Grantham, Pa. (December 6, 2025) - Hayden McLellan recorded a first place finish in the 184 pound bracket, Owen Reber took second at 285 and Chance Babb and Luke Thomas both took third in their respective weight classes to lead Alvernia University to a fifth place team finish Saturday afternoon at Messiah's Petrofes Invitational.

Alvernia had eight of its ten wrestlers on Saturday finish in the top five of their respective weight classes and all ten placed in the top eight. 

How it Happened 

• Hayden McLellan led the way for the Golden Wolves with a first place finish in the 184 pound bracket and tallied two wins on Saturday en route to the title. McLellan started the day with a 5-2 decision over Justin Mayes to advance to the final. McLellan then pinned Springfield's Matthew Hoxie to secure the 184 pound title. 
• Owen Reber followed with a second place finish in the 285 pound bracket and recorded a tight 2-1 decision over Simon Taylor from Gettysburg in the semifinals to advance to the final. Reber then dropped the final to Benjamin Katz from Springfield by fall to take second in the 285 pound weight class. 
• Chance Babb tallied a third place finish in the 157 pound weight class. Babb fell to Aiden Smith from Adrian by tech fall in the semifinal match but Babb bounced back with an 8-4 decision over Carter Shupert in the consi-semifinal to advance to the third place match. Babb recorded a 4-1 decision over Robert Leeds from NYU in the third place bout to secure third place honors. 
• Luke Thomas also recorded a third place finish in the 174 pound match and dropped his first match of the day to Chase Brandebura from Saint Vincent by decision in the semifinal bout but responded with a fall over teammate William Knapp to advance to the third place bout. Thomas then posted a fall over Messiah's Andrew Kozubal in 6:49 to grab third place at 174. 
• Ian Vitalo tallied a fourth place finish in the 165 pound weight class. Vitalo dropped his first match of the day to Messiah's Keegan Demarest but turned around and posted a tech fall over Shenandoah's Cannon Long to advance to the third place match. Vitalo then dropped the third place match to NYU's Nick Bell to take fourth at 165 pounds. 
• Julian Zaragoza finished fifth in the 125 pound bracket and started his day with a victory by decision over Dominc Pascoe, 2-0, to advance to the consi-semis. Zaragoza fell to Anakin Burks from Shenandoah but bounced back and took down Rocco Monteferrante by decision, 15-8, to take fifth place at 125 pounds. 
• Tristan Cooper posted a fifth place finish as well and did so in the 285 pound bracket. Cooper took down Nick Blitz from Springfield in the first match of the day by decision, 4-2 but then fell to Nate Faxon by fall. Cooper responded with a 11-2 major decision over Kaleb Britting from Messiah to secure fifth place honors. 
• William Knapp took fifth as well and did so in the 174 pound bracket. Knapp recorded a 16-5 major decision over King's Jacob Hatchman but then fell to teammate Luke Thomas to drop to the fifth place match. Knapp bounced back with a 12-4 major decision over Muhlenberg's Luca Velando to secure fifth place honors. 
• Rocco Monteferrante tallied a sixth place finish for Alvernia in the 125 pound bracket and tallied a 8-0 major decision over Patrick Horvath from King's but then fell to Xavier Diaz from NYU by tech fall to drop to the fifth place match. Monteferrante then dropped the fifth place match to teammate Julian Zaragoza to take sixth in the 125 pound bracket.
• Ryad Belguet rounded out the Golden Wolves who placed on Saturday and took eighth in the 184 pound bracket. Belguet dropped his first match of the day to Spencer Vos from Adrian by decision and then fell to Nathan Kovalcik by decision, 8-6, to earn eighth place honors. 

Up Next 

• The Golden Wolves are back in action on Saturday when they travel to King's for the King's Duals with Keystone, Alfred State and King's at 10:00 AM.