COLLEGEVILLE, PA – RIT sophomore wrestler
Josh Harkless and first-year grappler
Gabe Scalise each won their weight class to help the Tigers to a first place finish at the Will Abele Invitational hosted by Ursinus.
Harkless was the champion at 197 lbs., while Scalise was the winner at 133 lbs. Senior
Colby Giroux (184 lbs.), junior
Josh Post (141 lbs.) and sophomores
Michael Glynn III (149 lbs.) and
Nate DeGroff (285 lbs.) each finished second, while junior
Liam Strouse (165 lbs.) placed third.
Top-seeded Harkless began with a 2-0 decision over Demetrius Ruiz and pinned (1:30) Troy Gibson in the second round. He defeated Justin Osler, 7-1 in the quarters, before pining (1:21) Darby McLaughlin in the semifinals. He went on to beat Kyle Schaffer with a fall at 3:20 in the championship bout.
Third-seeded Scalise defeated Peter Sacco with a fall at 3:11 in his second-round match after receiving a bye. He pinned Anthony Hernandez at 2:42 in the quarterfinals and defeated Kyle Nase 8-1 in the semifinals. Scalise beat Luke Kowalski with a fall at 4:44 in the title match.
Giroux, the top seed, defeated Samuel Berger with a fall 28-seconds into his opening bout and went on to pin Johnny Harwood at 4:19 in his second-round match. Giroux won a 12-0 major decision over Josh Leidig in the quarters and took down Jack Ryan with an 8-0 major decision in the semis. Giroux fell to Quinn Haddad, 5-4 in the championship.
Post beat Sawyer Ferry with a fall at 2:17 of his opening match. He defeated Romeo Rodriguez with a 10-1 major decision in the quarters before beating Daniel Hong 2-1 in the semis. Post lost 3-2 to Sean Johnson in the finals.
Glynn was 7-2 winner over Jake Rosenthal in his opening bout and beat James Barrett with a 16-1 technical fall in the second round. He pinned Cameron Hatchett at 1:22 in the quarterfinals, before winning a 6-0 decision over Dante Monaco in the semis. Glynn lost 3-2 to Michael Conklin in the championship.
DeGroff began by pinning Max Ferguson 32 seconds into his opening match and beat Amir Pickens with a fall at 3:28 in the second round. He pinned Christopher Stavrou at 2:21 of the quarters and beat Jake Ahmad with a fall at 2:17 of the semifinal match. DeGroff lost an 11-3 major decision to Pete Wersinger in the tile bout.
RIT returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 21) when the Tigers host the New York State Intercollegiate Open at 9:00 a.m.
