Ian Evans	Nicholas DePierro
Nicholas Ciaccia	Keegan Connelly

Results 

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Senior Ian Evans (Laurys Station, Pa./Parkland) won the 157-pound title for the third straight year to lead The University of Scranton wrestling team to a sixth-place finish at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Invitational on Saturday.

Evans was impressive en route to the fourth invitational title of his career (he also won the 157-pound title at the Washington & Lee Invitational as a sophomore). Entering as the top seed, he opened Saturday with a pair of pins to reach the quarterfinals, where he then posted a 5-2 win by decision. In the semifinal, Evans faced his toughest test, edging Lycoming's Haydn Smartwood, 8-7. In the final, he defeated another Lycoming wrestler, Trevor Corl, 4-1, to win the crown.

Scranton finished the event with 85.5 points on the strength of four top-four finishes. Lycoming took the team title with 130 points, edging Oneonta State and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which both had 121. Oswego State and RIT tied for fourth with 95 points each, followed by Scranton and John Carroll (82.5) to round out the top seven in the 12-team event.

The Royals received a second-place finish from junior Nicholas DePierro (Manalapan, N.J./Freehold) at 125 pounds, a third-place finish from freshman Nicholas Ciaccia (Freehold, N.J./Howell) at 133 pounds, and a fourth place from freshman Keegan Connelly (Schnecksville, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) at 197.

DePierro opened with a pin and a decision to reach the quarterfinal, where he won a thriller in the first sudden victory period, 4-2, over Wesleyan's Amir Dayouk. In the semifinal, DePierro won by medical forfeit over Wesleyan's Tristan Stetson, but in the final he was edged by Brian Amato of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 9-4.

Ciaccia opened with a bye, then had a pin and a major decision to reach the semifinal at 133 pounds. He dropped that match, 10-3, to Kevin Knox of Oneonta State, but rebounded to reach the third-place match with an 8-0 major decision. In that third-place match, Ciaccia was victorious, 4-2, over Steven Jendritz of Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Connelly also started with a bye, then used a pin and a decision to reach the semifinals at 197 pounds. There, he suffered an 8-3 loss to Thiel's Gage Gladysz. In his first consolation bout, Connelly had a first-period pin to reach the third-place match, but he dropped a narrow 2-0 decision to Oneonta State's Peter Pjetri.

Scranton also received valuable points from senior Salvatore Montuori (Clark, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson), who went 4-2 at 285 pounds.

The Royals will now break for the holidays. They will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 7, when they travel to Lexington, Va. for the Washington & Lee Invitational.

--ROYALS--