Wrestling hit the mats on Saturday at the
Ned McGinley Invitational Tournament
hosted by King’s College, placing third
overall in the tournament.
Jon Laudenslager, who entered his
20th season as head coach, coached the
young men in their 2022-23 season debut
and looks forward to what the rest of the
season will bring.
“We put five guys in the finals today, had
two champs and went third as a team,” said
Laudenslager. “Our young guys learned
a lot about college wrestling and we’re
looking forward to growth”
Five Colonels came into the matchup
being ranked in the National Wrestling
Coaches Association (NWCA) Southeast
region preseason rankings. Sophomore
Austin Fashouer ranked second in 125
as well as ranking sixth in the country;
senior Jack Bauer ranked sixth in 133;
junior James Geiger ranked second in 165;

sophomore Cameron Butka ranked 4th in
197 and junior Nevin Rauch ranked sixth
in 285.
125:
Fashouer beat his first opponent of
the day, Justin Schifter from Scranton
University,11-6 by decision, Ari Dinerman
from Roger Williams University (RWU)
10-6 by decision and Gustav Petruske from
King’s College 18-2 by technical fall at 3:28,
placing him in the finals with Luke Hoerle
from Stevens University where Fashouer
fell by decision 7-2.
“It felt very good making it to the finals,”
said Fashouer. “The first day back on the
mat felt good.”
133:
Junior Michael Richardson made it to the
semi finals where he fell by major decision
20-6 to Nico Diaz from Stevens. In his first
win of the day, however, Richardson beat
Andrew Finateri from Stevens by decision
3-0.
141:
Bauer won his first match against Clay

Rankin from the Rochester Institute of
Technology (RIT) by major decision 8-0.
In his second match, Bauer won by fall at
1:01 2-0 over KJ Sherman from New York
University (NYU), placing him in the semi
finals with Noah Hunt from Penn College.
Bauer beat Hunt by a 8-6 decision leading
him into the finals. In a close one point
decision, Bauer took his finals match with
Nick Kruczynski of NYU 3-2.
149:
No Colonels made it past the round of
32.
157:
First-year Nikko Partsanakis made it
to the quarterfinals before falling to a 4-0
decision by Ryan Smith from Stevens. In
his first two wins, Partsanakis won 4-1
by fall at 2:27 over Alan DeVries from
York College and by fall again at 1:45 and
10-0 over Ryan Bacher of Waynesburg
University.
165:
No Colonels made it past the round of
16.
174:
Geiger’s 3-1 decision over Lenny Breit
of RWU placed him in the quarterfinals
where he won by fall at 3:26 0-0. Geiger
faced Kade Kravits from Kings in the semi
finals where he came out on top with a 4-2
decision of sudden victory, placing him in
the final round of his weight bracket. In the
finals, Geiger won by medical forfeit over
Jason Geyer of NYU.
“I felt pretty good at a new weight class,”
said Geiger. “The team looked good as
well. It was a great day to represent Wilkes
University.”

184:
Senior John Divito fell in the round of
16 to Daryl Cowley of the US Merchant
Marine Academy (USMMA), but won
three matches in the Consi rounds with
scores of 2-0, 6-3 and 16-0.
197:
Butka won three matches leading up
to his finals match. In his first win, Butka
beat Jordan DelValle of RWU by major
decision 10-2. An 8-6 sudden victory by
decision brought Butka over James Cruz
of USMMA in the quarterfinals placing
Butka in the semi finals where he won 3-2
over Josh Harkless of RIT. In the finals,
Butka fell to Camden Farrow from York by
a 6-0 decision.
285:
Sophomore Caleb Burkhart added
three wins to his bracket column as he
won by fall 6-0 over Christian Gillich
of Scranton University, 14-0 by fall over
Billy Bumbarger of Penn and by major
decision over teammate Rauch 11-3 in the
semifinals. In the finals, Burkhart lost 16-7
by major decision to Michael Dooley of
Stevens.
Final Placement:
Fashouer (125) second place; Bauer
(141) first place; Partsanakis (157) fifth
place; Geiger (174) first place; Divito
(184) fifth place; Butka (197) second place;
junior Hunter Lowe (197) fifth place;
Burkhart (285) second place; Rauch (285)
fourth place.
The Colonels will be on the road for their
next five matches. You can catch them at
home on Dec. 9 as they host Delaware
Valley University in the Marts Center.