ERIE, Pa. – No. 7 Kutztown ran into a hot Mercyhurst squad receiving votes in the NWCA Top 20 and the Lakers defended their home mat with a 23-16 upset over the Golden Bears.

COMPLETE RESULTS
 
MU opened the afternoon with a pair of major decisions to put Kutztown in an early 8-0 hole.  Evan Yenolevich (New Tripoli, PA/Northwestern Lehigh (Edinboro)) cut the deficit in half for the Golden Bears with a major decision at 149 against Nick Hannan, 10-0. 
 
Later, a major decision by Matt Martoccio (Kintnersville, Pa./Council Rock South) at 157 over Ian Grecco, 11-3, had KU trailing by just six, 14-8.  Mercyhurst, however, put the match out of reach with wins in the next three bouts. 
 
Kutztown's two nationally ranked wrestlers closed the gap down the stretch.  Vinny Campanile (Stanhope, NJ/Lenape Valley), No. 8 at 197, was a 5-0 winner over Seth Stonis.  Ziad Haddad (Orefield, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic (North Carolina)), the sixth-ranked wrestler at 285, scored a technical fall over Jeff Pollard, 19-4 (7:00).
 
The loss dropped KU to 6-4 on the year, but it is the Golden Bears' only loss to a team ranked outside the top 11 in Division II.  Mercyhurst remained undefeated at 8-0.
 
Kutztown travels to the Super Region I Duals at Newberry on January 25-26.  The Golden Bears will face UNC-Pembroke, Ohio Valley, Anderson (S.C.) and Ouachita Baptist at the two day event.