The Muhlenberg wrestling team opened its 2017-18 with a strong showing at the Ned McGinley Invitational hosted by King's, with four members placing in the top six.

As a team, the Mules finished sixth out of 12 teams with 65 points, just three years after scoring two points at the same tournament. They filled all 10 weight classes and fielded 18 competitors.

Junior Gennaro Cerminara went 4-1 to come in third at 197. After opening his season with a technical fall and suffering his lone loss to the eventual champion in the championship semfinals, Cerminara rebounded to win his two consolation bouts on a first-period pin and a major decision - the latter coming against a Scranton foe who received honorable mention in the D3wrestle.com preseason rankings.

Logging fourth-place finishes were sophomores Michael Dougan at 157 and Dylan Schwartz at 165. Dougan went 4-2 to place at a tournament for the first time in his Muhlenberg career. His only two losses were to opponents who appear in the D3wrestle.com preseason rankings, one as a contender and one honorable mention.

Schwartz, making his debut for the Mules, pinned his first opponent and won three straight decisions following an overtime loss. He reached the consolation final, where neither wrestler was permitted to compete due to a new rule that limits wrestlers to a maximum of six bouts in one day.

Sophomore Austin Sherman (pictured above) placed sixth at 141 after winning his first two bouts, including a thrilling 13-11 overtime contest to start.

Senior Ben Peck (149) went 4-2 for the Mules, and sophomore Nick Daza (157) won three bouts. Sophomore 184-pounder Mike Cannon, who missed all of last season with injury, picked up his first two career wins with back-to-back decisions in the consolation bracket.

Sophomore Connor McGee had one of the team's most exciting matches, coming back after being down 10-5 by scoring 16 points in 39 seconds to win by technical fall at 133.

complete results

Team Scores
1. New York University (NYU) 158
2. York (Y) 146.5
3. SUNY Cortland (Co) 131
4. Roger Williams (RW) 127.5
5. Oneonta State (O) 87.5
6. MUHLENBERG (Muhl) 65
7. Camden County College (CC) 52.5
8. Scranton (S) 44.5
9. Keystone (Ke) 39
10. Wilkes (W) 38.5
11. King's (Ki) 34
12. Penn College (P) 3

Muhlenberg Results
125
Michael Savello (O) pinned Cliff Cornell (Muhl)
Michael Muldoon (O) dec. Cornell, 7-2

133
Austin Day (NYU) maj. dec. Connor McGee (Muhl), 19-6
McGee tech fall Zachary Dwyer (Y), 27-10
Karl Lindsey (W) tech fall McGee, 17-0

133
Verlensk Joachim (Y) pinned Alex Helpin (Muhl), 2:00
Jason Jacobi (RW) pinned Helpin, 3:53

141
Austin Sherman (Muhl) dec. Jeffery Walker (Y), 13-11 (ot)
Sherman dec. Matt Elias (RW), 9-5
Sean Lyons (NYU) pinned Sherman, 1:32
Austin Sisco (O) maj. dec. Sherman, 8-0
fifth-place match: Anthony Messina (O) dec. Sherman, 3-2

141
Josh Hickey (Muhl) pinned Cade Hudson (Y), 1:51
Nick Ciacci (S) pinned Hickey, 2:43

149
Ben Peck (Muhl) pinned Joseph Swank (P), 1:30
Vincent Hellthaler (RW) dec. Peck, 10-9
Peck dec. TJ Caswell (Ke), 9-8
Peck tech fall Morris Garcia (S), 20-4
Peck maj. dec. Kyle Shaffer (S), 15-5
Justin Cochran (RW) pinned Peck, 0:21

157
Michael Dougan (Muhl) maj. dec. Eddie Cropper (RW), 19-7
Raymond Jazikoff (NYU) maj. dec. Dougan, 11-1
Dougan dec. Owen Jones (NYU), 5-2
Dougan dec. Vinny DelliGatti (CC), 2-0
Dougan over John Sheedy (S) by medical forfeit
consolation final: Tyler Gazaway (RW) dec. Dougan, 7-0

157
Nick Daza (Muhl) dec. Chad Wickard (Y), 7-5 (ot)
Daza dec. Tony Immediato (Ki), 2-0
John Sheedy (S) tech fall Daza, 26-11
Daza dec. Will Laughlin (S), 6-2
Tyler Gazaway (RW) dec. Daza, 7-6

157
Michael Brown (W) dec. Brian Jamison (Muhl), 6-4 (ot)
Andrew Solomon (CC) dec. Jamison, 2-0

165
Dylan Schwartz (Muhl) pinned Daniel Bergeron (P), 1:30
Schwartz dec. Jesse Rocco (Y), 9-8
Adrian Berry (Co) dec. Schwartz, 10-8 (ot)
Schwartz dec. Anthony Malfitano (RW), 12-5
Schwartz dec. Thomas Marrone (O), 4-2
Schwartz dec. Peter Hilburn (RW), 9-7

165
Devin Iezzoni (O) pinned Logan Laughlin (Muhl), 4:30
Connor Fortune (RW) pinned Laughlin, 1:30

174
Matt O'Donnell (CC) tech fall Tommy DiSisto (Muhl), 18-0

184
Deuly Espinal (Co) tech fall Mike Cannon (Muhl), 19-3
Cannon dec. Ralph Cazzetta (O), 9-3
Cannon dec. Jason Carter (CCC), 8-6
Jesse Huber (Y) maj. dec. Cannon, 8-0

184
Jason Carter (CC) pinned Ross Gothelf (Muhl), 2:51
Gothelf over Christian Dalla Riva (S) by medical forfeit
Patrick Deacon (S) pinned Gothelf, 1:02

184
Juan Ramos (CC) dec. Cam Wasson (Muhl), 7-5
Wasson maj. dec. Logan Huling (W), 20-6
Jackson Kligerman (NYU) over Wasson by injury default

184
Jackson Kligerman (NYU) tech fall Kem Montina (Muhl), 17-1
Jesse Huber (Y) dec. Montina, 7-0

197
Gennaro Cerminara (Muhl) tech fall Cameron DiGiovannang (CC), 22-5
Cerminara over Tomi Tolles (S) by medical forfeit
Jack La Corte (NYU) maj. dec. Cerminara, 14-5
Cerminara pinned Timothy Flower (O), 1:30
consolation final: Cerminara maj. dec. Keegan Connelly (S), 10-2

HWT
Scott Schaeffer (Muhl) dec. Will Oxley (S), 7-3
Stefanos Karpontinis (Y) pinned Schaeffer
Schaeffer dec. Adam Groesbeck (O), 5-4
Ralph Bernardo (K) maj. dec. Schaeffer, 14-6