WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (January 18, 2020)  – No. 24 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling captured individual titles in six weight classes en route to capturing its first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship Saturday at the Lamade Gymnasium.

Freshman Kyle Slendorn (133) joined senior Troy Stanich (141), junior Brett Kaliner (149), senior Dylan Van Sickell (157), senior Thomas Poklikuha 165) and sophomore Michael Dooley (197) in capturing conference titles. All totaled, 11 Ducks medaled as Stevens topped the seven-team field with 154 points. No. 15 Messiah College finished second with 145.5 points and hosting Lycoming College placed third with 126.5. 

The victory was the sixth straight conference championship for the program, who captured five straight team titles in the Centennial Conference before departing for the MAC last summer.

"The team was on a mission today," said head coach Joe Favia. "Win or lose, [everyone] gave maximum effort [today]; they wrestled hard-nosed and were relentless in their attacks. It's exactly the way they need to continue to perform through the second semester."

"New conference, but we are on the same pursuit," Favia continued. "We want to dominate our opponents and set the tone from start to finish. We will enjoy this title for 24 hours, then get back to work in preparing for the next event on the schedule."

Freshmen Hunter Gutierrez and Stefan Major joined classmate Pasquale Vizzoni, junior Bruce Parola, sophomore Akhil Vega and the six conference champions in earning medals. Student-athletes that captured individual conference championships were named First Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference, while second-place finishers were named to the league's Second Team. Bronze medal winners earned their way onto the conference's Third Team to round out the all-conference selections. An OW award was not handed out.

"The team came together on all fronts and we were able to do what are capable of doing," Poklikuha, who returned from an injury to win his second conference championship, shared. "Our 'backups' beating nationally-ranked opponents is indicative of the type of program and culture we have. We always believe we can beat anyone."

"It felt good to be back after a long layoff," Poklikuha reflected about his injury. "I know [that] when I'm healthy and confident, I can do great things and that confidence comes from the coaches and the work we all put in in the room. It's good to be back, but I'm ready for what's next."

At 133 pounds, Slendorn captured his first conference championship in convincing fashion, posting a pin and a pair of decision victories to win the title. After receiving a bye, the Howell, New Jersey native met Messiah's Noah Thomas and earned his eighth pin of the season, stopping Thomas in the opening period after amassing a 10-0 lead. 

Slendorn met a second Messiah grappler in the semifinals and came away with a 10-4 decision to reach the championship bout, where his teammate awaited him. Slendorn built a 5-0 lead over the first two periods and scored an early takedown in the third to put the match out of reach.

On the other side of the bracket, Gutierrez reached the championship match after posting a major decision over Lycoming's Samuel Hanley and a thrilling 4-2 decision over Delaware Valley's third-ranked Kordell Rush in the semifinals, handing the Aggies' 133-pounder his first loss of the season.

In the championship bout, Slendorn scored the first point of the match with an escape to start the final period to take a 1-0 lead. Slendorn was able to control Gutierrez and earned a riding time point to provide the 2-0 final margin of victory. 

At 141, Stanich captured his fourth straight conference title after scoring a pair of pins and technical falls en route to the championship. In the opening round, Stanich pinned King's (Pa.) College's Robert Zelinski in the opening round. Stanich scored an early takedown and nearly pinned his opponent after a four-point nearfall, before ultimately registering his fifth pin of the season 45 seconds later. The Succasunna, New Jersey native built a 6-1 lead after the first period before pinning Wilkes University's Max Shaffer in the opening minute of the second stanza. 

In the semifinal bout, Stanich defeated Vizzoni via a technical fall, leading 18-2 at the time of the stoppage in the third period. Vizzoni advanced to the semifinals with a first-period pin of Lycoming's Connor Hurley and a 7-2 decision over Wilkes' Dylan O'Connor. The first-year grappler rebounded from his setback to Stanich with a pair of decision victories to capture third place.

In the 141-pound championship, Stanich posted his third pin of the day with a first-period stoppage of Wilkes' Kyle Medrow. Stanich scored a pair of takedowns before ultimately pinning Medrow in the final seconds of the period.

Kaliner earned his third conference title after topping 14 competitors at 149. The nation's top-ranked wrestler in the weight class was dominant in capturing the title, scoring a pair of technical falls and two pins to push his season win total to 18. Each of Kaliner's victories have come with bonus points. 

Kaliner began his march to the title with a technical fall over Lycoming's Josiah McClarren, leading 18-1 at the time of the first-period stoppage. Kaliner then scored consecutive pins to reach the championship bout, where he closed out the day with a technical fall over Lycoming's Joe Santomarco, leading 29-11 at the time of the stoppage in the final period. Kaliner only allowed seven points, all via escapes, over his first three matches and scored consecutive two-point nearfalls against Santomarco to win the title. 

Similar to 133, a pair of Ducks reached the championship bout at 157 with Van Sickell and Major facing off in the championship. After each wrestler received a bye, Van Sickell pinned Wilkes' Allen Kokilananda in the second period, while Major won a 7-3 decision over Wilkes' Liam Flaherty. 

In the semifinals, Van Sickell posted a major decision over Lycoming's Trevor Corl, using nine takedowns to total a 19-8 victory. On the other half of the bracket, Major needed extra time but scored a takedown in the sudden-victory period to score an 8-6 victory over No. 8 Stephen Maloney of Messiah. The entire tournament field featured seven ranked wrestlers, with five coming from Stevens and two coming from the other six schools - both of the non-Stevens ranked wrestlers were defeated by non-ranked Ducks. 

In the championship, Major scored the first points of the match with a takedown, but Van Sickell scored consecutive takedowns in the final minute to take a 5-3 lead after the first period. The fourth-year wrestler expanded his lead in the second, escaping Major's grip and scoring a takedown in the final minute to take an 8-4 lead into the final period. In a spirited period, each wrestler scored three points as Van Sickell came away with an 11-7 victory to win the individual title.

At 165, Poklikuha scored four bonus-point victories en route to the individual title. The West Creek, New Jersey native began his day with a second-period pin of Messiah's Isaiah Castellucci and then advanced to the semifinals with a 16-0 shutout of sophomore Anthony Lanza. He advanced to the championship match with a second-period pin of Messiah's Kevin Edwards.

In the final, Poklikuha allowed just three points over the final two periods, while scoring four takedowns and a pair of escapes to register a 12-4 major decision over Messiah's Matt Pangle. Poklikuha gave up just six points over the four matches in winning his first title since 2018 after missing last season due to injury.

Parola captured third place after scoring five victories, which were the most by any Stevens wrestler on the afternoon. The third-year 184-pounder scored a thrilling, 3-1, sudden-victory over Delaware Valley's Kyle Hillermeier to open the day, but fell into the consolation bracket after falling to Lycoming's Gable Crebs. 

The Moscow, Pennsylvania native began his march through the consolation bracket with consecutive major decisions over William Grace of King's and Messiah's Spencer Clements. Parola earned a medical forfeit in the consolation semis and pitched a 4-0 shutout of Lycoming's Mason Novak to capture bronze. Parola scored an escape and a takedown in the second period and added a riding point time in the third to provide the final margin.

Dooley captured his first conference championship with a 4-1 decision over Alvernia University's Tonee Ellis. After two scoreless periods, Dooley escaped Ellis at the start of the final period and then took down his opponent from Alvernia in the final minute to push his margin to 3-0. Ellis was able to escape Dooley for his first point of the match and Dooley added the riding time point to secure the victory.

Dooley reached the championship bout after scoring a technical fall over Messiah's Joe Embleton and a major decision over Lycoming's Brody Keefe. Dooley allowed just two points over three matches in capturing the individual title.

Freshman Arjun Khatri placed fifth at 125, avenging his opening-match setback to Messiah's Jordan Howard with a 9-7 decision victory in the fifth-place match. Howard fell into the fifth-place match after Vega scored a 14-2 major decision in the consolation semifinals to advance to the third-place match. Vega scored his second major of the day to win bronze with a 19-7 victory over Messiah's Garrett Lee, using a 10-2 margin in the final period to become the Ducks' final medal winner.

Freshman Trevor Mastorio and sophomore Joe Schneider earned one victory, while freshman Nicholas Pepe collected a pair of wins at 149 and sophomore Nico Ziccardi earned two pins at 174 to round out Stevens' victories on the day. Sophomore Robert Gennat pinned King's William Grace and earned a decision victory over Delaware Valley's Austin Williams to reach the 184-pound semifinals before withdrawing from the tournament due to injury. Gennat placed sixth, as did Ziccardi and freshman Jonah Schechtman, who earned a pair of victories at 149.

Up Next: No. 24 Wrestling returns to the mats in one week's time for the Stevens quad. Manchester University, No. 6 Johnson & Wales University and No. 9 New York University will all take part in the event on Jan. 25. The action gets underway at noon.

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