Brackets | Team Scores

GRANTHAM, Pa. –Sophomores Colin Kowalski (Derwood, Md./Georgetown Prep) and Paul Triandafilou (Derwood, Md./Georgetown Prep) each captured individual championships to lead the Gettysburg College wrestling team at the Petrofes Invitational hosted by Messiah College.
 
Kowalski snagged his first collegiate title at 157 pounds, while Triandafilou defended his title in the heavyweight bracket. The two championships combined with five additional top-five finishes to lift Gettysburg to a runner-up showing at the event. The Bullets totaled 131.5 points and finished ahead of No. 17 Wilkes University (130) for the second spot. Only No. 13 Messiah finished in front of Gettysburg with 209 points.
 
Kowalski opened his day with a 3-1 decision over Nicholas Racanelli from Wilkes to earn a berth in the championship match. After finishing runner-up at his first two tournaments of the year, the Gettysburg sophomore would not be denied, going the distance against Messiah's Jeff Hojnacki, the fifth-ranked grappler in the country. The bout appeared headed to overtime after seven scoreless minutes, but the Falcon wrestler was forced to default due to injury, giving Kowalski his first career title. He improved to 15-2 on the season.
 
Triandafilou was making his season debut this weekend after recently wrapping up his time with the Gettysburg football team. The sophomore heavyweight didn't disappoint in defense of his championship, claiming three wins on the opening day and two more Saturday. He scored a 6-0 decision over Jacob Huling of Wilkes to start action Saturday. Triandafilou, ranked fourth in the nation, was paired against No. 7 Matan Peleg of Ursinus College in the final, but the Bear wrestler forfeited due to injury. The win marked Triandafilou's third career championship.
 
Sophomore Dan Ebert (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Warde) ended his day with a victory in the third-place match at 174 pounds. After getting upended by top-ranked Ben Swarr in the semifinals, Ebert won a pair of close decisions in the wrestleback, first beating Corey Markovitch of Ursinus 8-6 before beating Nick Miller of Mount Union 2-0.
 
Junior Louie Carusillo (Pequannock, N.J./DePaul Catholic) and senior Camden Stoops (East Prospect, Pa./Eastern York) placed fourth at 133 and 197, respectively. After recording three first-period falls on Friday, Carsusillo added two more quick pins to reach the consolation finale where he was upended by fall. Carusillo tied for the tournament lead with five pins totaling just over six minutes of mat time. Stoops was stopped by fall in the semifinals, but bounced right back with a 9-0 major decision in his first consolation match. He was edged 8-6 by Zachary Faust of Wilkes in the third-place bout.
 
Junior Lenny Ogozalek (Summit Hill, Pa./Panther Valley) and freshman Colin Devlin (Dresher, Pa./Upper Dublin) picked up a pair of fifth-place finishes at 125 and 141, respectively. Ogozalek was sent to the consolation bracket with a loss to top-ranked Lucas Malmberg of Messiah to start the day. He dropped his next match by decision, but won the fifth-place contest by medical forfeit. Devlin won his opener Saturday by major decision 12-4 and just missed reaching the third-place match with a 9-8 setback to No. 8 Alvontae Drummond of McDaniel College. He bounced back for an 8-2 decision over Messiah's Lee Cassel in the fifth-place bout, which avenged a loss to Cassel earlier in the tournament.
 
Gettysburg closes out the first semester with its first home dual against Lycoming College next Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m.