On November 7, Stevens wrestling finished second in the season-opening Ned McGinley Invitational. Building from last year’s third place at the invitational, Stevens earned the second-place finish with eight wrestlers placing in the top-three finishes.
Altogether, the Ducks accumulated 140 points during the season opener. Finishing in first place for their respective brackets were freshman Ryan Yang (141), senior Carmen Cortese (149), and sophomore Noah MacIlroy (184). Freshman Jake Zemsky finished in second place at 197. The third-place finishers were sophomore James McGinty (125), sophomore Sidney Dillon (149), freshman Reed Loeffel (157), and junior Kristian Koroveshi (197). For fourth place was sophomore Cole Grenier (197) and senior Ian Flanagan (174) while sophomore Michael O’Connor (157), sophomore Sawyer Pugh (174), freshman Aaron Moccia (184), sophomore Terrence Thomas (197), and sophomore Charles Piccione took sixth.
NYU finished first with 154 points, with the Violets and Ducks taking 11 out of 20 potential first and second-place finishes between them. At 126.5 points, Merchant Marine was third, while Roger Williams was fourth at 106 points.
At Wilkes-Barre, PA, the Ned McGinley Invitational was raring for action. During a 4-0 start, Cortese demonstrated why he was No. 1 seed at 149 by collecting two technical falls and a pin. He finished with a third technical fall in the finals. Meanwhile, another No. 1 seed at 184, MacIlroy collected a pin and two technical falls, including the finals, for a 4-0 day on the mats.
The freshmen started off strong at the invitational which was their first collegiate competition. First-year Yang seeded sixth at 141 and went 5-0 with a fall, a major decision, and three decision wins. Meanwhile, Jake Zemsky, a 6 seed, went 5-0, and collected a decision and two technical falls. Unseeded at 157, Reed Loeffel started off with a technical fall and then a pin. He achieved third place through another pin to clinch third. After a sudden victory loss in the semifinals, he bounced back with another pin to clinch third. McGinty, No. 5 seed at 125, recorded back-to-back pins to start off. After falling to the No. 1 seed, McGinty’s decision win landed him in third place.
Koroveshi, who is unseeded at 197, took back-to-back decisions but suffered a sudden victory loss in the semifinals, pushing Stevens Duck Grenier in the third place match. At 149, the 4 seed Dillon wrestled five matches with everyone else ending via decision. Dillon won his first three matches, lost to Cortese in the semis, but ended strong by winning the third place match.
The dual season for Stevens wrestling will be facing Ithaca, taking place on Friday, November 13 at 6 p.m. at home.
