COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – For the first time since 2014, the Ursinus College men's wrestling team recorded their league leading 12^th Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.
 


The Bears put four wrestlers into the championship finals while nine of ten wrestlers collected top-four finishes. Ursinus received a total of 84 team points, with McDaniel finishing in second with 73.5 points, and Merchant Marine rounding out the top-three with 64.5 points. Muhlenberg (55) collected a fourth-place finish, with Gettysburg (47.5) finishing fifth, and Johns Hopkins rounding out the six-team field with 27.5 team points.



"The boys looked great today," Director of Wrestling Joe Jamison said. "The coaching staff has been saying all year that it was going to take every single guy in the room to get this done and that rang true today. Every single year since I've started coaching here at Ursinus, we've had four finalist with one champion, but we were never close to winning this tournament. This year we had four finalist with one champion again, but this year we had five other guys wrestling for third and came up with some big bonus points in those matches to seal the deal. I couldn't be more proud of this team. We've faced a ton of adversity and just continue to push forward."


 
Senior Romeo Rodriguez was the Bears' lone champion at 141lbs, while seniors Terry Adams (125lbs), Shawn Marchesano (165lbs), and Jake Ahmad (285lbs) each collected second-place honors.


 
In the consolations, Ursinus bounced back winning four of of their five matches as senior Gary Nagle (184lbs), juniors Jagger Clapsadle (133lbs) and Dante Monaco (149lbs), and first-year Anthony Cerulli (174lbs) collected third-place finishes. First-year Nils Updale bumped up to 197lbs and earned a fourth-place finish.


 
Rodriguez opened his day with an 8-2 decision over Muhlenberg's Chris Dalmau to advance to his second conference championship match. In the finals, Rodriguez met a familiar face in Merchant Marine's Charles Lausten in which the duo matched up in a dual a month ago between the two teams with Rodriguez earning a 12-0 decision.  


 
Lausten earned the first takedown of the match to jump out to a 2-0 lead with 55 seconds remaining in the first. Rodriguez quickly escaped and a slide by takedown from Lausten in the remaining seconds gave him a 4-1 lead after the first period. Rodriguez choose bottom and quickly escaped, but another Mariners takedown increased his deficit to three heading into the final period. With Lausten leading 6-3, Rodriguez bounced back with a takedown and an escape made the deficit two with under forty seconds remaining. With under a minute remaining, Rodriguez scored a takedown with a quick double leg before cutting his opponent to keep the deficit at two. Rodriguez used a sweep single for his second takedown to tie the match at seven a piece heading into sudden victory.
 


With under forty seconds remaining in the first overtime, Rodriguez fought off a deep single to keep the scored tied heading into the second overtime period. In the first thirty second period, Lausten choose bottom and was unable to escape through the first stanza. Rodriguez choose bottom and quickly escaped and was able to hold off the Mariners attack for his first Centennial Conference Championship.

 
 
At 125lbs, Terry Adams opened his tournament with a first period fall over Johns Hopkins Dhllan Patel at the 2:18-mark. With Adams leading, Patel took a deep shot but was reversed with a near-side cradle for the pinfall. In his third appearance in the conference finals, Adams fell in sudden victory to Muhlenberg's Joey Lamparelli via a 3-1 decision.
 


Marchesano (165lbs) earned a bye to the semi finals and opened with a first period pinfall over Merchant Marine's Ivan Corral at the 1:50-mark. He collected the first takedown of the match just 15 seconds in before turning his opponent on back-to-back near fall chances for an 8-0 lead and quickly collecting the pinfall shortly later. In the finals, he nearly collected multiple reversals and near fall points but eventually fell via pin at the 5:59-mark to McDaniel's Alex LaVeck.


 
Senior Jake Ahmad (285lbs) recorded back-to-back victories to advance to his finals match at 285lbs. Ahmad opened with a 10-2 major decision over McDaniel's Val Pryor and redeemed an earlier defeat this season with a 5-0 decision over Johns Hopkins Jacob Pomykata. In the finals, Ahmad fell via a 9-0 major decision to Merchant Marine's Reid Garrison for a second-place finish.


 
Junior Jagger Clapsadle collected a third-place finish behind a 3-1 day at 133lbs. Clapsadle opened the tournament with the first bout collecting an 8-4 over Muhlenberg;s Brian Mccaw to advance to the semi-finals. He fell to the eventual champion in Gettysburg's Luke Kowolski via a first-period pinfall but bounced back in the consolations with a 9-1 major decision over McDaniel's Romeo Tsal. In the consolation finals, Clapsadle jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind a takedown and an early reversal in the opening seconds of the second period. He continued to stay heavy on top earning over four minutes of riding time for the 6-0 decision over Merchant Marine's Wesley Wydick.
 


At 149lbs, junior Dante Monaco recorded a third-place finish behind a 2-1 day with both victories coming via a fall. Monaco dropped his opening semi-final match to Merchant Marine's Edward Pinc but bounced back in the consolations with a first period pinfall over Gettysburg's Eric Mougallan. In the third-place match, Monaco quickly capitalized on a headlock and captured the bronze medal via a fall at the 1:50-mark of the first period.


 
First-year Anthony Cerulli (174lbs) shined throughout the day for the Bears in his first conference championship appearance. After dropping his opening match to the No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins Joe Paul, Cerulli collected two first period falls to earn a third-place finish at 174lbs. He pinned Merchant Marine's Joseph Wasllewski in just 36 seconds behind a cross-face cradle to advance to the consolation's finals. In the third-place match, Cerulli quickly got to work and recorded a first period fall over McDaniel's Yoann Olympio at the 1:13-mark.


 
Senior Gary Nagle recorded a third-place finish at 184lbs behind a 3-1 day including two victories via fall. Nagle opened with a first period fall over Gettysburg's Justin Rhyne at the 2:18 to advance to the semifinals. In his next match, Nagle was caught off position and fell via a fall to Merchant Marine's Daryl Crowley, but he bounced back in the consolations with a 18-0 technical over Johns Hopkins Colin Vallis and a second period fall over Gettysburg's Justin Rhyne in the third-place match.


 
First-year Nils Updale had a solid showing throughout the tournament earning a fourth-place finish at 197lbs. Updale bumped up to 197lbs and opened with a victory in his opening match via a 10-7 decision over Merchant Marine's eric Dewald. In the semis, Updale dropped a 7-0 decision to the eventual champion in the bracket but advanced to the consolation finals earning a fourth-place finish.


 
The Bears will return to action on Sunday, February 19as they travel to Allentown, Pennsylvania for the Mideast Futures tournament. On Friday February 24^th, Ursinus will look to lock up an opportunity at NCAA's as they travel to Ithaca, New York for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships.