Complete Results

EAST STROUDSBURG - Junior Chris Birchler finished second at 285 pounds and redshirt senior Matt Swallow made the quarterfinals at 133 as East Stroudsburg University hosted the 42nd Annual ESU Open on Saturday at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Birchler was third at the ESU Open last year in the first competition of his career for the Warriors and won his first three matches before falling to Trey McLean of Penn, an NCAA qualifier a year ago.

He opened his day with a first-period pin of Ian Mucciolo of Shore Wrestling and won an 11-6 verdict against Ziad Haddad, the 2008 PIAA Class AA champion from Bethlehem Catholic. Birchler edged Pat Gilmore of Maryland 6-5 to reach the finals.

Swallow, the Warriors' captain, also won three matches, two in the championship bracket and one in the consolations. He topped Steven West (Army Prep) 8-1 and Eddie Harris (Kutztown) 12-2 and dropped a 5-4 decision to Marty Borowsky (Penn) in the quarterfinals. Swallow came back with a 12-2 major decision of Jack Chidester (Penn State) before falling 4-2 to Sean Reed (Millersville).

Other Warriors to post victories were redshirt junior Matthew Benedetti and redshirt sophomore David Luthy at 125, redshirt sophomore John Menafra at 141, redshirt senior Joe Schick at 149, and redshirt sophomore Jeff Jacobs and freshman Andrew Lopchinsky at 157.

Jacobs won two matches, including one of ESU's two falls of the day with a pin of Tyler Riccio (unattached) nine seconds into the second period of their consolation bout. Menafra also had a pair of wins with all four of his matches resulting in a regular decision.

Penn had three champions - McLean (285), Matt Dragon (157) and Colin Hitschler (184) - and Maryland crowned Mike Letts at 174 and Hudson Taylor at 197.

ESU opens its 2008-09 dual schedule with a trip to Drexel on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

125 - Matthew Benedetti
Benedetti tech. fall Zach Ellis (Penn), 19-3
Filiberto Colon (Rider) maj. dec. Benedetti, 12-1
Jimmy Kirchner (Rider) pinned Benedetti, 6:30

125 - David Luthy
John Andel (Millersville) maj. dec. Luthy, 12-4
Luthy maj. dec. Frank Maselli (Stevens), 13-3
Jose Matos (unattached) dec. Luthy, 13-6

133 - Matt Swallow
Swallow dec. Steven West (Army Prep), 8-1
Swallow maj. dec. Eddie Harris (Kutztown), 12-2
Marty Borowski (Penn) dec. Swallow, 5-4
Swallow maj. dec. Jack Chidester (Penn State), 12-2
Sean Reed (Millersville) dec. Swallow, 4-2

133 - Matt Michaels
Matt Hicks (unattached) maj. dec. Michaels, 9-1
Josh Yurasits (unattached) dec. Michaels, 10-4

141 - John Menafra
Menafra dec. Ross Bollinger (Kutztown), 4-1
Andrew Alton (unattached) dec. Menafra, 6-2
Menafra dec. Matt Lindsey (Delaware Valley), 2-1
Zack Kemmerer (Penn) dec. Menafra, 9-4

149 - Joe Schick
Schick dec. Don Smith (Delaware Valley), 6-1
Cesar Grajales (Penn) dec. Schick, 5-0
Brent Huffman (Millersville) dec. Schick, 4-1

149 - Jesse Dunn
Dane Stevens (Lehigh) dec. Dunn, 5-4
Brent Huffman (Millersville) dec. Dunn, 6-2

157 - Jeff Jacobs
Braden Turner (unattached) dec. Jacobs, 5-2
Jacobs dec. Eric Gobin (Army Prep), 7-2
Jacobs pinned Tyler Riccio (unattached), 3:09
Gabe Burak (Penn) maj. dec. Jacobs, 12-2

157 - Andrew Lopchinsky
Lopchinsky dec. Nick Ponomarev (Delaware Valley), 7-6
Brandon Gardner (Delaware State) dec. Lopchinsky, 3-1
Shane Everett (Penn State) dec. Lopchinsky, 11-5

174 - Nick Tetro
David Chirichello (Lehigh) dec. Tetro, 7-1
Jordan Chacon (Stevens) pinned Tetro, 5:56

184 - Trevor Salvatore
Thomas Shovlin (Penn) dec. Salvatore, 4-1
Casey Hedash (Army Prep) dec. Salvatore, 5-1

285 - Chris Birchler
Birchler pinned Ian Mucciolo (Shore Wrestling), 1:05
Birchler dec. Ziad Haddad (unattached), 11-6
Birchler dec. Pat Gilmore (Maryland), 6-5
Trey McLean (Penn) tech. fall Birchler, 15-0