HAMPTON, Va. -- Kutztown entered this weekend having never lost in five previous showings at the Virginia Duals. That was never in danger of happening Friday, either, as the Golden Bears routed Marymount, 50-4, and took care of Liberty, 36-9, advancing to the Gold Bracket semifinals out of pool competition.
 
KUTZTOWN 50, MARYMOUNT (VA.) 4
Kutztown scored the first 29 points on three falls, a technical fall and a forfeit and cruised against the first-year, and overmatched, Saints.
 
Following a Julien Maldonado (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) win by forfeit at 125 lbs., Andreo Ferraina (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) (133) and Collin Wickramaratna (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) (141) produced back-to-back pins, pushing the Golden Bears' (3-0) lead to 18-0.
 
Redshirt freshman Logan Waller (Manalapan, N.J./Colts Neck) added five more points for the Maroon and Gold with a shutout victory over Lorenzo Coleman in the 149-pound bout. Waller raced out to a 10-0 lead after the opening period with a takedown and two four-point nearfalls. An escape, takedown and third four-point nearfall ended the match 17-0 in Waller's favor at the 4:05 mark.
 
Sean Smith (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) captured KU's third pin of the day, picking up the win over Hezzy Ntube just 1:09 into their meeting at 157.
 
Marymount avoided the shutout with a 17-8 major decision at 165, but Ethan Baney (Hanover, Pa./South Western) countered with a 2:19 pin of Isaac Ponce at 174 to make it 35-4.
 
Alex Ward (Manassas, Va./Battlefield) earned a 9-7 dec over Eric Washington at 184, Tyler Fisher (Lenhartsville, Pa./Kutztown) pinned Conrad Sund at 1:10 in the 197 lb. matchup and Dustin Swanson (New Holland, Pa./Garden Spot) was a forfeit winner at heavyweight to close out the scoring for Kutztown.
 
KUTZTOWN 36, LIBERTY 9
The Golden Bears stormed past Liberty with victories in eight straight weight classes after Liberty claimed the opener.
 
Dante Minnino broke a 4-4 tie with Maldonado at 125 on a last second takedown and pin to put the Flames up 6-0, but KU bounced back with bonus points in seven of the next eight matches to take control.
 
KJ Fenstermacher (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) dominated Blake Schmitt en route to a 17-2 tech. fall in 2:05. Fenstermacher produced a pair of takedowns and 12 back points on his way to the win.
 
Wickramaratna totaled four takedowns in an 11-3 major decision over Grant Brammer at 141, before Kibwe McNair (Lansdale, Pa./Methacton) did the same against Charles Hudson at 149 to triumph by major decision, 11-1, in his season debut.
 
Smith held a 5-3 lead over Ian McIlhenny at 157 after two periods, but the official hit Smith with a pair of stall warnings, the second of which resulted in a penalty point that tied the match with just over a minute remaining. Fortunately for the Golden Bear sophomore, he had enough riding time on his side to pull out a 6-5 victory at the buzzer.
 
Dalton Gimbor (Bernville, Pa./Hamburg) and Ethan Baney (Hanover, Pa./South Western) got in on the point-scoring spree, furnishing Kutztown's third and fourth major decisions of the match. Gimbor put forth a match-high seven takedowns in an 18-6 win over Connor McCann at 165.
 
Baney needed just one at 174 to keep Zachary Kaminski down a majority of the match. The sophomore from Hanover, Pa., added to his advantage with six back points in a 9-1 win.
 
Nationally-ranked No. 7 Matthew Weinberg (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) improved to 14-0 on the year in the 184-pound weight class with a 2:22 pin of Jackson Wakeland that pushed KU's lead to 30-6.
 
Tyler Fisher (Lenhartsville, Pa./Kutztown) defeated Josiah Murphy by injury default in the second period of their 197-pound bout. It was shaping up to be a great finish, with both grapplers having scored a point via escape before Murphy was forced to retire early.
 
Jeffrey Allen earned Liberty's final three points via decision in the heavyweight bout, but the outcome had long been decided in the Golden Bears' favor.
 
With Friday's wins, Kutztown advanced to the Gold Bracket Saturday as the first-place team out of the James River Pool of the American College Division. They'll be joined by fellow semifinalists Glenville State (Hampton River Pool winner), Alvernia (Poquoson River Pool winner) and Averett/Elizabethtown (York River Pool winner).
 
The Bears will wrestle at 1 p.m. in the semifinals. The championship and third-place matches are set for 7:30 p.m.