complete results

Seniors Frank Heffernan (Slatington, Pa./Northern Lehigh) and Zach Pizarro (Easton, Pa./Easton) each won their respective weight classes at the Metropolitan Conference Championship and will now represent Wilkes University at the upcoming NCAA's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Colonels finished second at the Metro's with 93 points, 17 behind host College of New Jersey, which won three weight classes and will send a wild card for a total of four national qualifiers. Elizabethtown was a distant third with 72.5 points while Centenary and NYU finished fourth and fifth with 53.5 and 40 points respectively.

Heffernan will be making his third-straight trip to the national event, while Pizarro will be headed to Cedar Rapids for the second-straight year.

Heffernan, competing in the 174-pound weight class, opened with a pin over Matthew Terry of Scranton in 2:38 before beating Jim Gentile of Elizabethtown 2-0. In the championship bout, he would defeat top-seeded Brian Broderick of TCNJ 5-3. It was the second time the two have wrestled this year, with Broderick winning the first bout 3-1 in overtime earlier this year.

At 197, Pizarro started just like Heffernan, tallying a pin over Anthony Bachmann of Centenary in 1:07. He advanced to the championship bout with a 13-5 win over Peter Dwyer of King's before beating William Meaney of Elizabethtown 9-4. Meaney was one of three individuals to receive an wild card and will represent his school at the NCAA Championship. Taylor Green of King's and Dan Herr of TCNJ also received wild cards at 157 and 133.

While Heffernan and Pizarro had impressive showings, three others finished second at the event. Freshman Scott Mantua (Clarksville, MD/River Hill) advanced to the championship bout in the 125-pound division by defeating Mike Murcia of Scranton 9-1 before downing Jerrid Hartman of York 11-3 in the semifinals. In the championship match, he would eventually fall to top-seeded and nationally-ranked Tyler Erdman of Elizabethtown.

At 149, Anthony Dattolo (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) cruised to the championship bout, beating Gabriel Gleason of NYU 10-0 before pinning James Somma of TCNJ in 4:50. He would eventually fall to Tye Boyer of Elizabethtown 4-2 in the final bout.

In the heavyweight division, Andrew Feldman (Shavertown, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) picked up two pins on his way to the championship bout, including one in 11 seconds over Dan Heydebrand of Hunter, marking the quickest pin of the tournament. He would advance to the semifinal match after a medical forfeit before pinning Michael Daub of Elizabethtown in 2:06. The senior would eventually fall to Ed Broderick of TCNJ 7-5 in overtime.

At 165, Ben Marich (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) also picked up two pins and would eventually place third in his weight class. He opened with a pin over Modesto Gil of Hunter in 55 seconds before falling to Kyle Packer of TCNJ. In the wrestle backs, he pinned Michael Lussier of Elizabethtown in 4:31 before beating Matt Heisey of York 8-7 in the third-place bout.

Both Heffernan and Pizarro will have nearly two weeks to prepare for the NCAA's before they head to Cedar Rapids. Last year, Heffernan finished seventh at the national event, claiming All-America honors, while Pizarro made his first appearance in the event.