Williamsport, Pa. (Jan. 18, 2020) - Sophomore Palmer Rodenhaber took first place in the heavyweight division, and junior Ali Capobianco and freshman Tonee Ellis each took second, to lead Alvernia to a fourth place finish at the 2020 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Lycoming College. 

"Having success today at our first MAC tournament is an expectation," said head coach Kriss Bellanca. "Success for this team is to go out and compete as hard as we can every time we are fortunate enough to wear an Alvernia University singlet."

Rodenhaber started his day off with a pin in 1:53 over Lycoming's Frank Veloce to move into the winner's bracket. In the heavyweight quarter, Rodenhaber again recorded a pin in 2:08 over Lycoming's Jacob Estevez to advance to the semifinal. Rodenhaber's semifinal bout looked like it was going to come down to a 5-2 decision in Rodenhaber's favor, but the sophomore was able to pin Messiah's Carter Urich with just nine seconds remaining in the bout. In his championship bout, Rodenhaber won by a 12-2 major decision over Lycoming's John Fulmer 

Rodenhaber is Alvernia's first MAC Champion in Wrestling. He also earned First Team All-MAC honors with his first place finish.

Wrestlingin the 197 weight class, Tonee Ellis started his day with a pin over Lycoming's Tymothy Nevadomsky in 2:12 to move into the semifinal round. Ellis then earned a 16-9 decision over Moustafa Almeky of Wilkes to advance to the championship bout. Ellis and Michael Dooley were locked at 0-0 heading into the third period, but Dooley earned points early in the period to go up 3-0, and Ellis could not overcome his lead. Dooley would go on to win the championship bout 4-1. 

Wrestling in the 184 weight class, Capobianco had a first round bye. In his first bout of the day, Capobianco pinned Messiah's Spencer Clements to move on to the semis. He advanced to the finals after an injury default. Capobianco was then defeated in a 2-0 decision in the championship bout by Messiah's David Stevens. 

Capobianco and Ellis each earned Second Team All-MAC honors for their second place finishes. 

"Alvernia started a wrestling program to bring quality student athletes to the university, and have academic, social, and athletic success," added Bellanca. "Our staff feels that today was a great step forward."

The Golden Wolves also earned fifth place finishes from Gavin Hollingsworth, Tanner Vogel, and Chase Smith. 

After starting his day off by losing by tech fall, Hollingsworth fought back to the fifth place bout in the consolation semifinals, winning by a 16-0 tech fall over Messiah's Stephen Maloney 

Vogel started his day off with a 17-2 tech fall win over Cole Walters of Wilkes, before falling by tech fall in the 165 semifinal bout. After advancing to the fifth place bout in the consolation bracket, Vogel pinned Xavier Barber of Wilkes in 5:26.

Smith advanced to the 174 semifinals before falling to Messiah's Kevin Diehl. Smith fell again in the consolation semifinals to move to the 5th place bout. He battled from behind to take a 7-5 decision over Stevens' Nico Ziccardi to round out the place finishers for Alvernia. 

Alvernia has had the motto of #quicklyrelevant since the start of its inaugural season this year. The Golden Wolves proved today that they have quickly become relevant in the MAC. Coach Bellanca and the team's goal is to know prove it beyond the MAC. 

"To have six MAC placewinners, and finish in the top four as a team behind some nationally ranked teams is another step in our #quicklyrelevant plan," said Bellanca.The next step toward becoming more relevant, which may be our future hashtag, is to become competitive at regional, and then national, level."

"We will continue to focus on competing as hard as we can each and every day. We want to thank all of the support staff, athletic trainers, and the athletic administration for giving us the opportunity to compete," added Bellanca. "We are grateful."

Alvernia continues its season on Friday night at home in a dual against Penn College of Technology. 


133: Alexander Gorlin (6-16) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Alexander Gorlin (Alvernia) 6-16 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Kordell Rush (Delaware Valley) 25-1 won by major decision over Alexander Gorlin (Alvernia) 6-16 (MD 11-0)
Cons. Round 2 - Alexander Gorlin (Alvernia) 6-16 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Samuel Hanley (Lycoming ) 22-9 won by tech fall over Alexander Gorlin (Alvernia) 6-16 (TF-1.5 7:00 (17-2))

141: Brock Drahus (2-12) place is unknown and scored 1.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Brock Drahus (Alvernia) 2-12 won by decision over Darren Rich (Lycoming ) 7-10 (Dec 4-2)
Quarterfinal - Dalton Daugherty (Messiah) 23-12 won by fall over Brock Drahus (Alvernia) 2-12 (Fall 3:52)
Cons. Round 2 - Robert Zelinski (King`s) 7-12 won by tech fall over Brock Drahus (Alvernia) 2-12 (TF-1.5 5:54 (19-1))

149: Robert Lawlor (15-10) place is unknown and scored 0.5 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Nick Pepe (Stevens) 2-6 won by major decision over Robert Lawlor (Alvernia) 15-10 (MD 11-3)
Cons. Round 1 - Robert Lawlor (Alvernia) 15-10 won by decision over Spencer Robinson (Stevens) 0-3 (Dec 7-6)
Cons. Round 2 - Kyle Tino (Wilkes) 8-10 won by decision over Robert Lawlor (Alvernia) 15-10 (Dec 8-4)

157: Gavin Hollingsworth (20-12) placed 5th and scored 8.5 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Trevor Corl (Lycoming ) 9-3 won by tech fall over Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 (TF-1.5 2:40 (19-2))
Cons. Round 2 - Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 received a bye () (Bye)
Cons. Round 3 - Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 won by tech fall over Allen Kokilananda (Wilkes) 2-10 (TF-1.5 4:43 (20-4))
Cons. Semi - Stephen Maloney (Messiah) 22-3 won by tech fall over Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 (TF-1.5 2:35 (16-0))
5th Place Match - Gavin Hollingsworth (Alvernia) 20-12 won by decision over Liam Flaherty (Wilkes) 12-11 (Dec 6-2)

165: Tanner Vogel (17-13) placed 5th and scored 13.5 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 won by tech fall over Cole Walters (Wilkes) 2-8 (TF-1.5 7:00 (17-2))
Quarterfinal - Kevin Edwards (Messiah) 11-7 won by fall over Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 (Fall 6:18)
Cons. Round 2 - Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 won by fall over Wyatt Bingaman (Messiah) 2-14 (Fall 0:37)
Cons. Round 3 - Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 won by decision over Hunter O`Connor (Lycoming ) 11-15 (Dec 17-10)
Cons. Semi - Kade Kravits (King`s) 25-9 won by decision over Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 (Dec 6-0)
5th Place Match - Tanner Vogel (Alvernia) 17-13 won by fall over Xavier Barber (Wilkes) 2-7 (Fall 5:26)

174: Chase Smith (15-8) placed 5th and scored 10.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Chase Smith (Alvernia) 15-8 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Chase Smith (Alvernia) 15-8 won by fall over Kevin Diehl (Messiah) 6-7 (Fall 1:36)
Semifinal - Hadyn Swartwood (Lycoming ) 26-3 won by decision over Chase Smith (Alvernia) 15-8 (Dec 10-4)
Cons. Semi - Conner Boal (Lycoming ) 9-9 won by fall over Chase Smith (Alvernia) 15-8 (Fall 2:00)
5th Place Match - Chase Smith (Alvernia) 15-8 won by decision over Nico Ziccardi (Stevens) 8-9 (Dec 7-5)

184: Ali Capobianco (16-6) placed 2nd and scored 17.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Ali Capobianco (Alvernia) 16-6 received a bye () (Bye)
Quarterfinal - Ali Capobianco (Alvernia) 16-6 won by fall over Spencer Clements (Messiah) 8-12 (Fall 4:33)
Semifinal - Ali Capobianco (Alvernia) 16-6 won by injury default over Gable Crebs (Lycoming ) 14-8 (Inj. 1:54)
1st Place Match - David Stevens (Messiah) 25-6 won by decision over Ali Capobianco (Alvernia) 16-6 (Dec 2-0)

197: Tonee Ellis (18-7) placed 2nd and scored 14.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Tonee Ellis (Alvernia) 18-7 won by fall over Tymothy Nevadomsky (Lycoming ) 1-3 (Fall 2:12)
Semifinal - Tonee Ellis (Alvernia) 18-7 won by decision over Moustafa Almeky (Wilkes) 16-9 (Dec 6-4)
1st Place Match - Michael Dooley (Stevens) 16-2 won by decision over Tonee Ellis (Alvernia) 18-7 (Dec 4-1)

285: Angelo Moore (6-4) place is unknown.
Champ. Round 1 - Angelo Moore (Alvernia) 6-4 won by fall over Warren Russell (Lycoming ) 3-9 (Fall 6:58)
Quarterfinal - John Fulmer (Lycoming ) 8-2 won by major decision over Angelo Moore (Alvernia) 6-4 (MD 12-2)
Cons. Round 2 - Angelo Moore (Alvernia) 6-4 won by major decision over Frank Veloce (Lycoming ) 6-5 (MD 10-0)
Cons. Round 3 - Youssef Ait Boulahri (Delaware Valley) 9-6 won by fall over Angelo Moore (Alvernia) 6-4 (Fall 4:44)

285: Palmer Rodenhaber (22-1) placed 1st and scored 22.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Palmer Rodenhaber (Alvernia) 22-1 won by fall over Frank Veloce (Lycoming ) 6-5 (Fall 1:53)
Quarterfinal - Palmer Rodenhaber (Alvernia) 22-1 won by fall over Jacob Estevez (Lycoming ) 5-2 (Fall 2:08)
Semifinal - Palmer Rodenhaber (Alvernia) 22-1 won by fall over Carter Urich (Messiah) 19-17 (Fall 6:51)
1st Place Match - Palmer Rodenhaber (Alvernia) 22-1 won by major decision over John Fulmer (Lycoming ) 8-2 (MD 12-2)