Results
Photo gallery (by Dan Ceccacci)
Photo gallery (by Vu Nguyen)
The University of Scranton wrestling team had seven pins while posting victories over Rowan University and Penn College in a season-opening tri-match on Sunday in the Long Center.
The Royals rolled to a 42-9 victory over Rowan in their first match of the day, then blitzed Penn with pins in four of the first five matches en route to an identical 42-9 win.
Junior Ian Evans (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland) led the way with pins at 157 pounds in each match. He clamped Rowan's Mark Patterson in 5:19 in the opener, then came back and dominated Penn College's Seth Johnson in 2:52 in the final match.
Scranton 42, Rowan 9
In the victory over Rowan, the Royals got off to a quick start when sophomore Nicholas DePierro (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold) posted a technical fall at 125 with a 16-0 win over Rowan's Tyler White in just 2:17. The Royals followed with a pair of forfeits at 133 and 141, and Evans picked up his pin at 157 for a 23-3 lead.
Scranton also received a forfeit at 165 to clinch the match before Rowan picked up a pin at 174. Scranton followed with three straight wins to end the match – freshman Daniel D'Agostini (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) with a pin in 2:10 at 184 pounds; freshman Derek Fisher (Nanticoke, Pa./Nanticoke) with an overtime 3-1 decision at 197; and junior Eric Calimano (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) with a major decision, 12-2, at 285 pounds.
Scranton 42, Penn College 9
The Royals raced out of the gates with three straight pins and four in the first five matches en route to another dominating win. DePierro got things started at 125 with a pin in 1:45, and senior Corey Forlenza (Montville, N.J./Montville Township) was a second quicker in his pin at 133. Freshman Liam Gallagher (Aberdeen, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) outdid them both at 141, posting a pin in 1:15 for an 18-0 lead.
After Penn College fought back with a pin at 149, Evans got Scranton back on track with his pin at 157. The Wildcats then got a decision at 165, but it was their final points of the match as Scranton posted wins in the final four matches, starting with a forfeit at 174.
D'Agostini gave the Royals a thrilling 5-4 win at 184 pounds, and Fisher followed with a dramatic decision of his own, winning 13-11 in overtime at 197 pounds. Calimano completed the route with a pin at 285 pounds in 1:00, the team's seventh and final pin of the day.
The Royals will be back in action next weekend when they compete in the Monarch Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 7, at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., starting at 9:30 a.m.
--ROYALS--
