KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University wrestling team heads to York College of Pennsylvania on Friday, Feb. 10 for a dual match against a battle tested Spartan squad.
YCP enters the match rated No. 15 in Division III and has wrestled almost exclusively in duals this season, posting an impressive 24-3 record.
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The Golden Bears, meanwhile, have been idle since defeating Gannon 20-19 on January 28. KU will be looking to get head coach
Robert Fisher his 125th career victory. He enters the match tied with former head coach and current assistant
Dan Hinkel atop KU's wins leaderboard with 124 victories.
Kutztown has three regionally ranked wrestlers who will lead the team against the Spartans.
Evan Yenolevich (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) leads Kutztown's ranked individuals, checking in third at 133. The sophomore is 16-5 on the season, including four pins, four major decisions and three technical falls. He leads the team in wins, dual wins (seven) and tech falls and is tied for the team lead in major decisions. The fifth-place finisher at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships earlier this year has a fastest fall of 33 seconds, third best on the team.
Desmond Moore (Easton, Pa./Easton), made his season debut in the regional rankings in the last poll, and remained fifth at 125. Moore is 11-9 on the year, fifth on the team in wins. The senior also has two major decisions and a tech fall to his credit. He finished a KU-best fourth at the PSAC Championships in December. His five dual wins are tied for second on the team.
Brandan Clark (Audubon, Pa./Methacton), also made his debut in the last rankings, and stayed in the same position this time with a No. 6 placement at 285. The freshman has 10 wins already in his rookie year, including two wins by fall and a major decision.
Other KU wrestlers to watch include
Mitch Voelker (Shoemakersville, PA/Schuylkill Valley) (Leesport, Pa./Schuylkill Valley) at 141,
Micah Bollinger (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg Area) (Mifflinburg, Pa./Mifflinburg) at 165,
Zach Marlatt (Slatington, PA/Northern Lehigh) (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) at 174,
Giovanni Ortiz (Reading, PA/Reading) (Reading, Pa./Reading) at 184, and
Vinny Campanile (Stanhope, NJ/Lenape Valley) (Stanhope, N.J./Lenape Valley) at 197.
Voelker has won three straight bouts at 141 and four of his eight victories have been bonus wins.
Bollinger has been perhaps the hottest wrestler on the KU team in recent weeks. He has won four straight, including a pin over the third ranked wrestler in Division II during the regional duals and earned KU's first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week honor of 2011-12. His 12 wins are tied for third on the team and he rates second with six pins.
Marlatt had the lone fall of the match in the win over Gannon and has lost just once in dual action this season.
Ortiz also had a bonus win against the Golden Knights and matches Bollinger with 12 victories.
Campanile is an explosive newcomer whose 10 wins by fall rank just outside the top 10 in Division II and his 13 wins are second to Yenolevich on the team.
The Spartans feature eight wrestlers with at least 20 victories on the season and that group does not even include Chris Albright, the No. 2 wrestler in Division III at 141.
Albright is one of two York wrestlers ranked No. 2 at his weight and is 19-2 on the year. Alex Martocello is the second ranked 184 pounder with an impressive 25-1 mark.
At 285, George Saliba has a team-leading 29 wins against just three losses. Chris Gugliotti has racked up 27 wins at 149. Kyle Minogue will bring 25 wins to the bout at 197. Matt Heisey, 174, and Joe Giaccio, 125, each have 24 wins.