Muhlenberg wrestling made a trip down to Baltimore for the end of their 12-8 season. This competition was greatly anticipated as it presented a host of old rivals from the season, such as Luca Colestock’s ‘22 rematch against Jaedyn Harris ‘24 of McDaniel College.
The Mules finished the Centennial Conference Championship in sixth out of seventh place with 34 points. However, this team performance was not without some success. Colestock successfully defended his Centennial Conference title. In his first bout, Colestock expanded upon his previous dominance against Harris from a previous (3-2) decision to a (5-3) win in the second round.
Colestock says, “I prepared like any other match, just focused on controlling the pace and getting to my offense. I knew I’d be able to score more points than I did the first time we wrestled and that he’d be gunning for me so my mindset going in was to open up and show what I can do.” Colestock then demonstrated his experience with an emphatic 6-1 decision to win gold.
We’re stronger when we wrestle for the sake of each other
Sean Quaye ’25
Wrestling is a sport that hinges on the tiniest of details that require in-depth analysis. As a typical observer who is used to tracking a football in the air or watching a basketball player take charge, the smart plays may be obvious. In wrestling, the slightest change of hand position could lead to breaking your opponent.
In order to learn from matches such as Colestock’s, it’s truly important to capture every detail. Ethan Kreuzburg ‘25 describes his experience on the injury roster, now killing it as the Centennial cinematic mastermind explaining that “[his] experience at the Centennial Conference Championship was a lot different than that of the team members actually competing. Film in wrestling, as in most sports, is crucial to analyzing how your matches went and what specific things need to be worked out following the tournament. This was my job. I had to film every Muhlenberg match that I could catch so that my teammates could better themselves after the competition was over.”
Kreuzburg certainly captured what Colestock says was his favorite takedown. “The first takedown I had in my finals match was definitely my favorite. It’s always a huge momentum shift scoring in the first period, especially closing out a period with one and that really set the tone for the whole match.”
Colestock put on a show at the championships, but the fact does not change that the Mules failed to do better than second to last. If they are going to learn anything from their captain Colestock, he hopes they learn, “One thing I hope [the] guys can pick up on from my accomplishments is that they gotta be relentless and put more work in than anyone else. This is the hardest college sport and there is a lot of talent at the D3 level, so you gotta be the hardest worker in the room. Also to listen to our coaches, we have a great staff, including an assistant ranked 13th in the world (Guesseppe Rea) at his weight and Muhlenberg’s first-ever All-American (our Head Coach Jason McLean ‘01), and they know what they’re doing when it comes to developing our wrestling.”
While the camera captures the celebratory moments and the hard pins in this tournament, it also captured the “Patti Scandal.” Jack Patti ‘25 and his overtime scandal is the “Patti Scandal.” Patti had fought two all-out bouts before ending up in the semifinals for third place in the tournament. The bout went to overtime, wherein the rules demand that the first point wins. Patti had successfully taken his opponent to his back with both shoulder blades touching the ground for three seconds, not a pin, but enough for two points. The referee held up two fingers in the air gesturing the end of the match, PATTI WINS. Patti relaxed and in that split second his opponent escaped and the zebra called the match a win for Patti’s Ursinus opponent, Muhlenberg wrestling’s greatest rivalry.
Patti put up a great fight that day and his future is bright. So while the team will be losing their captain and two-time conference champion Colestock believes. “The performances put on by our 125 and 157-pound wrestlers, Joey Lamparelli ‘24 and Anson Dewar ‘25, really impressed me. I know they both would’ve liked to place higher but they wrestled well and should be proud of placing in their first conference tournament. They’re both super talented and it’s awesome to see young wrestlers have some success early in their careers because it only makes them hungrier for the future.”
Looking forward to next year, Sean Quaye ‘25 describes a beautiful team dynamic that is certainly the dream for every Mule team. He explains that “The members of the team were dedicated to the goals that the team set and to the building of our program. We had a lot of big wins and meshed well as a team. The guys love each other and it wasn’t long before we figured out we’re stronger when we wrestle for the sake of each other rather than our own. We love to win as a team and this season was a strong indicator of such.”
The wrestling team has one more regular-season match in the Dietrich Field House on Feb. 20 and the NCAA Mideast Region Tournament is TBA.
