PISCATAWAY, NJ – The Rutgers wrestling team, led by a second-place finish from sophomore Chris Ressa (Andover, NJ) at 165 pounds, captured third place at the Wilkes Open to highlight a full weekend of competition for the Scarlet Knights. Competing for the first time since Dec. 7, the team sent its top three wrestlers to the prestigious Midlands Championships in Evanston, IL, while the remainder of the team competed at Wilkes.

Ressa rattled off four-straight wins at 165 to advance to the championship bout. He began his day by pinning Joao Moreira (unatt.) at the 1:41 mark and knocked off David Gilkey of Cleveland State, 6-3, in the second round. After a 3-2 win over Bill Denix of Montclair State in the quarterfinals, Ressa beat Ryan Cunningham, 3-2, in the semifinals. Facing Tom Paladino (unatt.) in the championship match, Ressa fell, 3-1.

John Foscolo (South Plainfield, NJ) finished fifth at 197, winning his first three bouts. He opened with a 10-4 victory over Barry Stein and beat Benjamin Stum of Baptist Bible, 9-1, in the second round. In quarterfinal action, Foscolo upended Derman Lewis, 3-2, before falling to Kyle Cerminara, 11-5, in the semis. He then finished off his day with a 1-0 win over Rider’s Jared Terrell.

Rudy Medini (Colonia, NJ) finished sixth at 184, mounting a furious comeback following an opening-round loss. Medini was pinned at the 1:41 mark of his opening-round match with Woodrow Cromartie of Nassau CC, but rallied to win four-straight matches. He first beat Jon Neyerlin of Wilkes (3-2), followed by a 7-5 win over Josh Lee. In the third round of consolation action, Medini registered a tech fall (18-3; 3:14) over Justin Capone and pinned Nassau’s Carlos West at the 4:15 mark to advance to the fifth-place bout vs. Curt Thompson of Penn State. Thompson pinned Medini at the :37 mark.

At Midlands, three grapplers – Greg Austin (Seaville, NJ), Andy Roy (Wall, NJ) and Ryan McGrath (Columbia, NJ) – competed with head coach John Sacchi accompanying them. At 149, Austin faced top-seeded John Fisher of the Sunkist Kids Wrestling Club in the opening round and battled Fisher evenly in a 3-2 loss. A win over Fisher, who finished second, would have been one of the tournament’s biggest upsets. Austin rebounded with a 6-1 win over Tommy Rohn of Lehigh in the first round of consolation action and followed with a 10-3 victory over Dustyne Azure of Montana-Northern in the second round. Facing ninth-seeded Nathan Galloway of Penn State, Austin bowed out, 3-1.

At 174, Roy earned a first-round bye and won his initial bout over Iowa’s Major Ennen with a tech fall at the 5:00 mark (16-0). Facing third-seeded Nathan Coy of the Orange Crush WC in the third round, Roy fell, 3-2, which forced him into the consolation bracket. His day came to an end with a 4-3 loss to Hofstra’s Ralph Everett. McGrath, competing at 197, fell to third-seeded Chris Skretkowicz of Hofstra in the second round, 10-0, but rebounded with a 3-0 win over UNC’s Vernroy July, 3-0, before falling to Iowa’s Paul Bradley (6-3).

The Scarlet Knights return to action on Sunday, Jan. 5 when they compete at the Millersville/Belles Tournament, which they have won for the past three years.