MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The No. 1-ranked Division II wrestling team in the country, Pitt-Johnstown, came into Pucillo Gymnasium on Saturday night and earned a 44-3 dual meet victory to spoil the Marauders' home opener. 285-pounder Josh Walls ended the night with Millersville's only match win, 3-1 over Allan Beattie. Walls controlled the tempo of the match and earned his points thanks to an escape as well as two stalling calls on Beattie.

The Marauders began many of their matches brightly, with 125-pounder Devin Flannery, Brandon Connor at 157 and Jack Files at 197 all scoring first-period takedowns to take an early lead.

DUAL MEET HIGHLIGHTS
• Devin Flannery and Brendan Howard opened the dual at 125 with a back-and-forth match. Flannery got hold of Howard's leg and took him down to earn the first points of the match. Howard scored a late takedown in the first period to even things up, but Flannery answered back with a reversal late in the second period to tie the match 4-4. It was close the rest of the way, but Howard held on for the 8-6 decision.
• At 157, Brandon Connor came out firing against Nate Smith. An early takedown earned Connor the first points of the match and it was 2-1 after the first period. Smith took down Connor late in the second period to regain some momentum and held on for a 5-2 decision.
• Josh Walls closed the night out at 285 with some excitement. The crowd at Pucillo Gymnasium came alive as Walls came close to hitting big moves on multiple occasions. Allan Beattie gave up two stalling points and an escape to Walls, and the Marauders' captain wrestled smart to clinch the 3-1 decision to end the dual meet.

RESULTS:
125 - Brendan Howard (UPJ) def. Devin Flannery (MU), 8-6
133 - Matt Siszka (UPJ) def. Jacob Lehman (MU): (FALL): 7:38
141 - Jacob Ealy (UPJ) def. Ryan McGuire (MU), 6-2
149 - Chris Eddins (UPJ) def. Jackson Erb (MU), (TECHNICAL FALL) 16-1
157 - Nate Smith (UPJ) def. Brandon Connor (MU), 5-2 DECISION
165 – Gage Thomas (UPJ) def. (MU FORFEIT)
174 - Dalton Group (UPJ) def. Malik Jackson (MU), (FALL): 1:45
184 - Connor Craig (UPJ) def. Mike Wright (MU), (FALL): 1:44.
197 - Alex Delp (UPJ) def. Jack Files (MU), (FALL): 1:08
285 - Josh Walls (MU) def. Allan Beattie (UPJ), 3-1

FINAL: Pitt-Johnstown wins 44-3

HEAD COACH KERRY REGNER QUOTES
• On tonight's matchup: "I saw some glimpses of good things. We got experience tonight. We did some things well early, with early takedowns from Connor, Files, and Flannery. Josh (Walls) wrestled tough. We're green, but just because we're green it doesn't mean it should be a weakness."

• On what's important moving forward and two dual meets next week: "I think bouncing back and understanding who we are, where we are and knowing that there's always another day. We're going to put our foot on the line just like we did tonight. If we wrestle through each position and each battle, good things will happen. We are not where we want to be, and we hope to complete the lineup next week. One day at a time, one match at a time."

NOTES
• Josh Walls earned his fifth victory of the season.
• With the loss, the Marauders' all-time record against Pitt-Johnstown now moves to 2-10.

UP NEXT
• The Marauders travel to Kutztown for a dual meet on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7:00 p.m.