Match Results

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (Jan. 11) – After falling behind early, the Waynesburg University wrestling team put together a furious rally against Williams College in its second bout of the day at the Bud Whitehill Division III Wrestling Duals. Unfortunately, that rally came up just short of victory as the Yellow Jackets fell to the Ephs 21-16.
 
Freshman 125-pounder Gordan Bieber continued a strong day at the event by moving to 2-0 with a 7-2 victory over Daniel Sedita to put the Jackets ahead 3-0. Unfortunately, that was not only the Jackets' lone lead of the match, but it was their only bout win over the first five weight classes. Williams picked up bonus points at 133, 141 and 157 pounds, including a forfeit at 133, where both starter Alex Crown and backup Brandon Grainy were forced out of competition due to severe cases of the flu.
 
The Jackets didn't back down from the challenge of digging out of a 17-3 hole with just five matches to go, and sophomore Sam Guidi got the comeback effort going with an 8-5 decision at 165 pounds. Guidi was able to put Kyle Gaffney on his back at the end of the first period, but couldn't hold him there for the pin.
 
Now down 17-6, junior Anthony Bonaventura kept things going at 174 pounds, where he squared off with Mir Henglin. The Commack, N.Y. native controlled Henglin from start to finish and secured a 10-4 victory. Senior Cody Catalina made it three victories in a row for Waynesburg after shutting out Anthony Brooks 5-0. Following Catalina's second win of the tournament, the Jackets were still trailing 21-12 and head coach Ron Headlee decided to take a bit of a gamble by sending out first-year senior Travis Kuhn to wrestle at 197 pounds.
 
Kuhn, a four-year member of the Waynesburg football team and a high school standout at Plum High School, just recently made his collegiate debut at the Waynesburg Invitational, which the Jackets hosted on Saturday, Jan. 5. The rookie made Headlee's gambit pay off with an impressive 10-2 major decision over Dan Kurnick that shrunk Williams' lead down to just 17-16 going into the heavyweight bout.
 
Unfortunately, the Ephs had arguably their top wrestler, nationally recognized Tom Foote, waiting at 285 pounds, and an 11-1 major decision sealed the victory.
 
Even though the Jackets' run at placing in the tournament is over, they still have one last shot at a win when they compete in the “Challenge Bracket” tonight at 7 p.m. Waynesburg will face off with Trine University at 7 p.m. Trine lost matches to The College of New Jersey and Thiel.