WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – They call the Wilkes Open "The Rose Bowl of Wrestling" and the competition was expectedly fierce at the 87^th annual event. The Millersville Marauders entered the brackets to compete against 41 other teams, including nine Division I programs. The Marauders emerged with three placewinners, including Anthony "Moot" Wiggins (sixth place at 133) as well as two heavyweights, with Josh Walls claiming a third-place finish and Caleb Warner securing fifth place. 
 
Wiggins lost his first bout of the day to Lehigh's Jaret Lane but fired back with two wins in the consolation bracket, 10-3 over Ursinus' Scott Weinkowitz and 9-5 over Muhlenberg's Jeorcy Pena. A loss in the 5^th-place bout versus Bloomsburg's Shawn Orem earned Moot his sixth-place finish at 133 pounds.
 
The 285-pounders continued to impress for the Marauders. Sophomore Josh Walls opened up with a fall over Ursinus' Gavin Range in just 46 seconds. He followed it up with a 12-7 decision over Shane Noonan of Edinboro in the quarterfinals before being ousted from the championship bracket by Penn State's Seth Nevills in the semifinals. In the third-place bout versus Long Island University's Tim Nagosky, Walls earned an escape point in the second period and rode Nagosky the entire third period to collect a 2-0 victory.
 
It took senior Caleb Warner just 2:55 to earn a fall against Wilkes' Austin Cominsky in his first bout of the day. He lost a closely contested bout 6-5 against second-seeded Keegan Connelly from Scranton in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with falls against two Muhlenberg wrestlers in the consolation bracket (Ryan Kaplow in 2:03 and Ramiro Osuna in 4:36.) Those victories advanced Warner to the fifth-place bout, where he outlasted Edinboro's Shane Noonan, earning a third-period fall (his fourth of the day) to secure the fifth-place finish.
 
87^th WILKES OPEN HIGHLIGHTS
• Freshman Devin Flannery opened up the 125-pound bracket with two consecutive technical falls: 17-1 over Wyosem Prep's Corey Morabito in 6:02 and 16-0 over Union County College's Rebecca Pizuto in 2:08. A sickness prevented Flannery from competing further on the day.

• Another Marauder freshman, Jacob Lehman, opened up with a wild bout in the 133-pound bracket. Trailing 8-1 in the first period, Lehman earned a quick reversal that led to a fall in 1:54 over Muhlenberg's Jeorcy Pena.

• Josh Tuckey wrestled the first collegiate matches of his career at the Open. His opening bout was a 10-2 major decision loss to Penn State's Scott Obendorfer, but Tuckey made a bit of noise in the consolation bracket. He earned a third period fall over Matt Castimore of Muhlenberg in 5:41, then defeated fellow Marauder Alex Jablonski 4-0 before losing to another Penn State Nittany Lion, Terrell Barraclough, after a 12-1 major decision.

• The potential of Millersville's young wrestlers continued to be on display at 197 pounds. Freshman Jack Files followed a similar path as Josh Tuckey, losing his first bout of the day 8-2 to Lehigh's Elijah Jones yet refocusing for a run through the consi bracket. Files stormed out of the gates with a first period fall against Patrick Eltouny of Union County College in 1:13 for his first ever collegiate victory in a contested bout. Files followed it up with a 7-4 decision against Muhlenberg's Hunter Gill before exiting the bracket after surrendering a fall in 2:08 to Franklin & Marshall's Ethan Seeley.
 
POST-TOURNAMENT REACTION FROM HEAD COACH KERRY REGNER
•On the competition at the Open: "It's a wide range of guys, there's club level guys and literal world champions. I told the team to be consistent and that it doesn't matter who you wrestle, they put their singlet on and put their foot on the line just like you."

•On today's performances: "I'm happy for the guys who placed. Our heavyweights continue to show their strength and show that they're able to perform at a high level. Ultimately we have to put ourselves in positions to win and protect ourselves to make sure we stay healthy."

•On other standouts Marauders: "Great to see Moot wrestle like he did and place at a tournament. For a guy like Jack Files—getting his first college win, that's great. That's a big deal for us. We want everyone to win matches this year and it's a good start."
 
NOTES
• This year marks the first time Millersville has competed at the Wilkes Open.
• The Ville recorded nine falls and two technical falls in the Open.
• Millersville finished sixth in the team score with 52 total points. Division I Penn State University finished in first place with 203.5 points.
• Josh Walls' three victories improve his 2019-2020 record to 11-5. He already has accrued more victories than he did all of last season when he ended with ten wins.
• Caleb Warner's four victories and four falls give him season totals of ten wins and six falls this season.
 
UP NEXT
• The Marauders host the 2020 "Shorty" Hitchcock Memorial Classic on Saturday, Jan. 11^th, 2020.