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2023-24 Men's Wrestling Season Preview

2023-24 SEASON PREVIEW: Men’s Wrestling

10/31/2023 11:45:00 AM

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EAST STROUDSBURG – The East Stroudsburg University men’s wrestling team is set to begin the 2023-24 season on Wednesday as the Warriors welcome Elmira to Koehler Fieldhouse for a non-conference dual beginning at 5 p.m.

An action packed stretch continues for the Warriors on Sunday as the Warriors host the 56th Annual ESU Open with action beginning at 10 a.m.

How to Follow: Follow @ESUwarriors or @EsuWrestling on Twitter and @esuwarriors or @esuwrestling on Instagram for the latest news regarding the program

All ESU home duals are broadcasted on the PSAC Sports Digital Network and live stats are available for select events

Who’s Back: ESU brings back a number of wrestlers with experience including Robert Burke, Brady Carter, Sergio Cespedes, Luke Ciampa, Kody Edwards, Cameron Enriquez, Eric Falleni, Troy Gentzel, Jaccob Gonzalez, Justin Halbert, Kody Edwards, Ajay Hiller, Josh Jasionowicz, Geovanni Lainez, Carlens Lapaix, Josh Leidig, Zach Lewis, Brian Lombardi, Ben Makaritis, Daniel Principe, Vinny Principe, Jacob Remolina, Matthew Richardson, Kelvin Rodriguez-Molina, CJ Ross, Jack Spahn and Max Winkler.

Who’s New: The Warriors welcomed 18 wrestlers to this year’s squad including Sebastian Adler, Jason Athey, Kasim Bahar, Elijah Brundo, Sean Campbell, Caden Herb, Anthony Lawrence, Joshua Montesino, Matthew Murray, Patrick Noonan, Jarrett Pantuso, Francisco Perez-Gonzalez, David Pierson, Shawn Redfield, Isaiah Reinert, Mark Roche, Luke Schirmacher and Layton Schmick.

February 25, 2023 - NCAA Super Region 1 Wrestling - Photo by Dave Janosz
As a freshman, Brady Carter (125) qualified for the 2022-23 NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships

The Coach: Anibal Nieves, who earned All-America accolades at East Stroudsburg University in 1989, enters his fifth year as head coach of the Warriors in 2023-24. A season ago, the Warriors defeated Kutztown in a dual for the first time since February 18, 2014, hosted the NCAA Division II Super Region I Tournament and had four podium finishers, including Carter who qualified for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships.

January 28, 2023 - East Stroudsburg University Men's Wrestling vs Gannon - Photo by Dave Janosz
Anibal Nieves enters his fifth year as head coach of ESU in 2023-24

Schedule: ESU begins the 2023-24 campaign with three straight home events (vs. Elmira – Nov. 1 | 56th ESU Open – Nov. 5 | vs. Scranton – Nov. 8) before traveling north of the border for the Toronto Metropolitan University on Sunday, Nov. 12. The Warriors begin PSAC duals at nationally ranked Pitt-Johnstown on Nov. 15 and head to Millersville for the “Shorty Hitchcock Classic” (Nov. 18), before welcoming the Marauders to Koehler Fieldhouse for a dual on Nov. 30. 

Over the next month and a half, ESU takes trips to the Bob Quade Cyclone Open (Dec. 3), Nassau Open (Dec. 10), 2023 Midwest Classic (Dec. 17) and Will Abele Invitational (Jan. 13). The Warriors resume PSAC action with duals against Gannon (Jan. 26), Mercyhurst (Jan. 27) and Shippensburg (Feb. 6) before welcoming Seton Hill, Centenary and Sussex for a quad match on Feb. 11.

ESU closes out the regular season at Kutztown (Feb. 15) and returns to Keystone Arena on March 2-3 for the NCAA Super Region I Championships. 

Super Region I Coaches Rankings: As a team ESU was fourth in the Super Region I Coaches preseason rankings and had eight wrestlers ranked in their respective weight classes including Brady Carter (3rd -125), Cameron Enriquez (3rd – 133), Brian Lombardi (6th – 141), Eric Falleni (5th – 149), Luke Ciampa (4th – 165), Josh Leidig (5th – 184), Ajay Hiller (2nd – 197) and Layton Schmick (6th – 285). 

NWCA Division II Rankings (Preseason): On Monday, the Warriors received three votes in the preseason edition of the NWCA Division II Coaches Poll. Four PSAC teams were ranked in the top-25 including Pitt-Johnstown (14), Mercyhurst (20), Millersville (23) and Kutztown (24). 

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2023-24 Men's Wrestling Schedule