Reading, Pa (November 4, 2023) - Nine Golden Wolves wrestled their way to the podium as Alvernia University secured the team title at the 2023 Tonee Ellis Memorial Tournament Saturday hosted at Alvernia's PLEX. 

The tournament was named in honor of former Alvernia wrestler Tonee Ellis who tragically passed away earlier this year. Ellis was a three year member of the Alvernia wrestling team and was one of the first National Qualifiers for the Golden Wolves along with Palmer Rodenhaber during the 2019-2020 season, the program's inaugural season. 

The Golden Wolves outlasted Delaware Valley with 117.5 team points. Del Val tallied 116.5. 

Avery Leonard recorded a first place finish in the 141 pound bracket with a 17-4 major decision over Taylor Weaver of Delaware Valley. Leonard started his day with a 16-1 tech fall over Del Val's Artem Reichert and then followed the up with another tech fall over Stansbury. Leonard then tallied a pin over Hammonds of Shippensburg in 1:03 into the first period and then received a medical forfeit to advance to the final. 

Brandon Flores-Salazar tallied a first place finish in the 157 pound bracket with a 4-1 sudden victory over Penn State Behrend's Peyton Hearn. Flores-Salazar recorded two pins in his first two matches to advance to the semifinals where he tallied a 10-5 decision over Nicholas DiLorenzo from Del Val. Flores-Salazar then recorded an 11-4 decision over Michael Beers from Del Val to advance to the final. 

Matthew Lackman posted a first place finish in the 165 pound bracket thanks to a no contest from Chance Babb. Lackman started with a bye and then earned a pin over Shawn Stock in just 28 seconds. He followed that up with a pin over Fitzgerald Jordan in 1:41 to advance to the semifinals where he posted a 16-1 tech fall over Riley McHale from Muhlenberg to advance to the final. 

Mauro Pellot-Vazquez recorded a first place finish in the 197 pound bracket with a 17-5 major decision over Trey Shoemaker from Shippensburg. Pellot started his day by pinning Matthew Donis from Western New England in 1:56 and then tallied a 19-6 major decision over Del Val's Nicholas Hall to advance to the semifinals. He then tallied a fall over Diesel Koser in 6:04 to advance to the finals. 

Babb finished in second place in the 165 pound bracket after a no contest in the final to Lackman. Babb started his day with a bye and then tallied a 12-3 major decision, he then tallied a pin over Penn State Behrend's Trey Lineberry in 32 seconds. He then recorded a 7-2 decision over Monterio from Western New England to advance to the finals. 

Quinn Tobin finished in third place in the 149 pound bracket after a no contest from Aidan Swann. Tobin earned a 17-0 tech fall to start his day and then tallied a 19-6 major decision over Keifner. He then posted a 16-0 tech fall to advance to the semifinals where he fell to Evan Mendez from Muhlenberg to drop to the consolation bracket. Tobin then recorded a pin over Horger in 2:05 to advance to the third place match. 

Garrett Gehr tallied a third place finish after he pinned Western New England's Austin Monterio in 1:54 to secure third place. Gehr started his day with a 16-5 major decision over Del Val's Devin Horton but dropped into the consolation bracket after getting pinned by Del Val's Weaver. He then recorded two straight pins and a medical forfeit to advance to the third place match. 

Gavin Hollingsworth recorded a third place finish after a 17-1 tech fall over Western New England's CJ Glaropoulos in the 174 pound bracket. Hollingsworth received a forfeit to start his day and then tallied a 17-1 tech fall to advance to the semifinals but fell to Luke Moore in 1:19. Hollingsworth then tallied a pin in 1:35 to advance to the third place match. 

James Circle recorded a second place finish in the 174 pound bracket for the Golden Wolves, dropping the final to Luke Moore from Del Val by decision, 7-2. Circle started his day with a pin in 2:46 over Melchior from PSU Behrend and then tallied a 18-3 tech fall over Muhlenberg's Trattner. Circle then worked a 14-9 decision over Western New England's CJ Glaropoulos to advance to the final. 

Ethan Staples from Alvernia wrestled in the 125 pound bracket for the Golden Wolves and went 1-2 on the day. 

Anthony Portillo wrestled in the 133 pound bracket and finished with a 2-2 record on the day. 

James King and Blake Tarnowski both wrestled at 133 pounds and both went 1-2 on the day for Alvernia. 

Nolan Brown competed in the 141 pound bracket for Alvernia and posted a 1-2 record. Jared Mangiafico also competed at 141 pounds and also recorded a 1-2 record. 

Aidan Swann competed in the 149 pound weight class and recorded a 4-2 record and a fourth place finish for the Golden Wolves. 

Paul Kakos competed in the 149 pound bracket as well and tallied a 4-2 record for Alvernia. 

Ryan LePore competed at 165 pounds for the Golden Wolves and recorded a 2-2 record on the day. 

Anthony Bauer wrestled at 184 pounds and tallied an 0-2 record and Dan Schweitzer competed at 197 pounds for Alvernia and went 0-2 on the day. 

Brian Czaus wrestled at 285 pounds for the Golden Wolves and tallied a 2-2 record. Aidan Homan also competed at 285 pounds and went 1-2 and Tyler Carter went 0-2 on the day at 285 pounds. 

The Golden Wolves are back in action next Saturday when they travel to Ursinus for the Racich Rumble.