PROVIDENCE, R.I. (January 22, 2022)  – A total of ten student-athletes placed to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology wrestling team Saturday at the Wildcat Open, hosted by Johnson & Wales University at the Wildcat Center.

Sophomore Michael Conrad finished first at 184, while the Ducks swept at 174 for the second straight tournament, with juniors Stefan Major (first) and Frank Medina (second), alongside sophomore Joel Martsinovsky (third), completing the trifecta. First-year Chris Stathopoulos placed second at 157, while junior Jonah Schechtman (fourth at 157), first-year Max Ruiz (fourth at 197), juniors Pasquale Vizzoni (sixth at 149) and James Snyder (sixth at 165), and first-year Brendan Newbury (sixth at 184) rounded out the place-winners. Team scores were not tabulated.

The finishes for Schechtman, Snyder and Newbury came after each grappler reached their match limit. 

After receiving a first-round bye, Conrad scored four victories on his run to the 184-pound title. After a victory in an extra countable match the night before, the Montville, New Jersey native began his day with a first-period pin of Springfield's John Summers. He moved on to the semifinals with a tech fall over Ky'ell Roper, before scoring a hard-fought 1-0 decision over Castleton's second-seeded Alec Richards in the semifinals. Conrad captured the championship with a medical forfeit over the top seed, Edwin Morales. His 21.5 team points tied for first among all competing wrestlers. 

After sweeping the medals at 174 at last weekend's Middle Atlantic Conference Championships, the Ducks performed the feat again. After capturing his first conference championship one week ago, Major was the second seed in the bracket, and scored three straight falls to reach the semifinals, including a first-period pin of Johnson & Wales' Dominic Pugliese. The Fort Salonga, New York native reached the final after defeating Martsinovsky via a 7-5 decision and was set to face Medina in the championship match for the second straight week.

The third seed in the field, Medina began his march to the finals with a pair of pins, including a first-period fall over Coast Guard's James Simon. He then advanced to the semifinal bout with a 7-5 decision and reached the championship with a medical forfeit over Johnson & Wales' Michael Ross. Medina and Major shared first-place honors.

Martsinovsky picked up six victories en route to finishing third at 174. The Richboro, Pa. native opened his tournament with a thrilling sudden-victory over Bridgewater's Fox Maxwell and then scored back-to-back pins to reach the semifinals. After falling to the consolation bracket after his close decision setback to Major, Martsinovsky bounced back with consecutive decisions to reach the third-place match, where he defeated Shenandoah's Dylan Weaver, 12-8.

Stathopoulos was the final Duck to earn a top-three finish, placing second at 157. After an opening-round bye, the Clifton, New Jersey native, who was ranked second in the weight class, began his tournament with a narrow 3-2 decision over Castleton's Jacob Caricato. He then pinned Alfred State's Justin Hoffman in the quarterfinals and moved on to the finals with a 7-4 decision over Carson Barry. In the finals, Stathopoulos met the bracket's top seed, Darius Joyce from Johnson & Wales, who walked away with an 11-5 decision victory. 

Schechtman, seeded fourth at 157 amassed five wins on the day, including a 4-3 decision over Sacred Heart (Division I)'s Jonathan Siemsen. The Park Ridge, New Jersey native battled through the consolation bracket to reach the third-place match before the bout was declared a no contest. Ruiz had a pair of decisions and a major to reach the third-place match, before falling to Castleton's Haven Tatarek.

Vizzoni advanced through the 149-pound bracket with a tech fall and an exciting sudden-victory period win over Ibrahim Mendheim. He fell to the consolation bracket after a pin by Sacred Heart's Rafael Lievano and finished in sixth after a medical forfeit. Snyder had five victories at 165, including two pins, before the fifth-place match was declared a no contest.

Newbury advanced to the fifth-place match at 184, totaling four victories before reaching his daily limit. His 21-point tech fall over Roper in the consolation bracket was the single-highest point total in any of the matches in the entire field. 

Junior Arjun Khatri had three victories at 133, senior Jarrett Weir had a pin at 165, first-year Jack Bailey had a decision win at 165 and first year Joseph Russell scored a 7-2 win over Bridgewater State's Ryan Higgins at heavyweight. First-year Blaise Wagner posted two wins at 174 to round out the Ducks' victories on the day.

As a team, the Ducks totaled 17 pins and finished second among the competing teams with a .655 winning percentage (55-29). Individually, Schechtman and Major had three pins each, tying for second among all wrestlers. 

Up Next: Wrestling heads to Ithaca, New York on Jan. 29 for duals against Ithaca, The College of New Jersey and Cornell. The meeting with the Lions was rescheduled from Jan. 5.

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