Wrestling

Aggies Finish Third At Ithaca College Invitational

ITHACA (NY) -- The Delaware Valley College wrestling team, ranked 22nd in Division III, had seven placewinners including two individual champions as the Aggies took third place out of 16 teams at the two-day Ithaca College Invitational.

Delaware Valley registered 154 points and trailed only No. 16 College of New Jersey (169.5 points) and No. 11 Springfield College (158 points). The Aggies outscored three teams ranked ahead of them in the national poll including No. 17 and host Ithaca (110.5 points - 5th place).

Junior Josh Housekeeper and sophomore transfer Andrew Helms took first-place honors at 184 and 197 pounds respectively. Desmond Wiggins (125), B.J. Wise (141) and Jeremy Messinger (157) were runners-up in their weight classes while Faith Christian grad Kyle Phipps placed third at heavyweight.
Sophomore Jason Shivak rounded out the Delaware Valley placewinners by taking sixth at 174 pounds.

Housekeeper, who earned All-American honors last year and is ranked seventh this season, was seeded first and went a perfect 5-0 in the tournament. He pinned his first opponent in 26 seconds and followed with a pin in 1:55. An 11-2 major decision put Housekeeper in the semifinals where he earned a 2-1 decision over fifth-seeded Tom Medonis of Springfield. Housekeeper met the second seed of the tournament, Dale Rissmiller of Centernary, in the finals and posted an 11-9 victory.

Helms, who transferred in from Wilkes, was seeded second in his weight class but won four matches to win his weight class. He opened with a pair of pins then earned a 7-3 decision over Keith Wise of Cortland to reach the finals. Helms ended the tournament with an 11-4 triumph over No. 4 Ben Locke of Cortland.

Wiggins, a freshman, won four straight matches to reach the 125-pound finals. He met fellow unseeded wrestler Amir Figueroa of RIT but dropped a 7-4 decision.
Wise, a sophomore, was seeded third in the tournament but won three matches to reach the semifinals. He then pinned the second seed, P.J. Morreale of The College of New Jersey in 44 seconds before falling to the top seed and second-ranked wrestler in Division III, Keith Poloskey of Springfield, 22-7.

Messinger, a junior, made it to the 157-pound finals by winning his first matches, including three by pins. However, the fourth seed's bid for the crown ended with a 5-1 loss to sixth-seeded Greg Illuna of The College of New Jersey.

Phipps, was seeded eighth at heavyweight, but the sophomore went 6-1 in the tournament including a perfect 4-0 in the consolation bracket. He had three pins, including a seven-second triumph in his first match, and defeated No. 10 Luke Zajak of RIT by a 5-3 decision in the consolation finals.

Shivak, who won the Middle Atlantic Conference crown and qualified for nationals at 165 pounds last year, entered Ithaca as the second seed and sixth-ranked wrestler in Division III at 174 pounds. He won his first two matches before falling into the consolation bracket with a one-point loss to third-seeded Cory DeBias of Roger Williams. Shivak then dropped a 2-1 overtime decision and had to medical forfeit his fifth-sixth place match.