Results
WILKES-BARRE, PA. – The University of Scranton wrestling team got off to a solid start to the 2015-16 season by finishing sixth at the Monarch Invitational on Saturday at King's College.
The Royals had five wrestlers earn top-five finishes as the team totaled 106.5 points. Roger Williams won the team title with 205.5 points, followed by Cortland State (186.5), Wilkes (126), York (121.5) and New York University (121).
The Royals' sixth-place finish was their best since they began competing in the Monarch Invitational in the 2004-05 season.
The five Scranton wrestlers to place were:
- Senior Ian Evans (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland), who was third at 157 pounds;
- Sophomore Daniel D'Agostini (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic), who was third at 184;
- Freshman Keegan Connelly (Schnecksville, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic), who was fourth at 197 pounds;
- Junior Nicholas DePierro (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold Township), who was fifth at 125, and;
- Freshman Nicholas Ciaccia (Freehold, N.J./Howell), who was fifth at 133.
Evans reached the semifinals at 157 before a narrow 5-3 loss to Ty Herzog of Roger Williams. But Evans rebounded, defeating Nicholas Racinelli of Wilkes, 2-0 in sudden victory, in the consolation semifinals, then defeating Daniel Downes of Roger Williams, 9-5, in the third-place match. Evans finished the day 5-1 with three wins by technical fall.
D'Agostini also reached the semifinal at 184, where he was edged by Joe Albina of Roger Williams, 5-2. Like Evans, he rallied to win a consolation semifinal, 3-1 over Daishi Gatto of Camden County College, then won the third-place match, 4-3 over Connor Humphries of Roger Williams. D'Agostini also finished 4-1 with a pair of technical falls.
Connelly won twice to reach the semifinal at 197, where he was edged by Christopher Francis of Roger Williams, 2-1. Connelly then posted an 8-3 win over Cortland State's Brett Lewis in the consolation semifinal, but lost the third-place match by technical fall (18-0) to Zachary Faust of Wilkes. Connelly went 3-2 with all three wins by decision.
DePierro reached the semifinal at 125 thanks to a pair of pins, but suffered back-to-back losses to fall into the fifth-place match. There, he pinned Chris Gural of Roger Williams in 4:31 to finish on a winning note.
Ciaccia won twice to reach the semifinal at 133, but lost a pair of decisions before edging Cam Newman of Penn Tech, 1-0, in the fifth-place match.
The Royals will be back in action on Thursday, Nov. 10, when they travel to LaPlume, Pa. to take on Keystone College at 7:30 p.m.
--ROYALS--
