COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 3, 2024) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy wrestling team traveled to Ursinus College on Saturday to face off with two Centennial Conference opponents. The Mariners closed out a 1-1 day with a 27-21 victory over Gettysburg after dropping a 28-18 decision against McDaniel College. The Mariners will head into next weekend's Centennial Conference championship with a 2-3 mark in league competition to go along with currently holding a 6-7 record in dual-meet results.
 
Meet Link

• Results (PDF) 

On the day, three Mariners recorded two wins on the mats including first-year grappler Colin Dragon (Richmond Hill, Ga.) at 125 pounds, fellow freshman Tyler Withers (Gettysburg, Pa.) at 184 and junior Reid Garrison (Broadway, Va.) at 285 pounds.
 
Dragon put USMMA ahead by a 4-0 score in the match with McDaniel, as the freshman defeated Romeo Tsai via a 15-5 major decision. Sophomore Wesley Wydick (Utica, Ohio) posted a technical fall victory at the 133-pound class, winning a 22-3 bout to earn the Mariners another five points. However, the Green Terror claimed the next five victories including three pinfall wins to lead by a 25-9 margin heading into Withers' contest at 184.
 
The freshman won by major decision over Valentino Pryor to get the Mariners back on the scoreboard, but the deficit proved too great for USMMA to overcome. Garrison scored a pinfall victory over Kaden Bryan in the second period of the final match in the dual.
 
In the match-up with Gettysburg, Dragon put forward another strong effort with a 10-2 major decision win versus Tank Spelta to hoist the Mariners in front by a 4-0 margin again. The Bullets claimed the next five bouts to go up by a 21-4 scoreline heading into the 174-pound battle.
 
Sophomore Trevor Badiu (Litchfield, Ohio) claimed an 18-0 technical fall victory to score five crucial points for the USMMA in the dual. The Mariners would then record three consecutive pinfalls to win the dual in thrilling fashion; Withers won in the first period over Gettysburg's James Doliscar at 184 pounds with fellow first-year wrestler Grant Mathias (Rockwood, Pa.) scoring a late-stage pinfall with less than twenty seconds remaining in his match at 197 pounds with Phil Nave. The score sat at 21-all heading into the final bout of the meet, which Garrison claimed over Simon Taylor via a pinfall late in the first period.
 
USMMA will host rival Coast Guard on Wednesday evening, Feb. 7, at Liebertz Gymnasium with the first match scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. This is the final dual meet for the Mariners before the team heads to the Centennial Conference Championship meet on Feb. 10 at McDaniel College. Live results and a video link for the match will be available with links on the USMMA Wrestling Schedule Page.
 
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