Three members of the Muhlenberg wrestling team advanced to the semifinals on the first day of the NCAA Mideast Regional.

All three Mules - junior Joey Lamparelli (125) and sophomores Brandon Bowles (157) and Anson Dewar (174) - recorded pins in the quarterfinals of their brackets and can clinch a berth in the NCAA Championships by winning their first bout on the second day of the tournament.

Lamparelli had the most dramatic of the quarterfinal pins. Tied 1-1 late in regulation against the Cortland wrestler who he defeated in the semifinals to earn a bid to nationals last year, Lamparelli was nearly taken down, but recovered quickly to force his opponent to his back before pinning him with just 2 seconds left in regulation.

Lamparelli had less trouble in his opening bout, recording his ninth career technical fall. He has already beaten his semifinal opponent earlier this season, 9-2 when Muhlenberg faced Oneonta in late January. Lamparelli has also faced the other two semifinalists, defeating one from Ursinus in the Centennial Conference championship bout and falling to the other from Centenary by one point on a last-second takedown.

Bowles, like Lamparelli in search of a repeat trip to nationals, won his two bouts on a major decision and a pin. The major was his school-record-tying ninth of the season. In the quarterfinal bout, his opponent chose down for the second position, but Bowles foiled the strategy by pinning him early in the period.

Bowles' semifinal opponent is a fellow 2022 NCAA qualifier from TCNJ who came within one win of earning All-America status last year. 

Dewar had to wrestle three bouts on the first day of the tournament but advanced with ease, sandwiching two pins around a major decision to improve his season record to 29-1. Like Bowles, Dewar recorded his quarterfinal pin after his opponent chose down in the second period.

Dewar's semfinal opponent is a Johns Hopkins wrestler who he has already defeated twice this season, one in the CC title bout. 

Of the other seven Mules who competed, six won one bout, and of those six, all but one were competing in the regional tournament for the first time. 

Team Scores after Day One
1. The College of New Jersey (NJ) 80
2. Ithaca (I) 78.5
3. RIT 70
4. Elizabethtown (Eli) 59
5. Centenary (Cent) 57.5
6. Oneonta (On) 56.5
7. Cortland (Cort) 49.5
8. McDaniel (Mc) 48.5
9. MUHLENBERG 47
10. Johns Hopkins (JH) 42
10. Penn College (P) 42
12. Ursinus (U) 40.5
13. Brockport (B) 38
14. New Jersey City (NJC) 28.5
15. Oswego (Osw) 23
16. Alfred State (A) 18
17. St. John Fisher (SJF) 10.5
18. Elmira (Elm) 7.5
19. Scranton (Scr) 4.5
20. Pitt-Bradford (PB) 4.5
21. Keystone (K) 0

Muhlenberg Results
125
Joey Lamparelli (Muhl) tech fall Dhilan Patel (JH), 3:27 (16-1)
Lamparelli pinned Cody Merwin (Cort), 6:58
Lamparelli vs. Danny Poggi (On)

133
Patrick Snoke (P) pinned Frank DiEsso (Muhl), 3:59
DiEsso pinned Michael Santore (Osw), 4:12
Derek Bernardino (SJF) dec. DiEsso, 4-3

141
Michael Blando (On) pinned Christopher Dalmau (Muhl), 1:31
Dalmau pinned Brandon Judge (Scr), 6:08
Kaleb Carreon (Osw) pinned Dalmau, 4:26

149
Chris Sockler (Muhl) dec. Greg Brach (On), 9-6
Angelo Centrone (Cort) tech fall Sockler, 3:36 (20-5)
Mason Wersinger (SJF) maj. dec. Sockler, 17-4

157
Brandon Bowles (Muhl) maj. dec. Max Yahre (On), 13-4
Bowles pinned James Ost (RIT), 3:16
Bowles vs. Matthew Sacco (NJ)

165
Brian Schneider (E) pinned Ronnie Grevera (Muhl), 5:52
Perry Maio (Cent) dec. Grevera, 3-0

174
Anson Dewar (Muhl) pinned Otto Davidson (SJF), 1:06
Dewar maj. dec. Angelo Piazza (Cent), 10-0
Dewar pinned Farhan Khan (NJC), 4:57
Dewar vs. Joe Paul (JH)

184
Colby Giroux (RIT) dec. Ryan Fairchild (Muhl), 11-8
Fairchild maj. dec. Luke Hirtzel (JH), 10-2
Brian Torres (Cort) maj. dec. Fairchild, 10-2

197
Josh Harkless (RIT) pinned Paul Parise (Muhl), 1:14
Parise (pictured above) dec. Tyler Phenegar (Eli), 10-4
Joe Daddario (NJ) pinned Parise, 2:12

285
Jeremy Mazzella (I) dec. Ben Krauss (Muhl), 7-1
Krauss pinned Brendan Hamilton (K), 1:58
Chris Powell (Elm) maj. dec. Krauss, 12-0