WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (November 3, 2018)  – Junior Stephen Friedman earned a pair of victories Saturday to lead the tenth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team at the Ned McGinley Invitational, hosted by Kings College.

The Phillipsburg, New Jersey native reached the quarterfinal round before dropping a pair of bouts to bow out of the tournament. Friedman opened his 2018-19 campaign with a technical fall over Penn College of Technology's Makeela Fabrizio. The 165-pounder was leading 18-2 at the time of the stoppage. Friedman also defeated Roger Williams' Liam McDermott for his second win of the year. The two victories were Friedman's 16th and 17th career wins. Friedman fell to Wilkes' Nick Racanelli via a 10-4 decision to fall to the consolation bracket. Racanelli was a contender by d3wrestle.com in its initial rankings of the season.

Collectively, No. 7 York College (Pa.) won the team title, totaling 206.5 points. Stevens earned 14.5 points to place 15th among the 16 competing programs.

"You learn a lot during the first few weeks of the season," said head coach Joe Favia. "Today was a great test to see where some of our guys stood against some of the best in Division III. We didn't get the results we are working for, but our guys had a lot of fight. We will take away a lot from today's matches and continue to improve."

Four freshmen Akhil Vega (125), Nico Ziccardi (165), Jarrett Weir (157) and Joseph Schneider (149) made their collegiate debuts, with Ziccardi, Weir and Schneider each earning a victory in their respective weight classes.

Sophomore Bruce Parola also earned a victory, defeating Washington & Jefferson's Jesse Lesko via 8-2 decision at 184 pounds. The Moscow, Pennsylvania native earned four victories last season.

Click here for the full results.

Up Next: Juniors Troy Stanich and Dylan Van Sickell will join sophomores Brett Kaliner and Colin Myles at the prestigious Princeton Open.

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