Men’s wrestling defeats Scranton at their first home match of the season. Photo courtesy of Muhlenberg College.
Muhlenberg men’s wrestling held their first matchup of the season at Memorial Hall last Sunday, beating Scranton University by 20 points. The Mules were excited to be at home for this match, which became clear early on when CJ Horvath ‘27 at 125 lbs had his sixth technical fall of the season. The Mules bounced back from 6-5 to 11-6 when David Rosenfarb ‘26 at 141 lbs took a 4-3 lead. Then he ended the match by pinning his opponent.
The match was extra special as there was an opening color guard presentation on Salute to Service Night, with participation from Joey Lenio ‘28. Ryan Fairchild ‘26 said, “Our goal is to score points each time, and it is extremely honorable that we got the opportunity to do this in front of service members.”
Eoghan O’Hara ‘29 at 149 lbs added to the Mules’ successes with a technical fall, and Charles Levine ‘28 at 157lbs went on to get his seventh pin of the season. Scranton continued to fight and got a major decision in the 165 lbs matchup. Lucas Velando ‘28 trailed 4-1, but fought his way back to get a takedown with 1:07 remaining. His opponent made it 5-5 but suffered from a second stalling warning. Velando, fired up from the close match, had an impressive takedown towards the end, securing a 9-5 decision.
Nick Stump ‘27 at 184 lbs led 11-0 because of a series of near-falls in the first period. He went on to win by pinning his opponent in the second period. Fairchild at 197 lbs put on a skillful display by getting two takedowns and three near-falls for a tech. However, the Mules are always trying to improve. Fairchild said, “As we approach the dual meet season, we are going to transition to fighting for each other, giving up fewer points and getting more when we can. This is the heart of the season and will serve as a testament to how much we can do for one another, rather than ourselves.”
The Mules went 4-0 in their exhibition bouts. Lenio at 149 lbs pinned his opponent in the first period after trading his fatigue for a singlet. Three Mules won their exhibition bouts by a total of five points. One of them was Noah Schlofer ‘28 at 174 lbs, who took his opponent down at the last second for a 20-18 decision.
Muhlenberg competed well and had two more successful matchups as Max Rotter ‘28 at 125 lbs won 16-15, and Collin Boldt ‘26 at 174 lbs won 5-3. With all their hard work, both individually and as a team, the Mules came up with a 36-16 victory. The team ended up with three pins and three technical falls.
Jason McLean ‘01, a Muhlenberg graduate and now the head men’s wrestling coach, said, “As a coach, you always want to put a good product on display. I believe we did that for the most part.” While the match was a salute to service, it didn’t add pressure for the Mules. Instead, McLean said, “It means a lot to our [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC)] athletes and community, and we want to just show our appreciation and acknowledge their part in our overall community.” He went on to say that the team is grateful for every opportunity to play and can see that their hard work and dedication are paying off.
The Mules are still early into their season, but are having great success so far. There are still plenty more matches for them to show off their incredible diligence. They are only just getting started and plan on learning from this match in any way they can. The team has a couple more matches away before heading back to Memorial Hall on Feb. 5, where they hope to see it packed.
