The Muhlenberg men's wrestling team took the first three bouts with bonus points and the last five by decision to win at McDaniel, 29-10.

Both teams came into the match with national rankings: In the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, the Mules (7-2, 2-0) were 25th in the dual-meet rankings and the Green Terror (8-4, 1-1) was 21st in the tournament rankings. When the teams met last year, Muhlenberg won 23-18 on a pin in the final bout.

This match wasn't as close but still featured some dramatics at the upper weights. At 197, junior Paul Parise scored a 12-8 upset over the defending Centennial Conference champion, a McDaniel opponent who is ranked seventh in Division III and is the defending national wrestler of the week. Down 6-1 late in the first period, Parise recorded a takedown to tie the bout in the second period. Trailing 8-6 with just 10 seconds remaining in the third, Parise took his opponent down to his back, earning three points for the takedown and three more for a near-fall to pull off the stunning upset.

Juniors Brian McCaw (pictured above) and Frank DiEsso started the Mules off with back-to-back major decisions at 125 and 133. Freshman Andrew Loniewski followed by pinning his opponent in the first minute, giving Muhlenberg a 14-0 lead.

Two wins by regionally ranked McDaniel wrestlers cut the advatange to 14-10. At 165, freshman Nick Stump overcame an early takedown to score a key 11-9 decision, and junior Anson Dewar, ranked fourth in Division III by The Open Mat, remained undefeated on the season with a 4-0 decision at 174 to extend the Mule lead to 20-10.

Decisions by sophomore Ryan Fairchild (184) and junior Andrew Franklin (285) sandwiched Parise's big win. 

Muhlenberg 29, McDaniel 10
125 Brian McCaw (Mu) maj. dec. Romeo Tsai, 10-1
133 Frank DiEsso (Mu) maj. dec. Alex DuFour, 15-2
141 Andrew Loniewski (Mu) pinned Justin Shiflett, 0:52
149 Thomas Monn (Mc) pinned Alex Greco, 2:26
157 Xavier Howard (Mc) maj. dec. Chris Sockler 17-7
165 Nick Stump (Mu) dec. Andre Allen, 11-9
174 Anson Dewar (Mu) dec. Dalton Pearl, 4-0
184 Ryan Fairchild (Mu) dec. Yoann Olympio, 8-1 
197 Paul Parise (Mu) dec. Jaedyn Harris, 12-8
285 Andrew Franklin (Mu) dec. Kaden Bryan, 10-3