Luke Kowalski ’24 winning his title in the Centennial Conference Championship. (Photo David Sinclair/Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Owen Kutlu, Staff Writer
The Centennial Conference wrestling championship took place this past weekend, and the Bullets finished in fifth place as a team. Gettysburg also had three individual wrestlers placed on the podium in their respective weight classes.
Luke Kowalski ’24 was the lone champion for the Bullets. Kowalski wrestled in the 141 class, coming out on top against Muhlenberg’s Andrew Loniewski by a result of 8-3 after receiving a bye into the title match. This marks Kowalski’s second straight year winning a title, as he took home the hardware in the 133 class last season.
Gettysburg’s other title contender was Gavin Pascoe ’27. Pascoe made a nice run in the 157 class in his first season as a Bullet. He secured an 11-5 win in the quarterfinals over Muhlenberg’s Chris Sockler, and he carried the momentum by edging his way past Johns Hopkins’ Connor Powell by a score of 11-10. However, Pascoe’s title aspirations fell short after he suffered a close 4-2 defeat to McDaniel’s Xavier Howard in the finals match.
The last podium placer for the Bullets was Ethan Composto ’27. Composto competed in the 149 bracket and got off to a hot start with a 19-4 technical fall win over Muhlenberg’s Alex Greco. In the semifinals, Composto lost a tough 3-2 decision to the eventual champion, McDaniel’s Thomas Monn. Composto moved on to the third-place match after a 10-7 win against Johns Hopkins’ Freddy Pimental. He later clinched third place with a 13-10 sudden victory over Merchant Marine’s Edward Pinc.
Gettysburg also had several wrestlers finish fourth in their respective brackets. This included Tank Spelta ’27, Brendan Callahan ’27, Justin Richey ’26, and Simon Taylor ’26.
Spelta, who wrestled at 125, fell to Muhlenberg’s Joey Lamparelli in a 12-1 major decision in the semifinals after receiving a bye in the quarterfinals. Spelta then picked up his first and only win of the tournament in the consolation semifinal, taking down Merchant Marine’s Calvin Burton by a technical fall (20-5) before getting pinned in the third-place match against McDaniel’s Romeo Tsai.
Filling the 133 spot, Callahan got a quarterfinal bye and lost a hard-fought semifinal match to Ursinus’ Jagger Clapsadle by sudden victory (5-2). Similar to Spelta, Callahan went on to get his lone win in the consolation semifinal over Merchant Marine’s Wesley Wydick by a score of 9-3. Callahan then fell in the third-place match to McDaniel’s Alex DuFour in a tight 9-7 decision.
Richey, in the 165 class, had to wrestle in a quarterfinal bout where he proceeded to defeat Muhlenberg’s Nick Stump by a total of 5-1. Richey’s semifinal match was not as pretty, as he was pinned by Ursinus’ Shawn Marchesano six minutes in. With an impressive bounce-back performance, Richey pinned Merchant Marine’s Matthew Ferrucci just a minute into the consolation semifinal match. Johns Hopkins’ Jake Hoffmann stopped Richey short in the third place match though in a close 4-2 decision.
In the heavyweight category, Taylor fell in the semifinals match to Merchant Marine’s Reid Garrison in a 5-0 decision following his bye in the quarterfinals. Taylor handled business in the consolation semifinal with an 8-2 victory over Johns Hopkins’ Jake Pomykata. The third-place match did not go Taylor’s way, and he was pinned by Muhlenberg’s Andrew Franklin.
Ursinus took home the team title at the championships by a significant margin, boasting 93.5 total points. The second-place earner, McDaniel, finished with 70.5.
The Bullets continue their season at the Futures Tournament hosted at The College of New Jersey on Sunday, Feb. 25.
