Wrestling | 12/3/2016 9:23:00 PM
ROCHESTER, NY – The RIT wrestling team finished in a tie for fourth place at the 51st annual RIT Wrestling Invitational from the Gordon Field House and Activities Center on Saturday, Dec. 3. Senior
Jake Sepor (Stafford, NY/Pavilion) won the individual title at 141 lbs., while
Dempsey King (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford),
Nicholas Greenquist (Spring Lake, NJ/St. Rose), and
Sam Weinger (Blooming Grove, NY/Washingtonville) recorded third place finishes.
Lycoming won the team title with 130 points, while Seth Lansberry of the Warriors was named the Tony Wallace Memorial Award Winner as the meet's Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Sepor went 5-0 at 141 lbs. to claim his second consecutive RIT Invitational individual title, having won at 133 lbs. in 2015. Sepor started the day with a 6-3 win over Ahken Chu of Oneonta before earning a 17-4 major decision victory against Casey Connor of Alfred. In the quarterfinals, Sepor defeated Andrew Ellis of WPI, 9-3 before earning a 4-2 win over Anthony Messina of Oneonta. Sepor earned his second straight title by defeating Sal Corrao in the championship match, 8-6. Sepor is now 11-1 this season.
King, who was the individual champion at 149 lbs. at the RIT Invitational last season at 159 lbs., went 5-1 on the day to place third at 157 lbs. He opened the day with a 18-0 technical fall win over Danny O'Neill of Scranton and earned a pin in 1:26 over Walter Fox of Lycoming. King defeated Blake Dixon of John Carroll in the quarterfinal round, 6-2, before falling to Lycoming's Trevor Corl in the semifinal by a score of 5-3. King would rebound, earning a win by forfeit in consolation action before defeating Hadyn Swartwood of Lycoming, 6-2 in the third place match. King is now 8-3 in 2016-17.
Greenquist opened with two wins by major decision before falling to Joseph Hennessey of Norwich in the semifinal, 4-3. Greenquist defeated Dominic Farabaugh of Thiel, 4-2 in the consolation semifinal and earned a 9-1 victory over George Vanvalen of Alfred State in the third place match. Greenquist moves to 9-6 overall in 2016-17.
Weinger led 4-0 late in his opening round match against Ryan Kamer of Oswego before suffering a stunning reversal and pin to lose the match. From there, Weinger tore through the consolation round, winning his final seven matches of the day, including four by pin. Weinger ended his day in style, pinning Tom Lynd of Lycoming in the third place match, improving to 12-5 in 2016-17.
Andrew Flanagan (Holley, NY/Holley) picked up three wins for RIT at 125 lbs., while
Colby Hall (Deposit, NY/Deposit) went 4-2 with two pins on the day at 149 lbs.
John Donohue (Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge) (165 lbs.),
Joe Lupisella (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) (174 lbs.), and
Joe Messare (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills) (197 lbs.) recorded a pair of wins apiece, while
Isaiah Ocasio (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) (133 lbs.),
CJ Shade (Whiting, IN/Indiana School for the Deaf) (149 lbs.), and
Tommy Follman (Albion, NY/Albion) picked up one win each.
RIT returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 7 with a dual meet at nationally-ranked Ithaca College which will get underway at 7 p.m.
