GRANTHAM, Pa. (February 28, 2020)  – Seven members of the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team remain alive for individual titles after the first day of competition at the 2020 Southeast Regional, hosted by Messiah College at Hitchcock Arena.

Freshman Kyle Slendorn, seniors Troy Stanich and Dylan Van Sickell, graduate student Thomas Poklikuha, juniors Bruce Parola and Brett Kaliner, along with sophomore Michael Dooley remain alive on the championship side of the bracket. Sophomore Akhil Vega is still in the hunt in the consolation bracket. The top-three finishers in each weight class advances to the Division III National Championship, which will be contested in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, March 13-14.

As a team, the Ducks are first among the 20 competing teams, totaling 82 points. Washington & Lee University is second with 80.5, hosting Messiah is third with 78.5. Washington & Jefferson College (54.5) and Ferrum College (54) rounded out the top-five. Should the standings hold after Saturday's action, it would be the program's second regional title; the Ducks finished first in the East Region in 2016.

"It was a good start," said head coach Joe Favia. "Eight of the nine are still fighting for team points and a ticket to Iowa."

"We need to stay focused on wrestling our style and giving our max effort," Favia continued. "The results will take care of themselves one match at a time; relentless in our pursuit."

Competing in his first regional tournament, Slendorn scored a pair of pins to reach the 133-pound semifinals. The Howell, New Jersey native scored a second-period pin of York's Damian Maver after a takedown 45 seconds in the stanza. Slendorn moved on to the semifinals after pinning Averett's Joseph Jones in the final period. Slendorn scored four points in the opening frame to take an early advantage and then after a scoreless second, Slendorn began in the bottom position, escaped Jones before scoring the takedown that led to the pin. The first-year wrestler improved to 18-3 on the year and earned his 10th and 11th pins of the season. Slendorn meets Ferrum's Levi Englman in his first match of the day.

Stanich earned his 23rd and 24th victories of the year with a pin and an injury default to advance to the regional semifinals at 141. The senior pinned Southern Virginia's Tyrell Barney in 94 seconds to open his tournament after scoring three takedowns and a near-fall in the bout's first minute. He advanced over Gettysburg's Sean Thompson after Thompson withdrew in the opening period. Stanich meets Washington & Lee's Bryce Crew in the semifinals.

Kaliner opened his tournament with a 26-second pin of Greensboro's Tony Locke. The West Chester, Pennsylvania native muscled his opponent onto the mat 16 seconds into the match before scoring the pin. He followed up on his opening-round performance with a 20-8 major decision over Delaware Valley's Evan Widing, Kaliner scored nine takedowns in the match, with Widing earning all of his points via escapes. Kaliner faces Lycoming's Joe Santomarco in the 149-pound semifinals. The victory over Locke was Kaliner's 100th career win.

Van Sickell reached 157-pound semis with a major decision over Johns Hopkins' Bradlee Lamontage and a second-period pin of Gettysburg's Ray Martin. Van Sickell totaled seven takedown in the opening bout and took a commanding 10-2 lead early in the second period with a four-point near fall. Against Martin, the Little Silver, New Jersey native built a 5-3 lead after the opening period before scoring five straight points in the second period, including a two-point near-fall that led to the pin. Van Sickell faces Lycoming's Trevor Corl in the semifinals. The two met in the Middle Atlantic Conference semifinals.

Poklikuha advanced the 165-pound semifinals with victories over Wilkes' Cole Walters and King's Kade Kravits. Against Walters, it was a big second period that proved too much for Wilkes' 165-pounder. Poklikuha totaled 11 points the stanza, six coming via a pair of near-falls. Poklikuha scored a takedown in the final period to earn the stoppage eight seconds into the final period. Against Kravits, Poklikuha snapped a 4-4 tie with a ride-out in the final period to reach the third round. The West Creek, New Jersey native draws Washington & Lee's Shane Conners in the semifinals. 

Parola reached the 184-pound semifinals with victories over Brady Mitchell of Wilkes and Washington & Jefferson's Alex Miller. Against Mitchell, Parola scored a takedown in the first minute of the match and did not stop scoring points en route to an 11-0 major decision. Against Miller, the Moscow, Pennsylvania native was engaged in a back-and-forth affair before scoring a takedown and a four-point near-fall in the final period to earn the victory. Parola draws the bracket's top seed, Rexx Hallyburton of Washington & Lee.

After advancing to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman, Dooley won two matches to put himself in position to repeat his accomplishment from one season ago. Dooley posted a pair of majors in moving his season record to 23-2. Dooley began his second regional with a 14-5 major over Messiah's Joe Embleton. The Hillsborough, New Jersey native scored the first nine points of the match en route to the comfortable victory. Dooley reached the semifinals with an 8-0 shutout of Washington & Lee's Brad Basham. He faces Washington & Jefferson's Alex Donahue.

After dropping his opening-round match to the top seed at 125, Vega responded with consecutive victories to advance through the consolation bracket. Vega scored a forfeit win over Johns Hopkins' Jeremy Berger before posting a 7-3 decision over Lycoming's Shane Casey. After falling behind after the first period, Vega scored an escape and a pair of takedowns to take a 6-3 lead into the final decision. Vega was awarded a penalty point for a second stalling violation to provide the final margin of victory. The Cupertino, California native faces Ferrum's J.D. McMillin Saturday.

Freshman Stefan Major defeated Southern Virginia's Matt Rohrdanz via major decision before dropping a pair of bouts to fall out of the 174-pound bracket. Major closes his first year on Castle Point with a 19-4 record, including six pins and six majors.

Up Next: No. 7 Wrestling hits the mats at 9 a.m. for the final day of competition.

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