GETTYSBURG, Pa. (January 19, 2019)  – Five different wrestlers each won two matches as the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team defeated both McDaniel and Gettysburg Saturday in a Centennial Conference quad dual, hosted by Gettysburg College.

Freshman Akhil Vega, senior Joey Borai, juniors Troy Stanich and Dylan Van Sicell, along with sophomore Brett Kaliner, were each victorious against both the Green Terror and the Bullets as the Ducks improved their dual record to 8-7. Stevens began the day by defeating McDaniel, 31-18 and then posted a 28-26 victory over the hosting Bullets to close out the day. 

"The guys picked up some good individual wins, and as a team, it was good to find two wins after coming off a loss to Loras," said head coach Joe Favia. The young guys still need to find a way to inflict their will on their opponents. We are still developing them. It's going to take a team effort to finish the conference dual meet season on top, but we never shy away from a challenge."

Freshman Robert Gennat and sophomore Bruce Parola also posted victories for the Ducks, who extended their consecutive conference dual winning streak to 24. Stevens has won each of the last three Centennial Conference dual championships.

Following his strong showing at the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational, Vega opened the competition with a major decision over Nick Malinowski, blanking the McDaniel 125-pounder 11-0. Borai followed with a major of his own, defeating sixth-ranked Ryker Eckenbarger 13-2.

Stanich, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 141 pounds, pinned Isaiah Edmond in the opening period and Kaliner, ranked sixth at 149 pounds, posted a technical fall to extend Stevens' lead to 19-0. Kaliner was up 17-1 at the time of the second-period stoppage. Van Sickell continued the run of bonus-point performances with a major over Wade Bishop. The McDaniel wrestler had won six of his last eight bouts heading into the dual.

McDaniel finally got on the board courtesy of a pin at 165, but Gennat earned a 9-2 decision victory over Garrett Vandervalk to clinch the dual victory. McDaniel totaled 12 points with a pin at 184 and a forfeit at 285, but Parola scored a technical fall at 197 to round out the scoring. The Moscow, Pennsylvania native was leading 17-2 at the time of the third-period stoppage.

The Ducks scored bonus points in each of the first five matches to open a 28-0 lead before holding off Gettysburg over the last five points to secure the victory.

Vega earned a forfeit victory at 125 to open the dual. The six-point cushion would be negated by a Gettysburg forfeit win at 285. Borai and Stanich posted consecutive first-period pins to push Stevens' lead to 18. Kaliner followed with a 16-7  major at 149 and Van Sickell earned his first pin of the day to give the Ducks a commanding lead. Stevens finished with four pins on the day.

Gettysburg began its climb back into the dual with a major at 165 and a pin at 174. Dan Ebert defeated Gennat via major decision to earn four points toward the Bullets' team total, however, the victory did not come with enough bonus points to allow Gettysburg to ultimately tie the dual, giving the Ducks their second conference dual win of the year.

Stevens has won nine  consecutive duals with McDaniel and 11 against Gettysburg.

Stevens 31, McDaniel 18
125: Akhil Vega (S) won by major decision over Nick Malinowski (M), 11-0; Stevens leading 4-0
133: Joey Borai (S) won by major decision over #6 Ryker Eckenbarger (M), 13-2; Stevens leading 8-0
141: #1 Troy Stanich (S) pinned Isaiah Edmond (M), 2:06; Stevens leading 14-0
149: #6 Brett Kaliner (S) won by technical fall over Skyler Minutelli (M), 17-1 (3:40); Stevens leading 19-0
157: Dylan Van Sickell (S) won by major decision over Wade Bishop (M), 15-5; Stevens leading 23-0
165: Cole Nagle (M) pinned Anthony Lanza (SIT), 2:23; Stevens leading 23-6
174: Robert Gennat (S) won by decision over Garrett Vandervalk (M), 9-2; Stevens leading 26-6
184: Ronnie Wuest (M) pinned Nico Ziccardi (S), 5:38; Stevens leading 26-12
197: Bruce Parola (S) won by technical fall over Quinton Lyons (M), 17-2 (6:23); Stevens leading 31-12
285: Chris Hauffman (M) won by forfeit; Stevens wins 31-18
 
Stevens 28, Gettysburg 26
125: Akhil Vega (S) won by forfeit; Stevens leading 6-0
133: Joey Borai (S) pinned Alex Shaffer (G), 1:38; Stevens leading 12-0
141: #1 Troy Stanich (S) pinned Sean Thompson (G), 0:49; Stevens leading 18-0
149: #6 Brett Kaliner (S) won by major decision over Colin Devlin (G), 16-7; Stevens leading 22-0
157: Dylan Van Sickell (S) pinned Ray Martin (G), 1:13; Stevens leading 28-0
165: Mason Canonico (G) won by major decision over Anthony Lanza (S), 12-4; Stevens leading 28-4
174: Colin Kowalski (G) pinned Nico Ziccardi (S), 1:37; Stevens leading 28-10
184: Dan Ebert (G) won by major decision over Robert Gennat (S), 15-2; Stevens leading 28-14
197: Austin Roskos (G) pinned Bruce Parola (S), 1:30; Stevens leading 28-20
285: #7 Paul Triandafilou (G) won by forfeit; Stevens wins 28-26

Exhibitions
157: Kelvin Angelo Cupay (G) won by decision over Jarrett Weir (S), 7-3

Up Next: Wrestling heads to Kings Point, New York for a Centennial Conference dual with the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Jan. 22.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
Snapchat: ducks_athletics
#AllRise