HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 17, 2021) – First-years Luke Hoerle and Nick Boggiano each earned victories, but No. 11 Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling fell to No. 13 The College of New Jersey 27-14 Wednesday evening in a non-conference dual at Canavan Arena.

Senior Brett Kaliner collected a forfeit win at 149, for the Ducks, who claimed three of the nine contested varsity duals and three of the six exhibitions in falling to 0-3. TCNJ won six of the contested varsity matches and added a forfeit at heavyweight to improve to 3-0. 

Wrestling for the second time in five days, the Ducks found themselves down 10-0 after the first two matches following a forfeit at heavyweight and a 10-2 major decision by Nick Denora over first-year Andrew Finateri. 

Hoerle put the Ducks on the board with a major decision of his own, blanking Larry Melchionda, who was a last-minute insertion into the TCNJ lineup. Hoerle scored first with a takedown on the nearside of the logo i. The Westfield, New Jersey native controlled his opponent in the center of the mat for the remainder of the period. Hoerle would go on to add two points in the second and four in the third to score the 8-0 victory.

Melchionda was inserted into the TCNJ lineup so nationally-ranked Jake Giordano could move up in weight to take on sophomore Kyle Slendorn at 141. Slendorn is ranked eighth by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and third by D3Wrestle.com. A back-and-forth battle near the center of the mat saw the first three minutes pass without a point on either side.

Starting in the down position to start the second, Giordano escaped for the first point of the match and would score on a reversal before Slendorn was able to get on the board. Giordano's 3-1 lead would hold into the final period.

Slendorn began the period in the down position and quickly escaped to close to within 3-2. Giordano appeared to score on a takedown, but the takedown took place out of bounds and was nullified. Slendorn would push the issue in the final minute, nearly grabbing a hold of Giordano's right leg near the edge of the circle, but were both ruled out of bounds, forcing a restart. On the restart, Giordano hit a reversal in front of the TCNJ bench to provide the final margin.

Kaliner's forfeit, which came about because his scheduled opponent, Robert Dinger, moved up in weight for the 157 bout. Kaliner, ranked second by the NWCA and first by D3Wrestle, scored a first-period fall over Dinger last Saturday in Ewing.

Boggiano handled the late change in opponent in stride, scoring a 15-3 major decision over Robert Dinger, ranked eighth by D3Wrestle to give the Ducks their first lead of the evening. Boggiano jumped in front with a takedown and used his advantage to build a 4-0 lead after the first period. 

Starting in the down position to begin the second, Boggiano quickly escaped and returned to a dominant position. The Toms River, New Jersey native continued to score points in the frame, taking a 7-0 lead before adding eight more in the final period to score the major.

Consecutive decision victories at 165 and 174 provided the guests with a 19-14 advantage. Junior Joe Schneider dropped a 9-3 score to Matthew Sacco and first-year Joel Martsinovsky fell to Reid Colella 6-2 after two sudden-victory periods.

Junior Nico Ziccardi fell to Thomas Anderson via technical fall and #5/#8 Quinn Haddad narrowly edged #3/#3 Michael Dooley, scoring the only point of the match with an escape in the final minute of the second period. Dooley began the final period in the down position, but was unable to score the escape that would have evened the match. With the dual beginning at heavyweight, the clash of top-10 wrestlers at 197 was the final match of the dual.

Following the dual, the teams took to the mats for six exhibition matches, where each side claimed victories. Sophomores Trevor Mastorio, Pasquale Vizzoni and James Snyder collected the wins for Stevens, with Snyder scoring a first-period pin of Ethan Hamilton, Mastorio posting a 16-4 major over Joey Fiodaliso and Vizzoni edging Domenic Difrancescantonio via a 7-4 decision. 

Dual Box Score
Final Score: No. 13 The College of New Jersey 27; No. 11 Stevens: 14
HWT: Thomas Marretta (T) won by forfeit; TCNJ leading 6-0
125: Nick Denora (T) won by major decision over Andrew Finateri (S), 10-2; TCNJ leads 10-0
133: Luke Hoerle (S) won by major decision over Larry Melchionda (T), 8-0; TCNJ leads 10-4
141: #2/#3 (at 133) Jake Giordano (T) won by decision over #8#3 Kyle Slendorn (S), 5-2; TCNJ leads 13-4
149: #2/#1 Brett Kaliner (S) won by forfeit; TCNJ leads 13-10
157: Nick Boggiano (S) won by major decision over NR/#8 Robert Dinger (T), 15-3; Stevens leads 14-13
165: Matthew Sacco (T) won by decision over Joe Schneider (S), 9-3; TCNJ leads 16-14
174: Reid Colella (T) won by decision over Joel Martsinovsky (S), 6-2 (SV:2); TCNJ leads 19-14
184: Thomas Anderson (T) won by technical fall over Nico Ziccardi (S), 16-0 (6:42); TCNJ leads 24-14
197: #5/#8 Quinn Haddad (T) won by decision over #3/#3 Michael Dooley, 1-0; TCNJ leads 27-14 [Final bout]

Exhibitions
141: Trevor Mastorio (S) won by major decision over Joey Fiordaliso (T), 16-4
149: Pasquale Vizzoni (S) won by decision over Domenic Difrancescantonio (T), 7-4
141: Thomas Dinger (T) pinned Will Fernandez (S), 0:52
157: David Santiago won by decision over Jonah Schechtman (S), 4-0
165: James Snyder (S) pinned Ethan Hamilton (T), 2:15 
165: Nick Golden (T) won by major decision over Jarrett Weir (S), 11-0

Note
The dual began at heavyweight.

Up Next: No. 11 Stevens heads to Grantham, Pennsylvania for a dual against Messiah University. This will be the first meeting between the programs since at least 2010 that did not take place at the North/South Duals. A link for live video is available on StevensDucks.com.

Please note that all event times, dates and opponents are subject to change and fans remain prohibited from attending Stevens' home athletic events. 

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