The Shippensburg University wrestling team opened the season strong Saturday at the Tonee Ellis Memorial Invitational, as Nick Delp won the 165-pound bracket to highlight 10 individual place-winners in action at Alvernia.
 
Delp, Kyle von Schmidt and Matt Jones each posted five wins on the day while Mike Trainor notched four wins. Of the 13 Raiders who competed, 12 won at least one match, while eight picked up at least three victories.
 
At 165, Delp scored bonus points in four of his five wins. He began with a technical fall of Alfred State's Christian Warren in 2:57 and followed by pinning Aiden Rhea of Rowan-South Jersey in 2:02. His quarterfinal was an 11-2 major decision over Muhlenberg's Tyson Derenberger and his semifinal was a 14-2 major decision over Eastern's Nick DeLorenzo. In the final, he posted a 9-3 decision over Delaware Valley's Luke Moore.
 
Due to recent mandates affecting rest requirements and daily match limits (six), some competitors who sustain an early loss can be capped on their place-finish depending on the structure of the tournament. In Saturday's case, the third-place matches featured the losers of the championship semifinals – meaning those who entered the consolation bracket prior to that could, at maximum, place fifth.
 
Both von Schmidt and Trainor were among those affected, as each grappler placed fifth despite just one loss in their respective weight class.
 
At 133, von Schmidt began his collegiate career with a victory by fall in 3:34 and a 14-4 major decision. In the quarterfinals, he dropped a 5-3 decision to the eventual runner-up – Eastern's Malik Asfour. In wrestlebacks, von Schmidt went 3-0, capping it off by pinning Alfred State's Blake Burtis in 2:16 in the fifth-place match.
 
All five of von Schmidt's wins incurred bonus points, including three falls. His first two wins in the consolation bracket were a fall in 37 seconds over Rowan-South Jersey's Kaiem Uthman and a 14-5 major decision over Camden County's Owen Kulb.
 
Joining von Schmidt as a place-winner at 133 was Kaden Casey, who went 3-2 in his Raider debut and earned fourth place. Casey pinned his first opponent in 1:41 before posting a 6-3 decision and a 5-2 decision that got him into the championship semifinals. There, he was pinned by eventual champion Javien DeLeon of Kutztown before dropping the third-place match via major decision.
 
The lower weights were especially crowded brackets, as there were 25 competitors at 133 points and 26 competitors at 149 pounds. Trainor was among the combatants at 149 and started out with a 13-3 major decision. After dropping a 4-2 decision to eventual runner-up Joey Ortega of Kutztown (fourth at last year's Super Region 1 Championships), Trainor roared through wrestlebacks with three straight major decisions. The last was an 11-3 victory over Albright's Seth Karpulk in the fifth-place match.  
 
Cole Coffin impressed with a second-place finish at 141 pounds in his Raider debut. Coffin raced into the final after a 19-second pin, a 23-5 tech fall in 4:22 and a 15-0 tech fall in 5:35. He settled for second place after dropping a 2-0 decision to Gettysburg's Brendan Callahan, a junior who went 23-8 last season and placed sixth at his regional tournament.
 
Four of SU's 10 place-winning performances were wrestlers making their mat debuts as Raiders. In addition to von Schmidt (true freshman), Casey (sophomore; transfer from Misericordia) and Coffin (redshirt-freshman; transfer from Bloomsburg), there was Matt Jones, who redshirted at Shippensburg last season as a freshman. After an overtime loss in his opening bout of the heavyweight bracket, Jones delivered an unblemished run through the consolation brackets with five straight victories to place fifth.
 
Jones notched bonus points in three of those matches – beginning with a 15-3 major decision and a victory by fall with 56 seconds left in regulation. After a pair of 7-3 decisions, Jones pinned Alfred State's Colton Hai in 2:40 to claim fifth place.
 
Diesel Koser delivered a strong start to his junior year with a third-place finish at 197 pounds. Koser went 3-1, reaching the semifinals of the bracket after a pin in 1:56 and a tech fall 45 seconds into the second period. After a setback, Koser earned a 3-2 decision over Alvernia's Jason Chiodi in the third-place match.
 
Anthony Lavish used a hot start at 157 pounds to place fourth. His two early wins, a 10-4 decision and a victory by fall in 45 seconds, allowed him to reach the championship semifinals.
 
Anthony DeAngelo went 3-2 at 174 pounds and Cole Lang went 2-2 at 184 pounds to post eighth-place finishes in their respective weight classes. DeAngelo started out his day with back-to-back pins and also posted a major decision, while Lang had a pin and also a sudden victory.
 
Noah Gilgore and Colin Marano each won once at 125 pounds.
 
By virtue of its place-winning performances, Shippensburg finished fourth out of 16 in the team standings with 157.5 points. The Raiders trailed only Alvernia, Gettysburg and Kutztown. At last year's Tonee Ellis Invitational, SU was sixth out of 10 teams.
 
Shippensburg will return to action in eight days with its first two dual meets of the season. On Sunday, Nov. 9, the Raiders travel to Frostburg State to take on the host Bobcats and also Fairmont State.
 
Tonee Ellis Memorial Invitational
Agate for Shippensburg
 
Place-Winners: Casey (4th at 133), von Schmidt (5th at 133), Coffin (2nd at 141), Trainor (5th at 149), Lavish (4th at 157), Delp (1st at 165), DeAngelo (8th at 174), Lang (8th at 184), Koser (3rd at 197), Jones (5th at 285)
 
125
Colin Marano (SHIP) dec. Julian Zaragoza (ALV), 8-4
Christian Horvath (MUHL) maj. dec. Colin Marano (SHIP), 19-5
Remy Trach (KUTZ) maj. dec. Colin Marano (SHIP), 14-6
 
Rocco Monteferrante (ALV) pins Noah Gilgore (SHIP), 4:23
Noah Gilgore (SHIP) tech falls Harrison Spadoni (BETH), 18-0 (4:42)
Remy Trach (KUTZ) dec. Noah Gilgore (SHIP), 7-2
 
133
Kaden Casey (SHIP) pins Julyan Serrano-Garcia (ALB), 1:41
Kaden Casey (SHIP) dec. Colby Jones (SHEN), 6-3
Kaden Casey (SHIP) dec. Blake Burtis (ALF), 5-2
Javien DeLeon (KUTZ) pins Kaden Casey (SHIP), 2:07
Peyton Reese (GBURG) maj. dec. Kaden Casey (SHIP), 8-0
 
Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP) pins Ashtyn Amo (ALF), 3:34
Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP) maj. dec. Maximus Conley (ALB), 14-4
Malik Asfour (EAST) dec. Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP), 5-3
Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP) pins Kaiem Uthman (RCSJ), 0:37
Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP) maj. dec. Owen Kulb (CAMD), 14-5
Kyle von Schmidt (SHIP) pins Blake Burtis (ALF), 2:16
 
141
Cole Coffin (SHIP) pins Nolan Brown (ALV), 0:19
Cole Coffin (SHIP) tech falls Sean Rinebolt (SHEN), 23-5 (4:22)
Cole Coffin (SHIP) tech falls Daniel Metzler (ALB), 15-0 (5:35)
Brendan Callahan (GBURG) dec. Cole Coffin (SHIP), 2-0
 
149
Mike Trainor (SHIP) maj. dec. Charles Perrin (RCNJ), 13-3
Joey Ortega (KUTZ) dec. Mike Trainor (SHIP), 4-2
Mike Trainor (SHIP) maj. dec. Aiden Karlie (KUTZ), 11-3
Mike Trainor (SHIP) maj. dec. Sebastiano Spina (ALV), 10-2
Mike Trainor (SHIP) maj. dec. Seth Karpulk (ALB), 11-3
 
157
Anthony Lavish (SHIP) dec. Braydon Castillo (EAST), 10-4
Anthony Lavish (SHIP) pins Noah Diamond (SHEN), 0:45
Trent Mahoney (ALB) pins Anthony Lavish (SHIP), 3:35
Hunter Ballantine (SHEN) pins Anthony Lavish (SHIP), 3:22
 
165
Nick Delp (SHIP) tech falls Christian Warren (ALF), 17-0 (2:57)
Nick Delp (SHIP) pins Aiden Rhea (RCNJ), 2:02
Nick Delp (SHIP) maj. dec. Tyson Derenberger (MUHL), 11-2
Nick Delp (SHIP) maj. dec. Nicholas DeLorenzo (EAST), 14-2
Nick Delp (SHIP) dec. Luke Moore (DELVAL), 9-3
 
174
Anthony DeAngelo (SHIP) pins Jonathan Braun (BETH), 4:51
Anthony DeAngelo (SHIP) pins Caleb Sheng (UMBC), 1:49
Ethan Composto (GBURG) maj. dec. Anthony DeAngelo (SHIP), 12-3
Anthony DeAngelo (SHIP) maj. dec. Noah Schlofer (MUHL), 17-7
Luke Thomas (ALV) dec. Anthony DeAngelo (SHIP), 7-1
 
184
Cole Lang (SHIP) dec. Ty Pfizenmayer (KUTZ), 7-4, SV1
Hayden McLellan (ALV) tech falls Cole Lang (SHIP), 19-4 (2:27)
Cole Lang (SHIP) pins Sam Gouveia (GBURG), 3:34
Carson Pascoe (GBURG) pins Cole Lang (SHIP), 2:23
 
Sean Malenfant (ALF) tech falls Trey Shoemaker (SHIP), 17-1 (6:39)
Carson Pascoe (GBURG) dec. Trey Shoemaker (SHIP), 6-3
 
197
Diesel Koser (SHIP) pins Jose Tapia (EAST), 1:56
Diesel Koser (SHIP) tech falls Keeran Timerman (ALF), 18-3 (3:45)
Ryan Fairchild (MUHL) maj. dec. Diesel Koser (SHIP), 13-3
Diesel Koser (SHIP) dec. Jason Chiodi (ALV), 3-2
 
285
Tristan Cooper (ALV) dec. Matt Jones (SHIP), 4-1, SV1
Matt Jones (SHIP) maj. dec. Maen Alfin (DELVAL), 15-3
Matt Jones (SHIP) pins Jamison Mancari (ALF), 6:04
Matt Jones (SHIP) dec. Hayk Grigorian (MUHL), 7-3
Matt Jones (SHIP) dec. Marcus Richey (GBURG), 7-3
Matt Jones (SHIP) pins Colton Hai (ALF), 2:40