In its first competition of the season, the No. 10 NYU wrestling team placed second out of 11 teams at the Ned McGinley Invitational in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, this past Saturday, Nov. 5. 

The invitational featured No. 7 Stevens Institute of Technology and No. 8 York College of Pennsylvania, who placed first and third, respectively.

The Violet wrestlers combined for 119 points and were led by sophomore Cooper Pontelandolfo’s win in the 165-pound class. Pontelandolfo finished in sixth place at last year’s NCAA Division III Championships.

Senior Jason Geyer, junior Hassan Khan and sophomore Nick Kruczynski also all finished in second place in their classes. First-year KJ Sherman earned third place in the tournament.

After the successful invitational, associate head coach Corey Luce reflected on the team’s performance during the tournament.

“Overall, we are pleased,” Luce said. “We had guys who did what was expected, and we had a few surprises with some of the freshmen. We didn’t have any wrestlers at 133 or heavyweight, so a lot of points were left at home, but we still managed to find a way to place second in a very tough tournament and ahead of the 8th-ranked team in the country.”

The Violets look forward to building upon the momentum from a strong second place finish in the Racich Rumble at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Nov. 12.

Contact Ethan Rendon at [email protected]