Marisa Lombardo

Owen Reber

Men's Wrestling 12/5/2025 11:25:00 PM Nick Anderson (Assistant Sports Information Director)

Ten Golden Wolves Advance to Day Two of Messiah’s Petrofes Invitational

Grantham, Pa. (December 5, 2025) - Five Golden Wolves punched their tickets to the semifinals in their respective weight classes as Alvernia University is in fifth place as a team after day one of Messiah's Petrofes Invitational.

Chance Babb, Ian Vitalo, Luke Thomas, Hayden McLellan and Owen Reber all advanced to the semifinals of their weight classes after day one of the tournament. Five other Golden Wolves are also still alive heading into day two.

How it Happened

Chance Babb recorded a 3-0 record on the day and advanced to the 157 pound semifinal. Babb started his day with a 21-8 major decision over NYU's Ethan Rothman and then followed that up with another major decision, this one a 10-2 victory over Averett's Jackson Higgins. Babb then took down Messiah's Noah Rice by decision, 6-3, to punch his ticket to the 157 pound semifinal. Babb will take on Aiden Smith from Adrian in the semi.
Ian Vitalo tallied a 2-0 record on Friday afternoon and after a first round bye posted a tech fall over Gettysburg's Ean Wilson, 27-17 to advance to the quarterfinal in the 165 pound bracket. Vitalo then recorded a pin over Adrian's Connor Williams in 4:52 to advance to the 165 pound semis. Vitalo will take on Keegan Demarest from Messiah tomorrow in the semifinal.
Luke Thomas was the third Golden Wolf to punch his ticket to the semifinals and did so after recording three wins on Friday. Thomas started his day with a 17-2 tech fall over Nick Montanye from Messiah and then recorded a pin over Adrian's Angelo Mastroianni in 6:53 to advance to the quarterfinals. Thomas then tallied a 9-5 decision over Nicholas Stump from Muhlenberg to punch his ticket to the semis in the 174 pound bracket. Thomas will take on Chase Brandebura from Saint Vincent in the semifinal match.
Hayden McLellan recorded three wins on the first day of the tournament to advance to the 184 pound semifinals and posted back to back tech falls in his first two matches to advance to the quarterfinals. McLellan tallied a 15-0 tech fall over Jack Birth from Shenandoah and then followed that up with another 15-0 tech fall over Lucio Colon Perez to head to the quarterfinals. McLellan then recorded a fall over NYU's Dmitry Derbedyenyev in 2:19 to advance to the semifinals. McLellan will take on NYU's Justin Mayes in the semis.
Owen Reber rounded out the Golden Wolves who advanced to the semifinals on Friday and did so with three wins. Reber started with a 19-4 tech fall over Billy Antippas from Gettysburg and then pinned Greensboro's Amarion Wilson in 3:24 to head to the quarterfinals. Reber then tallied a second straight pin over Nick Blitz from Springfield College in 6:28 to punch his ticket to the semifinals. Reber will wrestle Simon Taylor from Gettysburg in the 285 pound semifinals.
Tristan Cooper recorded a 3-1 record for Alvernia on the first day of the tournament and rattled off three straight wins after dropping his first match of the day to NYU's Nate Faxon by fall. Cooper then received a bye in the consolation round before posting a pin over Amarion Wilson from Greensboro and a 10-6 decision over Gettysburg's Marcus Richey. Cooper then tallied a second fall of the day with a pin over Adrian's Blake Daniels in just 50 seconds to advance to Saturday and stay alive in the 285 pound weight class.
William Knapp also went 3-1 on the day and also was one that rattled off three wins in a row after a first round loss to Tyler-Nicholas Ritz from Shenandoah by decision, 12-8. Knapp then posted a 14-3 major decision over Tyler Boelhower from Springfield College before taking down Joe Dietz from Gettysburg, 11-8. Knapp then recorded a pin over Adrian's Calob Heilman in 2:01 to stay alive in the 174 pound weight class.
Ryad Belguet received a bye in the first round of the 184 pound bracket and then fell to Spencer Vos from Adrian, 4-2, in the second round. Belguet would bounce back with a 15-13 decision over NYU's Mark Dickey in the consi third round before posting an 8-2 decision over Omori Lee from Greensboro to advance to Saturday.
Julian Zaragoza recorded a 3-1 record on the day in the 125 pound bracket to advance to Saturday. Zaragoza dropped his first match of the day to NYU's Xavier Diaz by fall but then received a bye and rattled off three wins in a row. Zaragoza first took down Toril Patel from Springfield College by decision, 10-9, before tallying a pin over Sei Dolomengi from Bridgewater State in 1:06. Zaragoza then received a forfeit in the consolation round four to advance to Saturday.
Rocco Monteferrante rounded out the Golden Wolves still alive heading into day two of the Petrofes Invitational and started his day with a 8-0 major decision over Tank Spelta from Gettysburg to advance to the quarterfinals. Monteferrante then dropped the quarterfinal match to Adrian Rosas from Adrian by decision, 8-3, but bounced back with an 8-2 decision over Hunter Sanchez from Springfield to advance to Saturday.

Up Next

The Golden Wolves are back at it tomorrow for day two of Messiah's Petrofes Invitational starting at 9:00 AM.

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Players Mentioned

Chance Babb: 149/157; 5' 9"; Senior

William Knapp: 174; 5' 10"; Sophomore

Hayden McLellan: 184; 6' 0"; Sophomore

Owen Reber: 285; 6' 2"; Sophomore

Julian Zaragoza: 125; 5' 5"; Sophomore

Ryad Belguet: 197; 6' 2"; First Year

Tristan Cooper: 285; 6' 2"; First Year

Rocco Monteferrante: 125; 5' 4"; First Year

Luke Thomas: 165; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Ian Vitalo: 165; 5' 10"; First Year

Players Mentioned

Chance Babb
: 5' 9"; Senior
: 149/157

William Knapp
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: 174

Hayden McLellan
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: 184

Owen Reber
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: 285

Julian Zaragoza
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: 125

Ryad Belguet
: 6' 2"; First Year
: 197

Tristan Cooper
: 6' 2"; First Year
: 285

Rocco Monteferrante
: 5' 4"; First Year
: 125

Luke Thomas
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: 165

Ian Vitalo
: 5' 10"; First Year
: 165