COLLEGEVILLE (PA) – The Delaware Valley College wrestling team showed why it holds the number three ranking in Division III as the Aggies went 4-0 at the North/South Duals, including victories over a trio of nationally-ranked teams.

Delaware Valley (6-0-1) opened with a 41-0 blanking of No. 28 York College and then downed unranked Gettysburg College, 43-9. That set up meeting with a pair of top 15 teams in fifth-ranked University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and No. 12 United States Merchant Marine Academy. The Aggies took out LaCrosse, 24-13, and then rallied from an early 9-4 deficit and posted a 31-9 triumph over Merchant Marine. 

Nationally-ranked wrestlers Chris Sheetz (fifth at 125 pounds) and Mike Wilcox (first at 184) went a perfect 4-0 on the day as did Rocky Mantella at 174 pounds. Kyle Bilquist, a two-time national qualifier and 2008 All-American at heavyweight, went 3-0 including the biggest win of the day - a 3-2 decision over top-ranked Dan Laurent of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.  

Sheetz and fellow nationally-ranked wrestlers Brandon Clemmer (fourth at 133) and Eric McCann (fifth at 141) had three straight pins to open up the York match and give the Aggies an 18-0 advantage. The team then posted four major decisions and three decisions the rest of the way for the 41-0 final. 

Sheetz, Clemmer, Don Smith (157), Mantella and Wilcox all notched first-period pins in the Gettysburg match as Delaware Valley won eight of the 10 weight classes.

Sheetz and Clemmer gave Delaware Valley a 12-0 lead against Wisconsin-LaCrosse as they dropped their opponents. Wisconsin-Lacrosse took three of the next four weight classes to make it 14-9, but Mantella and Wilcox earned back-to-back decisions for a 21-9 advantage. After a major decision for LaCrosse at 197, Bilquist ended the match in style with his decision over top-ranked Laurent.

The Aggies trailed for the first time all afternoon in the Merchant Marine Academy match as they were down 9-4 after four weight classes. However, they took the next six, including three straight pins by Wilcox, Jeff Siciliano (197) and Bilquist, for the 31-9 final.

Delaware Valley will put their number three ranking to the test again on January 10 and 11 when it travels to Northern Iowa University for the prestigious Division III National Duals.

Delaware Valley 41, York 0
125 – Chris Sheetz (DVC) by fall over Sean Hightman, N/A (6-0)
133 – Brandon Clemmer (DVC) by fall over Kyle Flickinger, N/A (12-0)
141 – Eric McCann (DVC) by fall over Bryan Deuber, N/A (18-0)
149 – Dale Fava (DVC) by decision over Dylan Giandalia, 12-5 (21-0)
157 – Robbie Hickman (DVC) by decision over Jason Ecklof, 5-0 (24-0)
165 – Justin Barowski (DVC) by decision over John Wiedrich, 5-2 (27-0)
174 – Rocky Mantella (DVC) by major decision over Alex Martacello, 13-4 (31-0)
184 – Mike Wilcox (DVC) by major decision over Chris Elliott, 13-4 (34-0)
197 – Martin Porter (DVC) by decision over George Saliba, 7-3 (37-0)
285 – Kyle Bilquist (DVC) by major decision over Josh Erb, 10-1 (41-0) 

Delaware Valley 43, Gettysburg 9
125 - Chris Sheetz (DVC) by fall over Abe Evans, 0:32 (6-0)
133 - Brandon Clemmer (DVC) by fall over Jack Bostrom, 1:36 (12-0)
141 - Eric McCann (DVC) by major decision over Mike Sabinski, 22-12 (16-0)
149 - Dalve Fava (DVC) by forfeit (22-0)
157 - Andrew Goldstein (G) by fall over Don Smith, 1:43 (22-6)
165 - Justin Barowski (DVC) by decision over DJ Neri, 6-2 (25-6)
174 - Rocky Mantella (DVC) by fall over Luke Mitchell, 0:38 (31-6)
184 - Mike Wilcox (DVC) by fall over Jon Paul, 1:10 (37-6)
197 - Jeff Siliciano (DVC) by forfeit (43-6)
285 - Bobby Christopher (G) by decision over Charlie Pendlebury, 3-2 (43-9)

Delaware Valley 24, UW-Lacrosse 13
125 – Chris Sheetz (DVC) by fall over Jonny Brennan, N/A (6-0)
133 – Brandon Clemmer (DVC) by fall over Pat Parillo, N/A (12-0)
141 - Alex Dahl (UWL) by decision over Eric McCann, 7-0 (12-3)
149 – Matt Mauseth (UWL) by decision over Dale Fava, 11-4 (12-6)
157 – Robbie Hickman (DVC) by decision over Ryan Farwell, 2-0 (15-6)
165 – Cory Ferguson (UWL) by decision over Justin Barowski, 7-1 (15-9)
174 – Rocky Mantella (DVC) by decision over Schmitz, 4-2 (18-9)
184 – Mike Wilcox (DVC) by decision over Josh Zabel, 11-4 (21-9)
194 – Andy Moore (UWL) by major decision over Derek Porter, 11-2 (21-13)
285 – Kyle Bilquist (DVC) by decision over Dan Laurent, N/A (24-13)

Delaware Valley 31, Merchant Marine 9
125 – Chris Sheetz (DVC) by major decision over Jordan Alford, 14-3 (4-0)
133 – Phillip Greene (USMMA) by decision over Brandon Clemmer, 8-5 (4-3)
141 – James Beshada (USMMA) by decision over Zak Andrews, 6-3 (4-6)
149 – Dan Twito (USMMA) by decision over John Giusti, 7-1 (4-9)
157 – Don Smith (DVC) by decision over Martin Bell, 9-3 (6-9)
165 – Justin Barowski (DVC) by major decision over Seth Ching, 11-0 (10-9)
174 – Rocky Mantella (DVC) by decision over Erik Schott, 6-5 (13-9)
184 – Mike Wilcox (DVC) by fall over Sean Patrick, N/A (19-9)
197 – Jeff Siciliano (DVC) by fall over Judson Connell, N/A (25-9)
285 – Kyle Bilquist (DVC) by fall over James Billians, N/A (31-9)