Wilkes Open Results

WILKES-BARRE - Shane Mallory finished second at 174 pounds, Sean Carr (141) and Chris Birchler (285) were third in their respective weight classes and Matt Swallow placed fourth at 133 as the East Stroudsburg University wrestling program had a very productive day at the Wilkes Open on Friday at Wilkes University.

Mallory surrendered just 10 points in winning four matches on his way to the final, where he was pinned by Justin Herbert of Franklin & Marshall. Herbert was the recipient of the Marv Antinnes Award for accumulating the most team points in the tournament, with three falls and a major decision in claiming the championship at 174.

Mallory's path to the final included a 13-3 major decision over Steve Makin of Pitt-Johnstown in the second round. He blanked Army's Ryan Mergen 7-0 to reach the semifinals and won an 11-5 decision over Columbia's Travis Creagan before falling to Herbert in 56 seconds.

Birchler finished the day with a 6-1 record to improve to 15-4 on the year. His mat work included three pins in a total of 6:02. He pinned his first two opponents before dropping a 9-6 decision to Brandon Williamson of Nassau, but rebounded with four straight victories to finish third. He earned a 20-8 major decision of Oklahoma's Luis Hernandez to start the wrestlebacks, and took a 4-3 decision from Penn State's Cameron Wade in the consolation final.

Carr won his first three matches, two by major decision, and fell 5-2 to eventual champion Shane Valko of UPJ in the semifinals. He defeated Mike Tutunjian of Wagner 8-6 and Andre Harrison of Nassau 7-5 to finish third and move his overall record to 13-6 this season.

Swallow's only two losses came against Lehigh's Matt Fisk, 3-0 in the second round and 12-1 in the third-place match. He started his day with a 17-2 victory over Josh Pauling of Wilkes, then earned a 12-2 major decision over Gloucester's Bob Shea and a 10-6 decision against NYU's Joe Ranzenbach. Swallow advanced to the consolation final due to a medical forfeit before going out to Fisk.

The Warriors entered three wrestlers at 157, where Kyle Heselpoth finished with a 3-2 record with victories over athletes from Maryland, Army and Franklin & Marshall. Joe Schick pinned Evan Obein of Nassau in 5:41 in his first round consolation match, and Ken Monarque dropped both of his matches. Matt Benedetti and David Luthy also bowed out in their first matches in the consolation round at 125.

ESU will return to dual action on Sunday, Jan. 6 with matches against Princeton and Stanford at Princeton's Jadwin Gym beginning at 5 p.m.

125 - Matt Benedetti (0-11)
Eric Cashera (Penn State) maj. dec. Benedetti 10-0
Jake Bucha (F&M) dec. Benedetti 5-3

125 - David Luthy (0-4)
Derek Bosso (UPJ) dec. Luthy 10-3
Nick Keshecki (Wagner) dec. Luthy 6-3

133 - Matt Swallow (12-7)
Swallow tech. fall Josh Pauling (Wilkes) 17-2
Matt Fisk (Lehigh) dec. Swallow 3-0
Swallow maj. dec. Bob Shea (Gloucester) 12-2
Swallow dec. Joe Ranzenbach (NYU) 10-6
Swallow med. forfeit over Tim Haas (Penn State)
Fisk maj. dec. Swallow 12-1
Swallow finishes fourth

141 - Sean Carr (13-6)
Carr maj. dec. Andrew Cotlov (NYU) 17-6
Carr maj. dec. Ian Del Sol (Bloomsburg) 10-0
Carr dec. Steve Perez (Nassau) 7-3
Shane Valko (UPJ) dec. Carr 5-2
Carr dec. Mike Tutunjian (Wagner) 8-6
Carr dec. Andre Harrison (Nassau) 7-5
Carr finishes third

157 - Kyle Heselpoth (6-9)
Heselpoth dec. Matt MacLean (Maryland) 7-4
Shane Vernon (Oklahoma) dec. Heselpoth 8-2
Heselpoth dec. Sean Joyce (Army) 3-1 sv
Heselpoth dec. Andrew Smith (F&M) 6-4
Kyle Eason (WVU) pinned Heselpoth 2:40

157 - Joe Schick (3-9)
Kyle Eason (WVU) dec. Schick 1-0
Schick pinned Evan Obein (Nassau) 5:41
Tyshaun Patrick (Nassau) dec. Schick 7-2

157 - Ken Monarque (2-3)
Evan Obein (Nassau) maj. dec. Monarque 10-2
James Histed (Wilkes) dec. Monarque 3-2

174 - Shane Mallory (13-7)
Mallory dec. Eric Roehrig (Nassau) 5-2
Mallory maj. dec. Steve Makin (UPJ) 13-3
Mallory dec. Ryan Mergen (Army) 7-0
Mallory dec. Travis Creagan (Columbia) 11-5
Justin Herbert (F&M) pinned Mallory 0:56
Mallory finishes second

285 - Chris Birchler (15-4)
Birchler pinned Ellis Hester (Delaware State) 3:27
Birchler pinned Tommy Sitar (Maryland) 1:21
Brandon Williamson (Nassau) dec. Birchler 9-6
Birchler maj. dec. Luis Hernandez (Oklahoma) 20-8
Birchler dec. Zac Walsh (Bloomsburg) 10-3
Birchler pinned Chris Dempsey (UPJ) 1:14
Birchler dec. Cameron Wade (Penn State) 4-3
Birchler finishes third