Photo Courtesy of East Stroudsburg University Athletics
EAST STROUDSBURG, PA (November 3, 2024) – Sussex County Community College began their 2024-2025 season with an 11th finish at the 57th ESU Open Saturday afternoon, finishing with 22 points.
Several individual wrestlers shined but the most impressive performance came from Thaylor Sibblies. Wrestling in the 157lbs bracket, the sophomore advanced to the Quarterfinals of the championship bracket with a win by fall over Arcangelo Losee in the Round of 32, and a 6-1 victory by decision against Kutztown’s Sean Smith in the Round of 16, which he sealed with a crucial reversal early in the third period. After a tough 5-0 loss by decision to ESU’s Gavin Reynolds dropped Sibblies into the consolation bracket, he bounced back with a 7-2 win by decision over Centenary’s Collin Neal, which featured another impressive third period with a clutch reversal and takedown late, his run ended with a loss to Felician’s Jeremy Quezada 3-0 by default.
Another sophomore, Roman Citro, also had a strong day in the 125lbs bracket. After a rough 16-1 technical fall loss against Alexander Diaz, he won back-to-back matches in the consolation bracket by fall, 7-0 and 6-3, against Ethan Young and Cameron Cardona. The win against Cardona saw Citro come back from an early takedown with a reversal midway through the first period, escaping on the bottom to start the second, and finishing it off with a takedown late in the period which led to a pin, sending him to the next round where his day ended with a loss by fall to Millersville’s Gavin Boland 7-0.
Newcomer Michael VanderMeulen shined in his first outing with the Skylanders, as he won two matches in the consolation after a loss by pin to Malachi Bordovsky 15-5 in the Round of 32 in the 141lbs bracket. In the Consolation Round of 16, he dominated with a 17-4 major decision win over Jacob Torres, which saw him jump out to a 10-2 lead after two periods thanks to two takedowns and four back points. VanderMeulen kept it rolling with a quick fall victory in his next match against Greg McLaughlin of GPS Wrestling Club that took just 23 seconds, but his day ended in the next round with a 13-5 major decision loss to Union College of Union County’s Joshua Baeza.
Three other wrestlers each earned a match victory on the day, those being Chris Casale, Mason Mericle, and Shawn Pawlowski. Casale won by forfeit from Felician’s Kyle Reiter in the 141lbs Consolation Round of 16, Mericle also won by forfeit from Wyoming Seminary’s Kendall Drake in the 184lbs Consolation Round of 16, and Pawlowski won his Round of 32 match in the 184lbs bracket by fall 6-3 against ESU’s John Bracken with a strong takedown early in the second period.
“Today was the best opener Sussex has had in its short history,” head coach Nick Barzano said. “We were very pleased with how well all the guys competed today. They wrestled with a confidence and intensity that’s needed for success at the college level.”
The Skylanders are back in action on Nov. 9 at 9 a.m. as they travel to Garrett College in Maryland for the Defend the Lake Open.
