MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (January 12, 2019)  – Junior Troy Stanich and sophomore Brett Kaliner each won individual titles as the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team had four place-winners en route to a fourth-place finish Saturday at the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational, hosted by Cornell College.

Junior Dylan Van Sickell finished second at 157 and freshman Akhil Vega placed sixth at 125 as Stevens totaled 91 points. The hosting Rams won the team event with 97.5 points, edging No. 3 Wartburg College, who took second with 97. No. 8 Loras College finished third with 94 points and Concordia (MN) College (90 points) rounded out the top-five. The fourth-place finish was the highest placement for the team at a multi-team event this season.

"It was good to see the guys bounce back from Thursday night's performance," said head coach Joe Favia. "They wrestled hard through tough positions, but there is still a great deal to build on."

"Our top guys did what they needed to do to control the matches and dominate," Favia continued. "The younger guys need to find a way to win they're in the trenches. We will recover and get back to work in preparation to begin our conference schedule next week."

Stanich, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds, picked up two pins, a pair of technical falls and a major decision in the championship to earn the 141-pound championship. The Roxbury, New Jersey native improved his record to 27-1 and increased his pin total to 10. Stanich earned victories over Brett Wilson (Concordia (MN)), Quinn Youngs (Augsburg), Klayton Keller (Cornell), Brady Fritz (Wartburg) and Kevin Kelly (Loras) to win the weight class. Stanich allowed just one point in his two technical fall-victories and posted an 11-2 major decision over Kelly in the championship bout. The individual title was third straight for Stanich at the prestigious event.

Kaliner matched Stanich's two pins and added a pair of major decisions and a technical fall to win his first individual title at the annual event, formerly known as the Matman Invitational. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native opened his tournament with consecutive falls over Cain Van Ryan (Augsburg) and Garrett Ruckdashel (Wisconsin-Platteville). Kaliner reached the semifinals with a technical fall over Freddy Terranova (Augustana) and posted consecutive majors to win the individual crown. He is second on the team with 24 wins and lead the team in pins.

Van Sickell continued his impressive showing of late with a had a strong run through the 157-pound bracket. The Little Silver, New Jersey native pinned Cornell's Spencer Easley in the opening round and then reached the quarterfinals with a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Concordia's Adam Jaeger. Van Sickell posted a 14-4 major over Olivet's Liam Kinjorski to reach the semis and took a 10-5 decision from Luther's Michael Peterson to reach the championship bout, where Augsburg's Aaron Wilson came away with a 13-4 major decision. The four victories improved Van Sickell's record to 17-7. He has won 15 of his last 19 matches.

Vega turned in the best performance of his inaugural season on Castle Point, earning four victories, including his first career pin en route to finishing sixth. The Cupertino, California native began the tournament by pinning Dubuque's Yonas Harris, which was followed by a 12-10 decision over Cornell's Brody Lamb. Vega fell to Loras' Matt Randone via technical fall in the quarterfinals, but rebounded to earn a hard-fought 8-6 decision over Coe's Diego Ortega to advance in the consolation bracket. The 125-pounder continued his run with his first career technical fall, advancing over Buena Vista's Byron Fleming via a 19-4 score. Vega's day came to an end against Olivet's Garrett Cleveland, who went on to finish fourth.

Of the non-placewinners, senior Joey Borai earned two pins a decision at 133 before dropping a hard-fought 5-4 decision to the weight class' eventual fifth-place finisher. Freshman Joseph Schneider earned a technical fall and a spirited 15-11 decision at 149 before bowing out of the tournament and freshman Anthony Lanza earned the first two victories of his collegiate career at 165. Freshman Robert Gennat (174) and sophomore Bruce Parola (184) each earned majors and sophomore Colin Myles collected a pair of victories at 197 before withdrawing from the tournament because of an injury.

The event, in existence since the early 1990s, was renamed earlier this season after Cliff Keen, the founder of Cliff Keen Athletic, and Cornell Athletics, and National Wrestling Coaches Association, Hall of Famer Mike Duroe. Duroe, Cornell wrestling's all-time leader in career coaching victories, passed away in Juy. Duroe was also an assistant on the United States Men's Freestyle coaching staff for six Olympic Games and was a mentor to Stevens' current head wrestling coach, Joe Favia. 

The Ducks dedicated their 2018-19 season to Coach Duroe, his legacy and the impact that he had on the wrestling community.

Click here for the team results and here for the individual results.

Up Next: Stevens opens Centennial Conference action with duals against Gettysburg and McDaniel on Jan. 19.

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