WILKES-BARRE, PA. (January 4, 2007) – Junior Brandon MacWhinnie (Barton, N.Y.) led the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team with three wins at the John Reese Duals hosted by Wilkes University on Thursday in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The duals were an eight-team event that featured three rounds of matches. As a team, the Ducks lost in the first round to Oneonta State 40-3, but bounced back to earn a 40-3 victory over Waynesburg College in the consolation semi-finals. In the final round of the day, Stevens dropped a 27-18 decision to Baldwin-Wallace College in the fifth-place match. The Ducks earned a sixth-place finish in the event.
Wilkes placed first in the tournament and finished the day with a 3-0 mark. Lycoming College placed second (2-1), Oneonta finished third (2-1), Hunter College earned a fourth-place finish (1-2), Baldwin-Wallace was fifth (2-1) and Waynesburg (1-2) and Trinity College (0-3) rounded out the event with a seventh and eighth-place finish, respectively.
Against Oneonta, MacWhinnie earned the Ducks only victory with an 8-2 decision over David Ballard.
In the consolation semi finals, Stevens earned wins in seven, matches against Waynesburg. Freshman Kyle Brisson (Syracuse, N.Y.) earned the Ducks’ first victory by forfeit at 125 pounds. Sophomore Mark Bistis (Readington, N.J.) earned a win by major decision at 133 pounds over Abdul Yusuff. Sophomore Pat Conrad (Enola, Pa.), freshman Leo Dormann (Mickleton, N.J.) and junior Zak Lenz (Little Silver, N.J.) all picked up wins at their respective weight classes to give the Ducks a 28-0 advantage. MacWhinnie collected his second win of the day over Jacob Benczo by an 18-3 technical fall. Freshman Ernie Guaimano (Hillsborough, N.J.) picked up a 7-2 decision over Justin Keally, and senior Will Young (Willingboro, N.J.) earned his second win of the season by a major decision over L.R. Neubauer.
Stevens earned a spot in the fifth-place match and claimed four wins against Baldwin-Wallace. Conrad picked up his second win of the day at 141 pounds to even the score 6-6. Dormann earned a win by pin over Mohamed Salem to claim his second victory at the tournament, giving the Ducks a 12-6 lead. MacWhinnie improved to 3-0 at the duals with a 5-4 win over Gino Russo, which gave Stevens a 15-12 edge. Freshman James Roarty (Hyde Park, Mass.) collected his first win of the day over Arlon Brister at 197 pounds to put the Ducks within three, 21-18.
The Ducks will return to action on January 6 when they travel to New York, N.Y. to compete against New York University, Bridgewater State College and the University of Southern Maine. The tournament will begin at 11 a.m.
