Match Results
WASHINGTON, Pa. (Jan. 22) – The Waynesburg University wrestling team won the first seven bouts of their Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) match at Washington & Jefferson College en route to a dominating 35-9 win.
The win evened the Yellow Jackets’ PAC record at 1-1 and improved their overall record to 5-7. The loss dropped the Presidents to 6-2 on the year and 0-1 in the conference. For a team like the Jackets that is getting healthy and wrestling well, the win was hopefully a sign of things to come as the PAC championships approach.
Freshman 125-pounder Alex Crown got the night off to a fantastic start by upsetting the Presidents’ nationally-recognized sophomore, Zach Cecchetti by way of a 5-3 decision. After Josh Mollica picked up a win by decision at 133 to give the Jackets a 6-0 lead, junior 141-pounder Nick Garber picked up the first of three Waynesburg pins on the night. The Waynesburg native needed just one minute to stick Brady Fyffe to his back and give the visiting team a 12-0 lead. It was Garber’s team-leading 20th win of the season and his 11th by fall.
After a decision victory for Jesse Byerly at 149 over Tyler Berger, sophomore 157-pounder Garrett Johnston won by fall in 3:49, extending the Jackets’ lead to 21-0. Sophomores Alex Evanoff (165) and Jared Roberts (174) put together back-to-back major decision victories to inflate the lead to 29-0.
W&J got its first points on a fall at 184, but Waynesburg’s Cody Catalina was right in the contest. In the second period, Catalina was locked in a 4-4 contest before being caught in a flurry and pinned.
It didn’t take the Jackets long to respond as junior Corbin Semple answered with a fall of his own in 4:52. The Waynesburg native picked up the pin over W&J’s Robbie Miesse, despite wrestling up at 197 and giving up nearly 15 pounds to his opponent.
With the Jackets firmly in control, W&J picked up an overtime decision win at heavyweight to bring about the final score of 35-9.
Waynesburg won’t have long to celebrate their second-straight win over the Presidents, as they host their final home match of the season on Saturday, when they face Penn State-Dubois for senior night. The first bout of the evening is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.