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EAST STROUDSBURG – Braden Turner, Brendan McKeown and Tyson Searer won by decision and freshman Tyler Richardson had his first career pin, but East Stroudsburg University fell to Gannon, 26-15, in PSAC wrestling on Friday night at Koehler Fieldhouse.

Gannon won by bonus points in four of the first five bouts before ESU rallied to win four of the final five to close the night. The Golden Knights won all three bouts between regionally-ranked wrestlers (125, 133 and 184) and had the higher-ranked wrestler in each match.

Turner, ranked No. 5 in Division II at 165 pounds, got ESU on the board and improved to 22-4 on the season with a 5-0 decision over Casey Pace. After a scoreless first period, Turner had an escape early in the second, then scored a takedown and two back points in the third period to move to 13-1 against DII competition this year.

McKeown, ranked No. 5 at 174 pounds, followed up with a 7-0 decision over Adam Greenman. He had a takedown 10 seconds into the bout and rode out the rest of the first period, then scored a reversal in the second for a 4-0 lead. McKeown added a takedown at the final buzzer and had a significant riding time advantage for the 7-0 win, improving to 7-2 on the year.

Searer, a sophomore, won a 4-1 decision over Gunner Loughman at 197, scoring a takedown in the first period and a reversal in the third.

Richardson finished the night with a pin early in the third period at 285. He trailed Nick Budd, ranked sixth in Super Region 1, by a 5-0 score on two stalling warnings, an escape and a takedown, but turned Budd and got the quick fall 10 seconds into the third (5:10).

Gannon won close bouts at 133 and 184, by major decision at 125, by fall at 149 and by forfeit at 157.

At 184, No. 5-ranked Zech Zelcs (Gannon), a two-time national qualifier and returning All-American, won a 2-1 decision over redshirt junior Luke DeLuise. Zelcs trailed 1-0 but had a 1:30 riding time advantage through two periods, and managed to escape 18 seconds into the third period to maintain the advantage and win 2-1.

Adam Weinell (Gannon) won a 3-1 decision over freshman Joey Kratochvil at 133 in another regionally-ranked match-up. Weinell led 2-1 with a huge riding time edge after the first period, and there was no more scoring in the bout.

Matt Turek (Gannon), a two-time national qualifier and returning All-American, won a 19-6 major decision over junior Anthony Marino at 125.

Freshman Marius Kola dropped a 9-1 major decision to Johnny Marotto at 141, and Gannon's Rocco Wellek won by fall over junior Joseph Hoy at 149.

ESU is back on the mat on Saturday night at Delaware Valley, which is ranked No. 12 in Division III by the NWCA.


Gannon 26, ESU 15
125 - Matt Turek (Gan) maj. dec. Anthony Marino, 19-6 ... Gannon 4-0
133 - Adam Weinell (Gan) dec. Joey Kratochvil, 3-1 ... Gannon 7-0
141 - Johnny Marotto (Gan) maj. dec. Marius Kola, 9-1 ... Gannon 11-0
149 - Rocco Wellek (Gan) pinned Joseph Hoy, 1:38 ... Gannon 17-0
157 - Nate Ross (Gan) won by forfeit ... Gannon 23-0
165 - #5 Braden Turner (ESU) dec. Casey Pace, 5-0 ... Gannon 23-3
174 - #5 Brendan McKeown (ESU) dec. Adam Greenman, 7-0 ... Gannon 23-6
184 - #5 Zack Zelcs (Gan) dec. Luke DeLuise, 2-1 ... Gannon 26-6
197 - Tyson Searer (ESU) dec. Gunner Loughman, 4-1 ... Gannon 26-9
285 - Tyler Richardson (ESU) pinned Nick Budd, 5:10 ... Gannon 26-15

SR1 rankings:
125 - Turek (Gan) #2, Marino (ESU) #6
133 - Weinell (Gan) #4, Kratochvil (ESU) #5
165 - Turner (ESU) #1
174 - McKeown (ESU) #2
184 - Zelcs (Gan) #2, DeLuise (ESU) #6
197 - Searer (ESU) #3
285 - Budd (Gan) #6

Records: Gannon 4-1 (2-0 PSAC); ESU 3-5 (0-3)