WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (January 14, 2023)  – Senior Kyle Slendorn was named to the All-Tournament Team to lead No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology to second place Saturday at the 34th annual Budd Whitehill Duals, hosted by Lycoming College at Lamade Gymnasium.

Junior Luke Hoerle and graduate student Michael Dooley joined Slendorn in collecting two wins on the day for the sixth-ranked Ducks, who began the day with a 28-12 victory over No. 12 Ithaca before falling 23-13 to No. 8 Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the championship dual. 

First-year Nico Diaz, sophomore Harrison Hinojosa, junior Joel Martsinovsky and senior Frank Medina each won one bout to round out the Duck victories on the day. 

Slendorn totaled four wins across the two-day tournament that is held annually in honor of Lycoming's long-time coach and administrator. The Ramtown, New Jersey native registered a pin in each of his four matches with all four falls taking place in either the first or second periods. The All-Tournament Team was made up of undefeated wrestlers at each weight class that earned the most team points per match, not including wins by default, injury default or disqualification. Wisconsin-Eau Claire's nationally-ranked Jared Stricker was named the event's Most Outstanding Wrestler as the wrestler that earned the most points per match on the championship-winning team.

The victory over Ithaca to begin the day marked the Ducks' third straight over the Bombers, while the setback to the eighth-ranked Blugolds, snapped the Ducks' six-dual winning streak and left Stevens 0-2 all-time against the midwest power. The Ducks closed the day with a 7-2 record with the seven wins marking the most for the program since the 2019-20 season.

The Ducks began the day with a rematch against Ithaca. The Ducks won eight of the 10 bouts to top the Bombers 30-9 on Nov. 11. This time out, the Ducks won seven of the 10 bouts to post a 28-12 victory. Hoerle began the day with an 18-3 tech fall over Francisco Murriel, before Diaz scored a hard-fought 4-1 decision over Isaias Torres, topping the Ithaca wrestler for the second time this season. Slendorn followed with a first-period pin of Luis Hernandez before Ithaca got on the board with a 10-3 decision win at 149.

Thirteenth-ranked Wenchard Pierre-Louis made it two straight decision wins for Ithaca before the Ducks regained their hold on the dual with a decision win by Hinojosa at 165 and a major for Martsinovsky at 174. Medina followed with a 6-3 decision over Ryan Galka at 184 to clinch the match. No. 6 Chibueze Chukwuezi accounted for Ithaca's final points with a pin at 197 before Dooley blanked Jeremy Mazzella 11-0 at heavyweight to produce the final margin of victory.

In the championship dual, the Ducks scored three victories but were unable to overtake Wisconsin-Eau Claire, who reeled off six straight wins to clinch the championship. Hoerle got the Ducks off to a good start with a 12-4 major at 125, but No. 10 Tyler Fleetwood held off Diaz 4-2 to put the Blugolds on the board. Slendorn wrapped up his tournament with a second-period pin of Lorenzo Diaz to put the Ducks in front by seven. Wisconsin-Eau Claire began its surge at 149 where No. 15 Zach Sato scored a tech fall to pull within two, which marked the first of six straight wins for Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Five of the six wins came via decision, with a spirited 10-8 win at 197 by No. 11 Chase Melton securing the dual win. Dooley closed his tournament with a 10-6 win to provide the dual's final margin.

As a team, the Ducks finished third with eight pins and tied for second with four tech falls. The Ducks also finished second with 139 team points and ranked third with 307 match points. Individually, Slendorn was one of three wrestlers with four points and his total time of 14:12 ranked second in the field. Hoerle was one of four wrestlers with two or more tech falls, but his two tech fall victories took place in just 7:33, which was tops among the four. Hoerle's total match points of 60 ranked fourth among all competitors.

Also, in extra countable matches, first-years Vincent Principe and Justin Ciliotta and senior James Snyder joined sophomore Blaise Wagner and classmate Max Ruiz in picking up victories.

Up Next: No. 6 Stevens heads to York, Pennsylvania on January 21 for the Middle Atlantic Conference championship. The Ducks will be in search of their eighth straight conference crown dating back to the program's tenure in the Centennial Conference. Stevens has won each of the last two MAC crowns. 

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