KINGS POINT, N.Y. – Trailing 9-4 through three matches, the Ursinus College men's wrestling team won six of the final seven bouts to defeat Merchant Marine 28-12 in their Centennial Conference opening dual meet on Monday evening.
 

With the victory, Ursinus has now won eight straight CC dual-meets dating back to January 29^th, 2022, when they fell to Merchant Marine 22-19.

 
"The guys were impressive tonight," Director of Wrestling said. "Merchant Marine always competes hard and we wrestled tough in every position. We won a few keys matchups and pushed for bonus points where we could get them. It's not easy to bounce back after a tough loss and this performance could really set the tone for the rest of the season."

 
Junior Franco Mazza opened the dual meet at 125lbs and gave Ursinus a 4-0 match lead behind a 14-3 major decision over Merchant Marine's Colin Dragon. In the opening period, Mazza tallied two takedowns and a three-point near-fall to jump out to a 9-2 lead. Over the final two periods, Mazza added an escape, a takedown, and a riding-time point in route to the major decision.

 
Merchant Marine responded with back-to-back victories as Wesley Wydick earned a 6-2 decision over senior Jagger Clapsadle at 133lbs and Charles Lausten collected a pin over first-year Andrew Schaen at 141lbs. With Merchant Marine leading 9-4, senior Dante Monaco regained the momentum for the Bears with a 12-4 major decision at 149lbs to bring the Ursinus deficit to one. Merchant Marine's Matthew Trinidad fought off back-to-back scoring opportunities from Monaco, before the Medford, New Jersey native secured the opening points with a takedown. Leading 3-1 in the second period, Monaco used a "granby roll" to collect a reversal and increase his lead to 5-1. After an escape from Trinidad, Monaco tallied a late takedown on the edge of the mat increasing his advantage to 8-2 through two periods. He added another takedown and a riding-time point to secure the 12-4 major decision.

 
The Mariners controlled a 9-8 lead entering the fifth dual of the night between senior Nick Lattanze and Merchant Marine's Austin Manning. The two wrestlers entered the second period tied 0-0, before Lattanze recorded a reversal and rode out of the remainder of the stanza on top. Lattanze fought off a few shot attempts from Manning in the final period but earned a comfortable 3-0 decision to regain an 11-9 match lead for Ursinus at the halfway point.
 

At 165lbs, senior Shawn Marchesano increased the Bears lead to 16-9 picking up an 18-1 technical fall over Merchant Marine's Matthew Ferrucci. Marchesano collected the opening takedown before totaling 2:37 of riding time and entered the second period leading 3-0. He added two four-point near falls in the second stanza before collecting the technical fall at the 6:10-mark of the match.
 
 
First-year Sean Cowan followed up with a 19-2 technical fall at 174lbs to increase the Bears lead to 21-9. Cowan recorded the opening takedown via an inside-leg trip at the 2:10-mark and rode out the remainder of the period on top. After the Mariners were awarded two near-fall points, Cowan reversed the move and was awarded two near-fall points as well. Leading 7-2, Cowan used back-to-back turns to extend his lead to 13-2 at the end of the period. In the final period, he added a takedown and back-points to secure the 18-2 technical fall and give Ursinus a 21-9 match lead. Classmate Maxwell Borton locked up the dual for Ursinus at 184lbs securing a 16-5 major decision over Merchant Marine's Tyler Withers. Borton trailed 3-2 entering the second period, but quickly regained a 5-3 lead behind three back points. After controlling the match on top and earning a four-point near fall, Borton added a cradle in the final period and rode out the victory on top for a 16-5 victory.   
 

In the 197lb bout, sophomore Nils Updale entered the third period tied at one a piece with Merchant Marine's James Dunagan. With under a minute remaining, Updale shot in on a single leg and earned the winning takedown via a 4-1 decision and increased the Bears lead to 28-9. In the final match, senior Jake Ahmad fell by a 4-1 decision to nationally ranked Reid Garrison (No. 15 Nationally) for a final score of 28-12. Ursinus won seven of the ten bouts and six straight from 149lbs through 197lbs to claim the 28-12 decision over the Merchant Marine Academy.


Results:

125 Franco Mazza (Ursinus) over Colin Dragon (USMMA) (MD 14-3) 4-0

133 Wesley Wydick (USMMA) over Jagger Clapsadle (Ursinus) (Dec 6-2) 4-3

141 Charles Lausten (USMMA) over Andrew Schaen (Ursinus) (Fall 2:46) 4-9

149 Dante Monaco (Ursinus) over Matthew Trinidad (USMMA) (MD 12-4) 8-9

157 Nick Lattanze (Ursinus) over Austin Manning (USMMA) (Dec 3-0) 11-9

165 Shawn Marchesano (Ursinus) over Matthew Ferrucci (USMMA) (TF 18-1 6:10) 16-9

174 Sean Cowan (Ursinus) over Ivan Corral (USMMA) (TF 19-2 6:25) 21-9

184 Max Borton (Ursinus) over Tyler Withers (USMMA) (MD 17-5) 25-9

197 Nils Updale (Ursinus) over James Dunagan (USMMA) (Dec 4-1) 28-9

285 Reid Garrison (USMMA) over Jake Ahmad (Ursinus) (Dec 4-1) 28-12