MAC Championship Results

WILLIAMSPORT (PA) – Nationally-ranked seniors Conor Kirkegard and Zach Roseberry captured individual titles while six Delaware Valley University teammates placed in the top six at the 2016 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Wrestling Championships. As a unit, the Aggies finished third in the five-team field.
 
DelVal, which was the defending MAC champion, racked up 113 points at the event. Third-ranked (tournament team rankings) Messiah College ran away with the conference crown as the Falcons' 171.5 points were 39.5 more than runner-up and 10^th-ranked Wilkes University. Host Lycoming College placed fourth with 58.5 points while King's College finished with 58 points.
 
Kirkegard, ranked ninth at 133 pounds, won his first MAC championship after finishing as the runner-up in each of the last two years. Roseberry, a two-time All-American and second-ranked heavyweight in Division III, picked up his second straight conference title. The two also received all-MAC first-team accolades with their first place finishes.
 
Sophomore Nick Menkin was unseeded for the tournament, but reached the 149-pound finals and placed second for second-team all-MAC honors. Sophomores Brenden Velez (125) and Chris Jastrzebski (174) earned honorable mention accolades by placing third in their weight classes. Senior Nick Della Fera (184) and freshman Josh Richardson (197) were fourth while junior Sekou Harris (157) took sixth.
 
Kirkegard, was the top seed in his weight class and had a bye to the semifinals. He then dominated fifth-seeded Samuel Mass of Wilkes, en route to a 16-0, technical fall victory. Kirkegard met third-seeded Hunter Harris in the finals and led 2-1 after the first period. Harris chose the bottom position, but Kirkegard turned him over and earned the pin in 4:36 for the MAC crown. Kirkegard upped his mark to 16-5 on the year.
 
Roseberry was also the number one seed at his weight and he cruised to the finals thanks to a first-period pin (2:33) over Dan Kiser of Messiah, a 16-0 technical fall victory over Kyle Gilder of Wilkes and a 14-1 major decision over fifth-seeded Tom Lynd of Lycoming.  In the championship match, Roseberry faced No. 2 seed Jason Wright of Messiah and he earned three takedowns and an escape for a 7-3 triumph. Roseberry has won 16 of 17 matches this season and is now 80-12 in his standout career.
 
Menkin began his MAC runner-up run with an injury default victory over fifth-seeded Cory Fleming of Wilkes and a 13-3 major decision over No. 4 Adam Peris of Messiah. He then upset top-seeded Robert Hawkins (Wilkes) with a high-scoring, 15-13 decision. Menkin then scored a takedown to start the finals, but third-seeded Greg Kabakjian (Messiah) went onto a 9-2 victory. Menkin is now 5-5 on the season.
 
Velez was seeded fourth at 125 and reached the semifinals with a 9-3 decision over No. 5 James Wright (King's). He fell to eventual the top ranked wrestler in Division III, Lucas Malmberg of Messiah, in the semis, but bounced back with a 9-4 triumph over sixth-seed Josh Whitelaw (Messiah) in the consolation semifinals and an 8-3 decision over No. 3 Kyle Drick of Lycoming in the consolation finals to move his record to 15-9.
 
Jastrzebski was seeded fourth at 174 and he opened with a bye a 1-0 decision over fifth-seeded Karrington Washington of Messiah in the quarterfinals. He fell to top-seeded Ben Swarr, but reached the consolation finals after an 8-0 blanking of Jacob Brook (Wilkes). Jastrzebski wasted no time against third-seeded Brandon Conrad of Lycoming as he pinned him in 99 seconds to improve to 11-7 on the year.
 
Della Ferra and Richardson were both number four seeds in their respective weight classes and they each reached the championship semifinals before losing to nationally-ranked wrestlers. Della Fera's 2-2 mark at the MACs moved his season record to 12-9 while Richardson also went 2-2 on Saturday and he is now 10-8 on the current campaign. Harris was seeded sixth at 157 and placed right at that spot with one win in the tournament.
 
Tim Ambacher (141), Steve Orlic (149), Anthony Snyder (149), Evan Weneck (165), David Furmato (174) and Tom Tehan (285) also competed for the Aggies, who will return to action on Friday, January 29 when they travel to seventh-ranked SUNY-Cortland.