CLEVELAND, Ohio (January 4, 2020)  – Freshman Kyle Slendorn and senior Dylan Van Sickell each won three matches, but No. 22 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling dropped three duals to nationally-ranked opponents Saturday at the D3 National Challenge, held at the Veale Field House and hosted by Case Western Reserve University.

Sophomore Michael Dooley won a pair of bouts for the Ducks, who opened the day with a 24-18 setback to No. 18 Millikin University, before falling to No. 13 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 27-19, and No. 6 University of Mount Union, 25-16. Sophomores Akhil Vega, Robert Gennat and Nico Ziccardi joined freshman Stefan Major and senior Troy Stanich each earned one victory as the Ducks won 13 of the 30 bouts on the day in dropping to 2-5 in dual matches.

"We traveled to Cleveland to compete against some of the best programs in Division III," said assistant coach Anthony Bonaventura. "We battled and were in every dual, [but], we just could not find a way to finish on top. We will learn from today's setbacks and move forward. As a whole, we need to execute at a higher level to have success against the best teams in the country. [We are] looking forward to getting back to work next week as we prepare for the MAC Championships."

In the opening dual against Millikin, the Ducks earned victories in five of the 10 weight classes, but fell to the Big Blue, 24-18.

At 125, Vega earned his third victory of the year with a thrilling, sudden-victory, decision over Zac Blaisioli. Blaisioli raced out to a 4-0 lead after the opening period after a takedown and a near-fall. The lead swelled to six after a reversal to open the second period. Vega evened the score with a reversal and a four-point near-fall, but Blaisioli was able to escape Vega's clutches in the final seconds to take a one-point advantage into the third period. 

The third period saw back-and-forth action with the grapplers combining for six points over a 90-second stretch that brought the period to a close. Vega was awarded a penalty point in the first sudden-victory period to earn the 11-10 victory.

At 133, Slendorn earned the first of his three wins on the day with a third-period pin of Joey Rivera. Slendorn had built a commanding 14-0 lead at the time of the fall.

Millikin evened the match at nine with a decision victory at 141 and a pin at 149. Van Sickell collected his first win of the day with a 13-6 decision over Tristan Birt at 157 to put the Ducks back in front. The Little Silver, New Jersey native used a takedown to overtake Birt after Millikin's 157-pounder was awarded a stalling point. Van Sickell secured the final result with a four-point near-fall in the final minute and secured the riding time point to produce the final margin.

No. 6 Bradan Birt put Millikin in front for the first time with a first-period pin of Major at 165. Ziccardi evened the score with a 2-0 decision win at 174, scoring the only points of the match with a second-period escape and the riding time point.

Taylor McGiffen and Dooley alternated decision victories at 184 and 197, respectively, to tie the dual at 18. With the Ducks trailing, Dooley jumped out to a 4-1 lead after two periods en route to an 8-3 victory over Logan Hagerbaumer, ranked ninth in the weight class by d3wrestle. Listed as a contender by d3wrestle, Dooley is ranked 10th by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Frank Tomaskovic pinned junior Bruce Parola in the final seconds of the first period to give Millikin the victory.

Against the Warhawks, the Ducks earned wins in four weight classes, but were unable to overcome three bonus-point victories in falling to Wisconsin-Whitewater, 27-19.

Top-ranked Mike Tortorice opened the dual with a technical fall over Vega. Tortorice was leading 18-0 at the time of the stoppage, scoring four consecutive four-point near-falls in the final minute to earn the victory. 

Slendorn gave Stevens its first lead of the dual with a first-period pin of Josiah Lynden. The Howell, New Jersey native scored a takedown 59 seconds into the bout that led to fall. Of the 133-pound Slendorn's 10 victories on the year, seven have come via fall.

The Warhawks regained the lead with consecutive victories at 141 and 149. No. 4/2 Hazen Rice edged freshman Pasquale Vizzoni in sudden-victory after the two 141-pounders were knotted at one after three periods. At 149, Devin Totorice claimed a technical fall over freshman Nicholas Pepe to hand Wisconsin-Whitewater a 13-6 lead after the first four matches.

Van Sickell claimed his second win of the day with a 12-9 decision over Jake Buford at 157. The senior grappler scored five takedowns in the opening period to race out to a 10-4 lead, before holding off Buford in the final period to secure the victory.

The Warhawks claimed back-to-back victories at 165 and 174 with Ryder Sigler edging freshman Carsten DiGiantomasso via an 8-2 decision at 165 and No. 5/6 Jaritt Shinhoster pinning freshman Frank Medina in the second period to push Stevens' deficit to 22-9. 

Gennat earned his second major decision of the year with a 10-2 score over Josh Nowark to draw the Ducks within nine. The Sparta, New Jersey native scored four points in the final period, escaping Nowak at the start of the stanza, which was followed by a takedown and the riding time point to produce the final margin of victory.

Dooley followed with pin of Alex Oruna just 35 seconds into the opening period to bring Stevens within nine, however the Ducks forfeited at 285 to push the lead to 28-19. Wisconsin-Whitewater was penalized a penalty point for a mat violation to produce the final 27-19 margin.

In the final dual of the day, four straight victories in the upper weight classes proved to be the difference as the Ducks fell to the Purple Raiders 25-16 to close out the event.

Errik Gerback edged Vega via a 7-4 decision at 125 to open the scoring, but Slendorn picked up his third win of the day with a 7-3 decision over No. 9/7 David Massey to even the dual. After each wrestler scored three points in the opening period, Slendorn pitched a shutout over the final two periods, while scoring a takedown with two seconds left in the final period to earn the victory.

In his only match of the day, Stanich, ranked third by the NWCA and first by d3wrestle at 141, made quick work of Nolan Wochna, pinning Mount Union's 141-pound wrestler 2:32 into the first period to earn his 13th win of the year.

NR/No. 3 Luke Hernandez earned a decision victory over Pepe at 149 to trim Stevens' lead to 9-6, but Van Sickell earned his final victory of the afternoon with an 11-0 major decision over Kyle Jenkins. Van Sickell built a six-point lead through periods and nearly pinned Jenkins to start the final stanza before collecting the riding time point to produce the final margin.

Major rebounded to close out his day with his 12th victory of the season, posting a tidy 7-1 decision over Michael McIntire to give Stevens its largest lead of the day at 16-6. Mount Union evened the score after a pin at 174 and a major decision at 184. Landon Talbert handed Dooley his first setback of the day with a 3-1 decision after a takedown with just 33 seconds left in the match. The victory gave Mount Union a 19-16 lead, with a forfeit at 285 providing the final margin of victory.

It was the first meeting between Stevens and both Millikin and Wisconsin-Whitewater. It was the third meeting between the Ducks and the Purple Raiders; Stevens defeated a pair of Mount Union teams at the Mount Union duals in 2016.

Final Score: No. 18 Millikin: 24, No. 22 Stevens: 18
125: Akhil Vega (S) won by decision over NR/#10 Zac Blaisioli (M), 11-10 (SV:1); Stevens leading 3-0
133: Kyle Slendorn (S) pinned Joey Rivera (M), 5:32; Stevens leading 9-0
141: D'Anthony Hopkins (M) won by decision over Trevor Mastorio (S), 5-1; Stevens leading 9-3
149: Peter McCusker (M) pinned Joe Schneider (S), 3:21; Match is tied, 9-9
157: Dylan Van Sickell (S) won by decision over Tristan Birt (M), 13-6; Stevens leading 12-9
165: #6/5 Bradan Birt (M) pinned Stefan Major (S), 1:52; Millikin leading 15-12
174: Nico Ziccardi (S) won by decision over Jake Tisza (M), 2-0; Match is tied, 15-15
184: Taylor McGiffen (M) won by decision over Robert Gennat (S), 12-6; Millikin leading 18-15
197: #10/NR Michael Dooley (S) won by decision over NR/#9 Logan Hagerbaumer (M), 8-3; Match is tied, 18-18
285: NR/#9 Frank Tomaskovic (M) pinned Bruce Parola (S), 1:32; Millikin wins 24-18

Final Score: No. 13 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater: 27, No. 22 Stevens: 19
125: #1/1 Mike Tortorice (W) won by technical fall over Akhil Vega (S), 18-0 (3:00); UWW leading 5-0
133: Kyle Slendorn (S) pinned Josiah Lynden (W), 2:03; Stevens leading 6-5
141: #4/2 Hazen Rice (W) won by decision over Pasquale Vizzoni (S), 7-1 (SV:1); UWW leading 8-6
149: Devin Tortorice (W) won by technical fall over Nicholas Pepe (S), 18-2 (5:54); UWW leading 13-6
157: Dylan Van Sickell (S) won by decision over Jake Burford (W), 12-9; UWW leading 13-9
165: Ryder Sigler (W) won by decision over Carsten DiGiantomasso (S), 8-2; UWW leading 16-9
174: #5/6 Jaritt Shinhoster (W) pinned Frank Medina (S), 4:07; UWW leading 22-9
184: Robert Gennat (S) won by major decision over Josh Nowak (W), 10-2; UWW leading 22-13
197: #10/NR Michael Dooley (S) pinned Alex Oruna (W), 0:35; UWW leading 22-19
285: Dylan Uzumecki (W) won by forfeit; UWW leading 28-19
A mat violation against Wisconsin-Whitewater leads to a penalty point to produce the final 27-19 margin

Final Score: No. 6 Mount Union: 25, No. 22 Stevens: 16
125: Errik Gerback (M) won by decision over Akhil Vega (S), 7-4; Mount Union leading 3-0
133: Kyle Slendorn (S) won by decision over #9/7 David Massey (M), 7-3; Match is tied, 3-3
141: #3/1 Troy Stanich (S) pinned Nolan Wochna (M), 2:32; Stevens leading 9-3
149: NR/#3 Luke Hernandez (M) won by decision over Nicolas Pepe (M), 11-4; Stevens leading 9-6
157: Dylan Van Sickell (S) won by major decision over Kyle Jenkins (M), 11-0; Stevens leading 13-6
165: Stefan Major (S) won by decision over Michael McIntire (M), 7-1; Stevens leading 16-6
174: Conner Homan (M) pinned Frank Medina (S), 0:58; Stevens leading 16-12
184: George Lassnick won by major decision over Robert Gennat (S), 15-5; Match is tied, 16-16
197: Landon Talbert (M) won by decision over #10/NR Michael Dooley (S), 3-1; Mount Union leading 19-16
285: Grant Martin (M) wins by forfeit; Mount Union wins 25-16

Up Next: No. 22 Wrestling heads to Lycoming, Pennsylvania for the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships. It will be Stevens' first championship tournament in its new conference after winning each of the last five Centennial Conference Championships. 

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