, reached the finals with a 22-7 technical fall over Isaac Kuyunov of Yeshiva in his opening match before pinning fourth-seeded Joe Ranzenbach of New York University in 2:56. Morgan placed sixth in the 2006 Division III national championships.

At 197, top-seeded senior Jason Reilly earned his first-ever trip to the national tournament by pinning second-seeded Shintaro Higashi of Hunter in 1:50. Reilly (32-7) scored an early takedown, then cradled Higashi onto his back to pick up the fall and improve his career record to 117-19. Reilly, who registered three first-period pins in the event, won his opening bout with a fall over Devin Sassone-McHugh of Wilkes in 1:19 while posting a pin in 0:45 of fourth-seeded Shawn VanWingerden of The College of New Jersey in 0:45 in the semi-finals.

At 141, King’s third-seeded freshman Anthony Miele placed third, registering a 8-7 victory over Jon Moyet of New York University in the consolation finals. Miele (28-15) won his first match with a 10-4 decision over Scott Falcone of York, then followed up by pinning Michael Dushane of SUNY-Maritime in 3:10. In the semi-finals, however, he dropped a 13-4 decision to second-seeded Adam Penberthy of Wilkes, but would stay alive by pinning Vitaly Simpkin of Hunter in 0:42 in the consolation semi-finals.

At 184, fourth-seeded sophomore Zack Wilkinson placed third for the Monarchs, posting a 5-3 overtime victory over fifth-seeded Colin Nagy of Wilkes in the consolation finals. Wilkinson (20-9) won his first match with a 9-4 decision over Nagy before falling to top-seeded returning All-American Terry Madden of Hunter by a 19-3 technical fall in the semi-finals. Wilkinson then pinned seventh-seeded Steve Johnson or York in 2:30 to set up the rematch with Nagy.

King’s fourth-seeded freshman Taylor Green placed fourth at 157-pounds dropping a 2-0 decision to Frank Heffernan of Wilkes in the consolation finals. Green (17-20) won his first-round matchup with a 9-2 decision over fifth-seeded Calvacca, but fell to top-seeded 2005 All-American Joe Galante of The College of New Jersey 12-6 in the semi-finals. Green would reach the consolation finals with a 13-2 victory over Mike Guenther of Scranton.

At 285, third-seeded senior Jim Bishop placed fourth after dropping a 5-3 decision to fourth-seeded Luke Panizzi of York in the consolation finals. Bishop (26-13) won his first match with a pin in 0:21 of unseeded Simon Nassimi of Yeshiva. He would then drop a hard-fought 3-1 overtime decision to second-seeded Steve Carbone of The College of New Jersey, but responded by pinning Keith Altiery of Wilkes in 1:13 in the consolation semi-finals.

Other King’s wrestlers competing included unseeded sophomore Jeff Mazurek (9-10) who dropped his first match at 125 pounds, 13-0 to fourth-seeded Kyle Christensen of New York University and was then eliminated 12-8 by Evan Velez of Hunter.

At 149, unseeded freshman Frankie Davis opened the tournament with a 3-2 loss to fourth-seeded Donnell Young of Scranton. He then won his first consolation match with a 6-5 verdict over Kyle Nasdio of Centenary. Davis (8-10) was then eliminated when he was pinned in 4:47 by top-seeded Gene Kobilansky of New York University, who was upset by Young in the semi-finals.

Fifth-seeded senior Drew Dehaut lost his opening match at 165-pounds by a 15-9 decision to fourth-seeded Jared Duffy of Centenary, but rebounded to win his first consolation match by pinning Paul Denaga of Hunter in 1:00. Dehaut (17-13) was then eliminated with a 8-1 loss to Justin Barowski of Wilkes.

At 174, third-seeded senior Zach Dietrick won by injury default over Oliver Ferraro of Hunter but was then upset in the second round when he was pinned by unseeded Kevin DiGiulio of Scranton in 1:59. Dietrick (17-17) was then eliminated in his next match when he was pinned by Brian Alwine of York in 6:33.

Team Scoring:
89.5 - College of New Jersey

83.0 - York

75.5 - King’s

59.0 - Hunter

55.0 - Wilkes

52.5 - NYU

36.5 - Centenary

24.0 - Scranton

6.5 - SUNY-Maritime

0.0 - Yeshiva

Wild Cards (receive berth to nationals as voted by coaches
125 pounds: Felpie Queiroz (Wilkes) and Anthony Gummerson (Centenary)
133 pounds: Ray Sarinelli (TCNJ)
149 pounds: Donnell Young (Scranton) and Gene Kobilansky (NYU)
165 pounds: Mike Guenther (TCNJ)
184 pounds: Nick Coleman (NYU)

Alternates:
1st Justin Barowski - 165 (Wilkes)
2nd Shintaro Higashi - 195 (Hunter)
3rd Luke Panizzi - 285 (York)

King's Metropolitan Place-winners (L-R): Zach Wilkinson (3rd), Jason Reilly (1st),
David Morgan (1st), Anthony Miele (3rd).