KINGS POINT, N.Y. – Winning each of the final four bouts, the Ursinus College men's wrestling team earned a 30-13 victory over the Merchant Marine Academy on Thursday evening inside Liebertz Gymnasium.
 

With the win, the Bears extended their Centennial Conference dual meet winning streak to 18-straight victories, dating back to January 2022. Ursinus has now won 22 of its last 23 conference duals. The Bears improved to 7-2 overall and 1-0 in Centennial action, while the Mariners fell to 6-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

 
Ursinus grabbed momentum early as senior Michael Adams secured an 18-2 technical fall at 125 pounds to give the Bears a 5-0 lead. Adams jumped out to an 11-2 advantage by the end of the first period before tallying a takedown and using an arm-bar tilt to score four near-fall points and seal the victory. In the 133-pound bout, sophomore Blaise Verdino shot in deep on a single leg, but a counter headlock by Merchant Marine's Wesley Wydick resulted in a fall and gave the Mariners a 6-5 lead.

 
The Bears responded at 141 pounds as junior Andrew Schaen posted an 11-1 major decision over Colin Dragon to regain a 9-6 advantage through three bouts. After a decision at 149 pounds tied the dual at 9-9, junior Braden Kmak answered with a 9-3 decision over Logan Weaver to give Ursinus a 12-9 lead. Kmak secured an early takedown in the first period, then chose top and added four near-fall points in the second to extend his lead to 7-0 en route to the decision.

 
Merchant Marine briefly reclaimed the lead at 165 pounds with an 18-8 major decision, moving ahead 13-12. Ursinus, however, closed the night by winning each of the final four bouts. Senior Anthony Cerulli needed just 47 seconds to pin Andrew Huesgen at 174 pounds, and classmate Nils Updale followed with an 8-5 sudden-victory decision. Tied 5-5 entering overtime, Updale fought off a takedown attempt before re-shooting for the decisive takedown to put the Bears ahead 21-13.

 
Junior Sean Cowan clinched the dual at 197 pounds, earning a 2-0 decision over Max Corral to extend the lead to 24-13. Ursinus closed out the match as 11th-ranked Mohamed Abdelatty pinned Jonathan Harns at the 1:30 mark of the first period, sealing the 30-13 victory.
 

The Bears return to action Wednesday, January 28th, hosting Johns Hopkins University in a dual meet beginning at 7 p.m.