YORK (PA) – In a 14-team field that featured six, top 25 Division III teams, it was fourth-ranked Delaware Valley College that crowned four individual champions, en route to the team title at the New Standard Corporation Invitational hosted by York College.
 
The Aggies finished with 135.5 points to easily outdistance runner-up and 12th-ranked Ithaca College (120 points). No. 18 York placed third with 115 points while 29^th-ranked SUNY Brockport was fourth with 103.5 points. The remaining ranked teams, No. 11 Johnson & Wales University and No. 21 SUNY Cortland, finished sixth and eighth respectively.
 
Delaware Valley had seven wrestlers place in the top six in their respective weight classes, including the nationally-ranked trio of Vinny Fava (149), Aaron Karns (197) and Zach Roseberry (285). Those three took top honors at their weights on Saturday as did freshman 157-pounder Jeff Reimel. Connor Kirkegard and Ben Schweiger placed third at 125 and 174 pounds respectively while Connor Gabriel took fifth at 184 pounds.
 
Fava, the number-one ranked Division III wrestler at 149 and a returning All-American, went 4-0 at the tournament with three decisions and one major decision. He opened with a 15-4 triumph over Eamonn Gaffney (Ithaca) and followed with 6-1 and 5-4 decisions to reach the finals. In the finals, Fava faced eighth-ranked Daniel Pak of Ithaca and he cruised to an 8-2 victory, Fava is now 8-2 on the season.
 
Karns, a two-time returning All-American and the second-ranked wrestler at 197, became just the 13^th wrestler in Delaware Valley's storied history to reach the 100-win mark in his career. He got the milestone win in Saturday's finals with a 9-1 major decision over John Shorter of York. It was Karns' fourth win of the day and the 11^th of the season (11-3) as he had a pin and two decisions prior to the finals.
 
Roseberry, another returning All-American who is second nationally at heavyweight, pinned three of his four opponents to improve to 13-2 on the season. He reached the semifinals with a pin and a major decision and then dropped Cole Tristam (Brockport) with 11 seconds left to enter the finals. There, Roseberry pinned Mark Howard (Coast Guard Academy) 43 seconds into the second period (3:43) for the crown.
 
Reimel captured his first individual collegiate title in his first competition of the year by going 5-0, including a win over the tournament's top seed at 157, Antonio Mancello of The College of New Jersey, in the quarterfinals. In fact, Reimel pinned Mancello with 52 seconds left in the opening period (2:08). He followed with an 8-4 win over Chris Sullivan (Coast Guard Academy) and took the championship with a 5-4 decision over Adam Kritzer of York.
 
Kirkegard went 4-1 at the tournament, including wins over the sixth and 10^th-ranked wrestlers at 125 pounds. His lone loss was to top-ranked and defending national champion Paul Bewak of Johns Hopkins, a 4-0 decision in the semifinals. Prior to that match, Kirkegard had pinned No. 10 Robert Cunningham of Ferrum. After the setback to Bewak, Kirkegard came back and earned a 3-2 decision over No. 6 Jimmy Kaishian of Ithaca and followed with a 6-0 blanking of Bobby Jordan (Johnson & Wales) in the consolation finals. He is 10-3 on the year.
 
Schweiger won five of his six matches, en route to a third-place showing at 174. He went 1-1 in the championship bracket before winning his final four matches, including a pair of falls. In the consolation finals, he edged Zeke Zimmer of Elizabethtown, 7-6, to up his season record to 6-2.
 
Gabriel posted a 5-2 mark to give him a 10-5 record on the season. He reached the quarterfinals with a decision and a major decision before falling into the consolation bracket. Gabriel had two more wins to reach the consolation semifinals and, after a loss, was then awarded a forfeit victory to take fifth place at 184.