GRANTHAM, Pa. (December 11, 2021)  – Graduate student Brett Kaliner totaled three tech falls to lead the 10th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team Saturday at the Messiah Duals held at Jordan Court in Hitchcock Arena.

The Ducks competed in three duals on the day, dropping a pair of hard-fought duals against Division I opponents Clarion University (36-14) and Lock Haven University (36-11), before closing the day with a resounding 30-9 victory over hosting Messiah University in a key regional, and conference, matchup.

Kaliner's three victories led the squad, while junior Kyle Slendorn and sophomore Luke Hoerlehad two each. Junior Hunter Gutierrez had a victory in the dual with Clarion, while junior Akhil Vega, senior Michael Dooley and first-years Blaise Wagner and Max Ruiz each had one to round out Stevens' victories. Ruiz also earned a victory in an extra countable match, as did sophomore Nick Boggiano, juniors Jonah Schechtman (2) and Arjun Khatri, and first-years Brendan Newbury and Jack Bailey and senior Joe Schneider.

Kaliner's three tech falls brought the West Chester, Pennsylvania native's season record to 14-0, including four pins and eight tech falls. 

"There was great fight from the guys today," said head coach Joe Favia. "The design was to challenge them with D1 opponents at the end of the semester. Our staff wanted to see their response; we want them to be battle tested. We didn't come out on top of those duals but the guys battled and they will benefit from those challenges."

The duals with the two Division I opponents are believed to be the first-ever for the program. Stevens' victory over Messiah moved the Ducks' dual record to 1-4 and is the first win over the Falcons since 2017.

"The real encouragement came for our staff when the team rallied after two hard losses to dominate a strong conference opponent in Messiah," Favia commented. "We made some lineup changes and had some guys injured, but the team stepped up and put together a warrior's performance. We are very happy how the men ended the semester and we have a lot to look forward to in the second half."

Against Messiah, Vega scored a major decision over Hunter Rinehart to put Stevens up 4-0. The major was one of six bonus-point victories by the Ducks against the Falcons. Hoerle scored a spirited 23-11 major over Jordan Howard to push the advantage to 8-0, before Slendorn pushed the score to 12-0 with a 14-4 major over Josiah Gher. 

Kaliner posted a dominating 21-4 tech fall over Jake Coniglio, before Messiah reeled off three straight decision wins to pull within 17-9. Wagner ended the Messiah run with a 9-4 decision over Ryden Slayton for his fourth win of the season to give the Ducks a 20-9 margin. Dooley's 10-0 shutout of Joe Embleton clinched the dual for the Ducks and Ruiz's fourth pin of the year capped off the victory as the West Caldwell, New Jersey native scored a 38-second pin of Carter Urich to provide the final 30-9 margin.

In the first dual of the day, the Ducks fell to Clarion 36-14, earning victories at 133, 149 and 157. Two of the three victories were with bonus points, including Kaliner's 15-0 tech fall over Lavinsky Collins and Gutierrez's second-period pin of Jalin Henderson. Hoerle's 7-5 decision over Mason Prinkey rounded out the Ducks' victories. Gutierrez's pin put Stevens ahead 14-10 in the dual.

Against Lock Haven, Slendorn and Kaliner had bonus-point wins, with Slendorn scoring a pin of Nick Stonecheck and Kaliner earning a 16-1 tech fall over Connor Eck. The consecutive wins at 141 and 149 gave Stevens an 11-10 lead over the Bald Eagles.

Of the Ducks' eight victories in the extra countable matches, two were over a Division II opponent and six were over opponents from Messiah. Of the eight wins, three came by decision and five were with bonus points with Schechtman totaling a pin and a major, Newbury and Ruiz each earning a tech fall, and Bailey scoring a major to round out the action. 

Dual 1
Final: Clarion 36, Stevens Institute 14
125:    Joey Fisher (CL) pinned Andrew Finateri (S), 4:04; Clarion leads 6-0
133    Luke Hoerle (S) won by decision over Mason Prinkey (CL), 7-5; Clarion leads 6-3
141    Seth Koleno (CL) won by major decision over Kyle Slendorn (S), 17-7; Clarion leads 10-3
149    Brett Kaliner (S) won by technical fall over Lavinsky Collins (CL), 15-0; Clarion leads 10-8
157    Hunter Gutierrez (S) pinned Jalin Hankerson (CL), 3:00; Stevens leads 14-10
165    Cameron Pine (CL) won by technical fall over James Snyder (S), 17-2; Clarion leads 15-14
174    Caleb Hetrick (CL) won by injury default over Frank Medina (S), 2:19; Clarion leads 21-14
184    Max Wohlabaugh (CL) pinned Brendan Newbury (S), 4:00; Clarion leads 27-14
197    Brett Wittmann (CL) won by decision over Michael Dooley (S), 3-2; Clarion leads 30-14
285    Austin Chapman (CL) pinned Joseph Russell (S); 2:11, Clarion wins 36-14

Dual 2
Final: Lock Haven 36, Stevens Institute 11
125    Anthony Neto (LH) won by technical fall over Akhil Vega (S), 16-1; Lock Haven leads 5-0
133    Gable Strickland (LH) won by technical fall over Arjun Khatri (S), 20-2; Lock Haven leads 10-0
141    Kyle Slendorn (S) pinned Nick Stonecheck (LH); Lock Haven leads 10-6
149    Brett Kaliner (S) won by technical fall over Connor Eck (LH), 16-1; Stevens leads 11-10
157    Ben Barton (LH) won by decision over Nick Boggiano (S), 15-11; Lock Haven leads 13-11
165    Ashton Eyler (LH) won by major decision over Harrison Hinojosa (S), 8-0; Lock Haven leads 17-11
174    Tyler Stoltzfus (LH) won by technical fall over Blaise Wagner (S), 16-0; Lock Haven leads 22-11
184    Colin Fegley (LH) won by major decision over Brendan Newbury (S), 18-7; Lock Haven leads 26-11
197     Parker McClellan (LH) won by major decision over Michael Dooley (S); 8-0; Lock Haven leads 30-11
285    Colby Whitehill (LH) pinned Joseph Russell (S); Lock Haven wins 36-11

Dual 3
Final: Stevens Institute 30, Messiah 9
125 Akhil Vega (S) won by major decision over Hunter Rinehart (M), 12-3; Stevens leads 4-0
133 Luke Hoerle (S) won by major decision over Jordan Howard (M), 23-11; Stevens leads 8-0
141 Kyle Slendorn (S) won by major decision over Josiah Gehr (M), 14-4; Stevens leads 12-0
149 Brett Kaliner (S) won by technical fall over Jake Coniglio (M), 21-4; Stevens leads 17-0
157 Nick Barnhart (M) won by decision over Hunter Gutierrez (S), 9-5; Stevens leads 17-3
165 Zach Needles (M) won by decision over Harrison Hinojosa (S), 4-1; Stevens 17-6
174 John Sumner (M) won by decision over Joel Martsinovsky (S), 9-5; Stevens leads 17-9
184 Blaise Wagner (S) won by decision over Ryder Slayton (M), 9-4; Stevens leads 20-9
197 Michael Dooley (S) won by major decision over Joe Embleton (M), 10-0; Stevens leads 24-9
285 Max Ruiz (S) pinned Carter Urich (M), 0:38; Stevens wins 30-9

Extra Countable Matches
125     Logan Mazzeo (Clarion) won by decision over Andrew Finateri (Stevens), 2-0
157    Jonathan Parrilla (Millersville) won by decision over Nick Boggiano (Stevens), 7-4
157    Jonah Schechtman (Stevens) won by major decision over Joshua Rosado (Messiah), 13-1
174    Jack Bailey (Stevens) won by major decision over Tyler Riley (Messiah), 10-2
197    Max Ruiz (Stevens) won by technical fall over Micah Kunkle (Messiah), 16-0
157    Joe Schneider (Stevens) won by decision over Tyler Stanton (Millersville), 13-6
165    Brandon Connor (Millersville) pinned James Snyder (Stevens)         
174    Wyatt Bingaman (Messiah) won by decision over Kenny Koenig (Stevens), 7-2
174    Anthony Yacovetti (Millersville) pinned Joel Martsinovsky (Stevens)    
125    Bryce Arnold (Messiah) won by decision over Andrew Finateri (Stevens), 11-4
133    Arjun Khatri (Stevens) won by decision over Joshua Flores (Messiah), 10-4
157    Nick Boggiano (Stevens) won by decision over Garrett Cornell (Messiah), 7-1
157    Jonah Schechtman (Stevens) pinned Tyler Stanton (Millersville)        
174    Jared Butler (Messiah) pinned Kenny Koenig (Stevens)    
174    Brendan Newbury (Stevens) won by technical fall over Donte Hibbert (Messiah), 20-5

Up Next: No. 10 Wrestling returns from the holiday break on Jan. 5 in a dual against The College of New Jersey, which will be hosted at Southern Regional High School. 

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