CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 10, 2018)  – Freshman Brett Kaliner was the National Runner-Up at 141 pounds, the highest finish for a Stevens wrestler in program history, as the Stevens Institute of Technology Wrestling team placed fourth at the 2018 NCAA Championships Saturday in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kaliner was one of three wrestlers to earn top-five finishes for Stevens. Sophomore Troy Stanich finished third for the second consecutive year and senior Zach Wilhelm closed out his legendary career with a fourth-place showing. All three cemented their All-American status Friday. The team's fourth-place score marked the top finish in program history. The Ducks finished eighth in 2016 and have secured three consecutive top-10 finishes. Wartburg finished first with 136.5 points, Augsburg took second with 82 points and Ithaca totaled 79 points to round out the top-three. Stevens completed the championship with 55 points, finishing 11 points ahead of Wabash.

"It's hard to summarize the weekend. We are still experiencing a mix of emotions," said head coach Joe Favia. "In many ways, the tournament was a success, but in others, there was still more to be desired. I think that will always be the case, and that's what makes our guys great.; we set the bar high for ourselves, we try to create new standards and when we realize those goals but come up short, our hunger grows."

"I couldn't be more proud of this year's team and the five who represented us at NCAAs," Favia continued. "Their commitment to the betterment of the team and their belief in the 'process' has never been stronger. This third place academic finish, and fourth place athletic finish, was a TEAM effort. I am blessed to be part of it and to be surrounded with such great individuals. The team and I are ready for next year to get rolling."

Kaliner began the day with a semifinal victory over Elizabethtown College's Joe Ghione, who was the No. 5 seed in the tournament. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native became the first Stevens wrestler to reach the national championship bout with the 6-2 decision win. 

In the national final, Kaliner met Ithaca's Ben Brisman, who was the seventh seed in the tournament and ranked fifth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association. Although Kaliner previously bested Brisman at both the Ithaca Invitational (major decision) and the Mideast Regional (decision), it was Brisman that came on top Saturday, edging Kaliner 10-7 to win the national championship. 

Kaliner came out strong in the opening period, scoring with a couple of takedowns to take an early lead. Midway through the second, Brisman scored a takedown and nearly pinned Kaliner. The takedown and near fall allowed the Ithaca grappler to jump ahead on the scoreboard. Stevens challenged the official's call on the mat and after a significant delay, the replay upheld the referee's scoring decision.

In the final period, Kaliner attempted to wrap up Brisman, but Brisman defended well and didn't allow the Stevens wrestler to gain control.

In his freshman season, Kaliner, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and the third-ranked wrestler in the weight class, finished with a 35-3 record, with eight pins, nine majors and four technical falls among his wins. Kaliner, the Centennial Conference Rookie of the Year, won an individual title at both the Conference Championships and the Mideast Regional, in addition to his second-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

"Being able to be a part of the first team in school history with a team trophy was an awesome feeling, and that was with three All-Americans," Kaliner commented. "As a team, we know where we can be each year and we can keep building off this finish for years to come."

At 133 pounds, Stanich won the consolation bracket for the second straight season to place third nationally in the weight class. The Roxbury, New Jersey native pinned Coast Guard's Owen McClave to start his day and closed it with a pin of Oneonta's eight-ranked Austin Sisco to win the third-place match. In between, the sophomore avenged his opening-match loss with a technical fall over Johnson & Wales' Joao Vicente. Stanich was leading 16-1 at the time of the stoppage. Stanich will return to the program coming off a 39-1 record in his sophomore campaign. In his two years at Stevens, Stanich has an 86-2 record with 37 pins. Stanich was dominant in his five tournament victories, adding three pins and a pair of technical falls to his season total.

"Sometimes, your greatest failures end up allowing you to accomplish something bigger than originally planned," Stanich offered. "This weekend, I was able to see how important it was to put the team ahead of myself."

Lastly, Wilhelm earned his second straight top-eight finish to conclude his career on Castle Point as a two-time All-American. The Tuckerton, New Jersey native dropped a hard-fought 7-4 semifinal-decision to Wartburg's No. 2 Logan Thomsen to begin the day, before rebounding with a pin of No. 3 Mark Choinski of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. In the 157-pound third-place match, the senior fell via decision to No. 4 Cole Erickson (Coe) to wrap up the tournament. Wilhelm completes his four-year career with 159 wins, topping both the Stevens and Centennial Conference record book for career victories. The senior also holds the program's single-season victory total (48) and earned a conference and regional championship at 157 pounds in his final season of competition. Wilhelm was also the 2018 Centennial Wrestler of the Year and the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the conference championship.

"With any NCAA Championship, there's always ups and down, but even with those downs, our team was able to notch fourth with a limited number of guys, which is pretty special," Wilhelm shared.

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