WILKES-BARRE – Senior Erik Smith (Danville, Pa./Danville) broke open a 6-3 Wilkes University lead after pinning Frankie Davis at 149, giving the 20^th-ranked Colonels a 12-6 lead which would ignite a 29-9 win over King's College. With the win, Smith reached the 100-win milestone for his career. 

 

Three seniors competed in their final regular season bouts for Wilkes – all of which posted victories. Shaun Farnham (Baldwinsville, N.Y./Charles W. Baker) improved to 28-2 overall this season with a 7-2 decision over Mike Tabasco giving Wilkes an early 3-0 lead. Fellow senior Josh Pauling (Hughesville, Pa./Hughesville), who wrestled at 133, followed suit with a 6-3 win over Anthony Dietrick which gave the Colonels a 6-0 advantage. While Smith has already reached the century mark in wins, both Farnham and Pauling are right behind him with 92 and 91 wins respectively. 

 

After the Colonels dropped a bout at 141, Smith's pin came in 3:59 which paved the way for Wilkes to win four of the next six bouts. At 157, James Histead did one better than Smith, pinning Chris Poleto in 49 seconds to give the Colonels a commanding 18-3 lead. At 165, Richard Sparks (Pittsgrove, N.J./Arthur P Schalick) battled back to take a 4-3 decision over Jerry Robbins for his 11^th win of the season. 

 

The Monarchs would go on to win decisions at 174 and 184 before Zach Pizarro (Easton, Pa./Easton) tallied a 17-2 technical fall in 3:17 over Lewis Snover. 

 

Chris Smith (Wantage, NJ/High Point), who competed in the heavyweight division for the first time this season, was impressive in his 6-1 win over 20-match winner Chris Rash. 

 

The win improved the Colonels to 17-6-2 overall and will now prepare for the Metropolitan Championships on Sunday, Feb. 22 at York.