Results

ONEONTA, N.Y. – Junior Luke Mitchell (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) and freshman Marshall Puls (New York, N.Y./Hotchkiss) each placed sixth in their respective weight classes to lead the Gettysburg College wrestling team to an 11th-place finish at the Oneonta Red Dragon Invitational on Saturday.

Gettysburg posted 28 points with four wrestlers notching multiple victories on the day. No. 12 The College of New Jersey took home the team title with 152 points, easily out-distancing SUNY Cortland (105.5) and McDaniel College (96).

Mitchell placed for the first time in his collegiate career on the strength of two opening victories at 184 pounds. He beat fourth-seeded Jesse Rayworth of Southern Maine by major decision 15-3 and followed up with a close 6-4 decision over the host's Brian Karamer to reach the championship semifinals. Mitchell was bounced from the bracket by top seed Josh Wake of Oneonta by technical fall and he closed with losses by decision and fall in the wrestleback.

Puls led the Bullets with a trio of victories at 197. He began the day with his first collegiate pin, throwing Morrisville State's Andrew Rust in 1:28. Puls was pinned in his next bout by eventual third-place finisher Reid Mosquera of Johns Hopkins University, but he came right back in the consolation bracket with a decision (8-2) and his second fall (6:15). The Bullet first-year was injured in his consolation semifinal contest and was unable to challenge for fifth place.

Junior heavyweight Bobby Christopher (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cardinal Gibbons) wasted little time and effort in his first match with a 30-second pin of Angelo Montante of RIT, but his next outing turned into one of the highest-scoring affairs of the event as he dropped a one-point decision to Niagara Community College's Matt Johnson 16-15. Coming off an injury heading into the event, Christopher was unable to continue and withdrew before competing in the consolation bracket.

Freshman Kevin Poplaski (North Reading, Mass./St. John's Prep) turned in another respectable outing at heavyweight for Gettysburg, splitting his four matches. He beat his first opponent 7-2 before getting handed a 9-4 setback at the hands of the fifth seed Ed Broderick. In the wrestleback, Poplaski won his opening bout 4-0 and ended the day with a major decision loss (12-4) to Niagara's Kyle Gibbs.

Freshman Joe Fiore (Hicksville, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) was the only other Bullet to win multiple times, picking up wins in his opening bouts in the 157 championship and consolation brackets. He won his first match 10-3 and narrowly missed a trip to the semis with a 3-2 loss to fourth seed Mike Guenther of Scranton. In the wrestleback, Fiore picked up a 3-0 decision before being eliminated by decision.

The Bullets return to action on Dec. 4 with the two-day Messiah College Petrofes Tournament.