WILKES-BARRE (PA) – Delaware Valley College crowned five individual champions and had two runners-up as the Aggies won their 15^th Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) wrestling title with a thriller at Wilkes University.
 
Four of the five teams that competed at the tournament were nationally-ranked in Division III, including Delaware Valley which entered 10^th. Messiah College was two spots ahead of the Aggies in the latest poll while Wilkes and Lycoming College were 13^th and 22^nd respectively.
 
It all came down to the end where Delaware Valley needed senior 197-pounder Aaron Karns and sophomore heavyweight Zach Roseberry to each win their matches in the finals. Messiah was in the lead at the time, but the Falcons did not a wrestler in either one of those finals.
 
It was in good hands as Karns was an All-American in each of the last two seasons (sixth in 2013, fourth in 2014) and ranked second nationally in his weight class while Roseberry was an All-American (fourth at nationals) as a rookie last year and ranked fourth this season.
 
Karns has no trouble with Johnathan Secor of Lycoming as a takedown, an escape and riding time led to a 4-0 triumph and his second MAC crown. Then it was Roseberry's turn as he battled David Oberrender of Wilkes. He nearly pinned Obererrender in the first period and cruised to an 11-3 major decision for both the individual title and the team championship.
 
Karn's and Roseberry's triumphs lifted Delaware Valley's team point total to 125.5, just 1.5 points ahead of Messiah. Wilkes took third with 73 points while Lycoming and King's had 58.5 and 21.5 points respectively.
 
Karns and Roseberry were not the only Aggies atop the podium on Saturday as three teammates also took top honors in their respective weight classes. Fellow returning All-American and top-ranked Vinny Fava took first at 149 pounds while fellow seniors Zac Haynes and Alec Horan were first at 133 and 165 pounds respectively.
 
Nationally-ranked Connor Kirekard (eighth at 125) and Connor Gabriel (184) each reached the finals and finished second while Michael Caldwell (133), Ben Schweiger (174) and Alex Price (184) took third. Brenden Velez (125) and Chris Yocum (174) were fourth (Note – teams were allowed to have multiple wrestlers compete but they only received points from their top finisher in a weight class).
 
For Karn, it was his second consecutive MAC championship by going 3-0 and upping his season record to 21-3. In the process, he moved up to sixth on the school's all-time list with 110 career victories. Karns pinned Jordan Nochimson (Wilkes) in his opening match and had a 4-0 win over Kyle Koser (King's) before beating Secor in the finals.
 
Roseberry went 3-0 at the MACs, including a pin over Brad Lucas (King's) and a 6-1 decision over Jason Wright (Messiah). He upped his season mark to 22-3.
 
Fava won his conference title with a pin over James Peris (Wilkes), an 8-5 decision over Josh Evans (Wikes) and a 6-4 triumph over Seth Lansberry (Lycoming). The three wins improved his season record to 16-2.
 
Haynes dropped his first foe, Jared Fury (Messiah), in just 13 seconds and received a forfeit win into the finals. He then notched a 3-2 upset of top-seeded Matthew Grossman (Wilkes) for the 133-pound title and a 19-5 season record.
 
Horan had to win three matches to get to the finals and he did so with a pin over Walter Fox (Lycoming), a 9-0 blanking of Jason Ayers (Messiah) and a 14-3 major decision over Stephen Turner (Wilkes). He met Derek Beltz (Messiah) in the finals and picked up a takedown in overtime for the 5-3 win. Horan is now 12-4 on the year.
 
Kirkergard reached the 125-pound finals with back-to-back pins. He faced 2014 national runner-up and current second-ranked Lucas Malmberg (Messiah) in the championship round and suffered a 12-2 setback. Kirkegard is 17-6 on the year.
Gabriel, the third seed in his weight class, notched a pin and a decision to get to the finals. He was then edged, 6-4, by top-seeded Ben Swarr (Messiah) to fall to 16-8.
 
Schweiger (17-4) notched four wins in five matches while Caldwell (7-8) and Price (10-8) each went 3-1 for their third-place showings. Velez (8-8) and Yocum (10-8) each went 2-2 to place fourth.