This past weekend, Penn men’s wrestling competed in the NCAA championships in Cleveland, delivering standout results as two Penn wrestlers earned top 10 finishes and All-American honors.
Prior to the NCAA tournament, 6-of-9 Quakers placed in the Ancient Eight tournament to earn bids to the NCAA championship. Junior Jude Swisher, at 157 pounds, was the only Quaker to capture an Ivy League title against defending champion Meyer Shapiro from Cornell, who was ranked No. 2 in the nation at the time. He handed Shapiro his only loss of the season.
The Red and Blue also sent four Ivy League runner-ups in freshman Davis Motyka, junior Evan Mougalian, senior CJ Composto, and sophomore Cross Wasilewski, as well as third place Ivy finisher junior Sean Seefeldt.
The Quakers began day one in the Rocket Arena, facing a 32-man bracket across all six of their respective weight classes with the fiercest competition across the nation. Penn’s most notable performances came from wrestlers Composto and Wasilewski.
Composto competed in what would be his last collegiate tournament. After an early setback in the championship bracket against Ivy League rival and No. 6 Vince Cornella of Cornell, Composto battled through the consolation rounds with three consecutive decisions over ranked opponents from North Carolina, Penn State, and Minnesota in the 141-pound weight class. In his seventh place placement match, Composto pinned Lock Haven’s No. 13 Wyatt Henson in around four minutes to secure a seventh-place finish and All-American honors. Composto now is a three-time All-American.
Alongside Composto, Wasilewski at 149 pounds joined him on the podium. Entering as No. 6, Wasilewski reached the quarterfinals before falling in the consolation bracket. He clinched a seventh-place finish with a 5-2 decision over Oklahoma State wrestler and No. 8 Casey Swiderski, utilizing a critical first-period takedown to control the match. Wasilewski earned the first All-American honors of his career.
While Composto and Wasilewski led the way, the rest of the team faced a gauntlet in Cleveland. Swisher, still hot from his Ivy League championship, showed the form that won him the title at 157 pounds. Entering the tournament at No. 6 in his weight class, he breezed through the first rounds before falling in the second round to No.11 Ty Watters of West Virginia. In the consolation rounds, he continued his run by picking up wins over Iowa State and Virginia Tech before falling in the fourth round of consolations.
Mougalian at 133 pounds also contributed to the team score, securing a fall over Southern Illinois’ Marcel Lopez in the consolation bracket before being eliminated in a narrow 6-5 decision by Northern Iowa. At 165 pounds, Sean Seefeldt battled through tough opponents as the No. 24 seed and earned a hard-fought 4-1 match over Virginia Tech.
Penn finished in 19th place out of the 70 teams at the NCAA championships. The Red and Blue closed their season with a 7-4 dual record and a third place team finish at the Ivy championships.
