Etzel Places Third To Lead Presidents In New York
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- The Washington & Jefferson College wrestling team placed 10th of 11 teams Saturday at the 2012 Rochester Institute of Technology Invitiational.
Wesleyan (Conn.) won the team title with 152 points, while John Carroll (138) and SUNY-Oswego (122) were second and third. W&J totaled 39 points.
The Presidents' lone place winner was junior 157-pounder Josh Etzel (Elizabeth, Pa./Elizabeth-Forward), who took third after recording a 4-1 record. He opened with a 17-1 technical fall victory over Baldwin-Wallace's Alex Cahill before edging Andrew Tanner of WPI 4-2. Etzel fell into the consolation bracket after falling to Wesleyan's Howard Tobochnik 11-4 in the semifinals. He bounced back to defeat RIT's Sean Secru (6-0) and SUNY-Oneonta's Dan Graff (2-0) to claim third. Etzel now has a 16-3 record this season.
Senior Chris Leva (Perrineville, N.J./Notre Dame) earned a 3-2 mark at 149 pounds. He won his first two matches to enter the quarterfinals, but lost a 12-2 decision to top-seeded Christian Mazzochi of King's 12-2.
Four Presidents' freshmen finished the day with 2-2 records: 141-pounder Trevor Meyers (Saint Thomas, Pa./James Buchanon), 174-pounder Steve Murray (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill), 184-pounder Zeke Stroupe (Rochester, Pa./Freedom) and heavyeight Brian Brust (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park).
Washington & Jefferson opens the dual-meet portion of its home schedule next Saturday (Dec. 8) when hosting PAC-rival Thiel at 1:00 pm.
