WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — The New Jersey City University men's wrestling team competed in the Rennie Rodarmel Allstate Invitational on Sunday, Feb. 4, which was hosted by Lycoming College. Seven Gothic Knights competed on the day, with five placing in the top six of their respective weight classes to help lead NJCU to a seventh-place team finish.

Junior Mikey Cross (Union, N.J./Union City) competed at 149 points for the Green and Gold and posted a 3-1 record, including two wins by fall, and emerged victorious in the third-place match. He started with a pin at 2:44 in the Round of 16. Cross then took home the fall at 4:27 in the quarterfinal round. After a tough loss in the semifinals, he closed out his day with a win via injury default to claim third place.

Also earning bronze at 174 pounds was sophomore Ryan McGuire (Lodi, N.J./Lodi), who finished 2-1. After a bye in the Round of 16, he picked up the win by fall in just 1:38. The second-year grappler lost in the semis next before winning a high-scoring, 18-11 decision to take third place.

Placing fifth at 133 pounds was senior George Rivera (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck), who finished with a record of 3-1 on the day, rattling off three straight victories in the consolation bracket. After a first round loss, Rivera began on the backside with a win by fall in just 14 seconds to move on to the consolation semifinals. There, he picked up the 18-2 technical fall to advance to the fifth-place match. Rivera closed out his day with a 10-2 major decision win.

Senior Ty Bailey (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) also placed fifth at 165 pounds, following a similar path as Rivera by closing his day out with three consecutive victories to go 3-1. After a loss in the first round, he won his first consolation match with a pin in just 28 seconds. Then, in the backside semifinals, Bailey won via a 19-3 technical fall. Lastly, he took home fifth with a fall at 3:36.

Closing out the placers for NJCU was sophomore 141-pounder Andy Beras (Bergenfield, N.J./Bergenfield), who finished 3-2 to coming in sixth. He started off with an 11-3 major decision win in the first round. After falling in the quarterfinal round, he bounced back in the consolation bracket with a 12-4 major decision to advance to the backside semifinals. There, Beras earned a win by fall at 4:56 to move on to the fifth-place match, where he lost in a tight 7-3 decision.

Sophomore 149-pounder Zack Vera (Livingston, N.J./Livingston), who earned one win on the day, and senior 184-pounder Pierre Francois (Elizabeth, N.J./Dwyer Tech), also competed on Sunday for the Gothic Knights.

Up Next:
This was the final regular-season tournament on the schedule for the Gothic Knights, who now look forward to the 2024 NCAA Division III MidEast Regionals, which will be hosted by the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, in Rochester, N.Y. NJCU may still schedule another competition between now and then, so stay tuned to NJCUGothicKnights.com for more information.