NEW YORK, N.Y. – The No. 17 Wilkes University wrestling team finished 1-1 splitting a pair of matches at the Grapple at the Garden held at the famous Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon.
 
Wilkes was a 32-15 winner over the United State Merchant Marine Academy before falling to No. 11 Stevens 25-12 in in its final match of the tournament.
 
After a forfeit at 125, Denzel Tovar (Wall, NJ/Wall) pinned his opponent in 1:38 at 133 to push the Colonel lead to 12-0 after two bouts. Kyle Medrow (West Chester, PA/West Chester Henderson) continued the scoring with a technical fall (16-0) at 141 followed by another Colonel pin, this time No. 5 Josh Evans (Palmerton, PA/Palmerton) at 149. Nicholas Racanelli (West Creek, NJ/Southern Regional) made it two straight falls at 157 before Zachary Faust (Wilkes-Barre, PA/G.A.R. Memorial) recorded a 12-6 decision at 197 to end the Colonel scoring in the match.
 
Wilkes met No. 11 Stevens in its second match of the day in a battle of two top-20 teams in the country. Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) opened the match with a 9-7 decision over Rob Murraya. Stevens claimed a fall at 133 before Matthew Grossmann (Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) posted a 10-3 decision at 141. Evans made it 2-0 on the day at 149 after securing a thrilling 7-6 decision over No. 8 Zach Wihelm to put Wilkes ahead 9-6.
 
From there, Stevens claimed three decision wins and two extra point victories to take back the advantage up 25-9 with one bout remaining. Jacob Huling (Jersey Shore, PA/Jersey Shore) finished the Wilkes scoring with a 4-1 decision over Pete Andricha at 285.
 
Wilkes returns to action Friday and Saturday wrestling at the Messiah Petrofes starting at 10:00 a.m. hosted by Messiah College in Grantham, Pa.
 
WU 32, USMMA 15
125 - Wilkes won by forfeit
133 - D. Tovar (Wilkes) fall Brennan Dizon (USMMA), 1:38
141 - K. Medrow (Wilkes) tech. fall Tyler Craig (USMMA), 16-0 1:54
149 - J. Evans (Wilkes) fall Karsten Tribus (USMMA), 2:31
156 - N. Racanelli (Wilkes) fall Erik Beshada (USMMA), 2:05
165 - Christian Willoughby (USMMA) dec. J. Morel (Wilkes), 7-6
174 - Josh Glantzman (USMMA) dec. R. Fornaciari (Wilkes), 10-4
184 - Kurtis Hahn (USMMA) fall N. McCummings (Wilkes), 3:57
197 - Z. Faust (Wilkes) dec. Brandon Joest (USMMA), 12-6
285 - Victor Raigoz (USMMA) dec. J. Huling (Wilkes), 8-4
 
Stevens 25, WU 12
125 - G. Rea (Wilkes) dec. Rob Murrayâ (Stevens), 9-7
133 - Troy Stanichâ (Stevens) fall P. Chander (Wilkes), 4:21
141 - M. Grossmann (Wilkes) dec. Dylan Van sickell (Stevens), 10-3
149 - J. Evans (Wilkes) dec. Zach Wilhelmâ (Stevens), 7-6
156 - Thomas Poklikuhaâ (Stevens) dec. N. Racanelli (Wilkes), 11-4
165 - Leo Wortman (Stevens) dec. M. Paskas (Wilkes), 5-3
174 - Josh Smithâ (Stevens) major dec. R. Fornaciari (Wilkes), 14-6
184 - Danny Mooreâ (Stevens) dec. J. Brook (Wilkes), 7-3
197 - Aj Kowalâ (Stevens) fall J. Nochimson (Wilkes), 1:00
285 - J. Huling (Wilkes) dec. Pete Andrichâ (Stevens), 4-1