ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Wesleyan wrestling team came away with two champions at the RIT Invitational on Saturday, with Hayden Myers '27 dominating on his way to the 141-lb title and Chris Hong '27 defeating the top-seed and three-seed to win the 125-lb trophy. Wesleyan finished with 97.5 points which was good enough for sixth place out of 14 teams in the competition.

• RESULTS

Ranked No. 4 nationally at 141 coming into the Invitational, Myers continued to roll through a torrid start to his campaign, winning all five matches on Saturday including four by bonus points to earn the Invitational's Most Outstanding Wrestler award. Coming in as the #2 seed, Myers opened with a 9-0 major decision win and followed that with a pin in 1:34. Competing in the quarterfinal round, Myers landed another 9-0 major decision before taking out the #3 seed Michael Santore from Oswego State in a 7-1 decision to reach the final. A high-scoring affair in the final against #1 seed and 2023 national finalist Avery Leonard of Oneonta went the way of Myers who led 10-1 and later 15-3 on his way to a 16-7 major decision win to secure the title.
 
Hong made quite the impression in the 125 bracket, coming in as the #4 seed the junior steamrolled his first two opponents with a 16-4 major decision win followed by a tech fall in 4:53 to advance to the quarterfinal stage. Hong wrestled his way to a 9-5 decision win, landing a reversal and takedown in the second period to key that win. Then, facing the #1 seed (Brett Stanley of John Carroll), Hong landed a big upset as a takedown with 46 seconds left in the third period proved vital in a 4-2 decision win. Wrestling for his first career bracket win, Hong came from behind landing two takedowns in the third period just 43 seconds apart to overcome a 4-2 deficit and land an 8-6 title-clinching win over a familiar foe in the #3 seed Alexander Schaeublin of Trinity.
 
In other action around the Invitational, Wynton Bowers '29 went on a big run in the consolation flight at 197, landing five wins on his way to a fifth-place finish in the bracket. Bowers landed a pin at 6:11 to kick start his run, defeating teammate Hamilton Tevis '27 in the following round and after a forfeit win, he defeated Juuso Young of John Carroll in a 11-4 decision. After coming one win short of making the third-place bout, Bowers won the fifth-place bout in a no-contest to secure the Top 5 result.
 
Ronnie Christolin '28 won four total matches, landing three wins in the winners bracket to advance to the quarterfinal round at 157 before suffering a tight 3-1 loss to the #5 seed (Josh Warland of RIT). Then in the back draw, Christolin earned a 16-5 major decision win before taking a 7-4 defeat in overtime to finish just one win shy of guaranteeing a spot in the fifth-place bout.
 
Roman Martinez '27 also finished one win shy of at least a sixth-place finish, as the junior landed two wins by pin in the main draw at 184 but a 6-1 decision defeat in the back draw saw him finish one match shy of a chance at placing. Michael DiOrio '29 also came up just short, landing a win by pin in the main draw followed by two more wins in the back draw at 285.
 
Wesleyan heads into winter break before they resume competition with a tri-meet at Bridgewater State and WPI on Saturday, January 10 at Bridgewater.