Yellow Jackets win inaugural Waynesburg Invitational
Host team claims four individual titles and roll to team championship
Waynesburg freshman Sam Lombardo won his first collegiate individual title by besting four opponents, including three by first-period falls, on his way to the 157-pound crown.
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 15) – Saturday’s first annual Waynesburg Invitational was a big success on many levels for the Yellow Jacket wrestling team.
The Jackets cruised to the team title, thanks in large part to four individual titles and two runner-up performances. Waynesburg racked up 142.5 team points. Almost 30 points more than second-place Baldwin-Wallace, which put up 114 points on the day. Johns Hopkins rounded out the top three finishers with 110.5 points. Mercyhurst North East placed fourth (94.0), McDaniel finished fifth (80.5), Gettysburg followed in sixth (77.5) and Ohio Valley Valley was seventh (25.5).
Sophomore 125-pounder Alex Crown, the weight’s top seed, claimed the first-ever Waynesburg Invitational individual championship with a 6-0 decision win over third-seeded Jeremy Dombrady of B-W. Crown won his semifinal match over fifth-seeded Tyler Reed of Ohio Valley by 11-2 major decision.
Junior 133-pounder Rico Borz won his fifth-straight match after joining the team in the spring semester after he beat Baldwin-Wallace’s Phillip Payne 3-1 on a last-second takedown. Borz also earned his first technical fall win of the year during his opening-round victory over McDaniel’s Mark Loebeck. He also picked up his first major decision win of the year by the final score of 12-3 over Gettysburg’s Matt Spano in the semifinals.
Freshman Luke Lohr continued his outstanding debut season with the Yellow Jackets by going 3-0 on his way to the 149-pound crown. After picking up a fall in just 1:28 in his semifinal bout, the tops-seeded Lohr improved to a team-best 23-3 by beating second-seeded Rocky Barilla of Johns Hopkins 8-2 for the crown.
Waynesburg’s final individual title came courtesy of another freshman, 157-pounder Sam Lombardo. Lombardo looked impressive n his way to his first collegiate tournament crown, winning his first three bouts by first-period fall, including his first pin of the day, which came in an lightning-fast 17 seconds against Kenneth Richards of Ohio Valley. It took a little more work for Lombardo to clinch the championship, but he was able to gut out a 7-6 victory over second-seeded Dylan Whisner of Mercyhurst North East.
The Jackets also picked up a pair of second-place performances that each featured their share of highlights. Senior 141-pounder Nick Garber cruised through his first three matches of the day with two first-period falls and a truly impressive first-period technical fall before being upset in the championship final.
Freshman heavyweight Brandon Fedorka continued to look like another fine pickup for the Yellow Jackets. After being named the third seed, Fedorka earned three hard-fought decision wins to get into the championship finals, including an 8-6 upset victory over Gettysburg senior Bobby Christopher, who spent time as the number-10 heavyweight in Division III according to D3wrestle.com. Fedorka’s winning streak ended in the finals, but he gave up just a decision to McDaniel senior Brock Glotfelty, the number-three ranked heavyweight in the country.
Along with their six top-two finishers, Waynesburg also got a third-place finish from junior Jon Sanko at 165-pound. He was joined in the top-six spots at 165 by sophomore Anthony Bonaventura and junior Alex Evanoff. Junior Jared Roberts picked up three wins by fall on his way to a third-place performance at 174.
The Jackets continued to build up the points with a sixth-place showing by sophomore Cody Catalina at 184 and fourth, fifth and sixth-place showings at 197 by freshmen Jake Linn, Tyler Lewis and Gennaro Bonaventura, respectively. Freshman Josh Mihalik rounded out Waynesburg’s crop of top-six performers by placing sixth at heavyweight.
While third-year head coach Ron Headlee and his primary assistant John Yates were happy with their team’s performance on the mats, the tournament was also a chance to show the progress that has been made in the program since they took it over in February of 2007 to some of their most loyal supporters.
Members of the Murdock Men, a group of former Yellow Jacket wrestlers who are among the most ardent supporters of the team, were on hand to watch the event and be recognized before the championship round. Ralph Adamson, a former Yellow Jacket standout who was an NAIA national runner-up in 1966, commented on the event and the resurgence of the program.
“[Headlee and Yates] have done a great job of building this program up,” Adamson said. “This is a fantastic event and their efforts have helped make this team competitive with some of the best teams in the country. If you need proof of the job they are doing, just look at the records”
Waynesburg’s title at their home invitational is their second team championship of the year. The Yellow Jackets also tied for first at the season-opening Messiah Invitational.
The Jackets return to dual action and open Presidents’ Athletic Conference competition on Thursday, Jan. 20, when they host Washington & Jefferson. The match is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m
Ron Headlee
Head Wrestling Coach
Waynesburg University
cell: 724-984-2953
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