WAYNESBURG, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College wrestling team won their eighth Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship this weekend at Waynesburg University. The team finished with 116.5 team points.
The Presidents earned five individual champions through the 10 weight classes.
Hunter Swedish (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) wrapped the championships as the PAC Most Valuable Wrestler while teammate
Josh Smith (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area) picked up PAC Newcomer of the Year laurels.
Swedish wrapped the PAC Championships as the 141-pound champion with a 3-0 record, winning his third PAC individual Title. Swedish kicked off his day with a win over A. Parker of Thiel by fall (1:49) in the opening round. He then worked his way to a victory over T. Clark of Saint Vincent by tech fall (TF 6:23, 19-4) to advance to the final match. In the 141-championship match, Swedish bested R. Yocum of Saint Vincent by tech fall (TF 6:52, 18-2).
Freshman
Josh Smith finished as the 133-pound champion and finished as the PAC Newcomer of the Year with a 2-0 record. After an opening round bye, Smith defeated O. Caracciolo of Saint Vincent by decision (5-4). In the championship match, Smith bested K. McCollum of Saint Vincent by decision (11-10).
Taylor Smith (Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata) won his second PAC individual title this year, winning the 149-pound weight bracket with a 2-0 record. After a bye in the opening round, Smith defeated T. Debnar of Saint Vincent by tech fall (TF 3:20, 21-5) to advance to the championship bout. In the 149-championship match, Smith pinned A. Orlandini of Saint Vincent in the second period of wrestling (4:50).
Sibling
Casey Smith (Mifflintown, Pa./Juniata) won his first PAC individual title at 157 pounds with a 3-0 record. Smith began his day with a win over L. Flanigan of Saint Vincent by fall (4:15) in the opening round. The sophomore then bested L. Mead of Thiel by tech fall to advance to the final bout (TF 4:33, 20-5). In the championship match, Smith defeated S. Evans of Waynesburg by tech fall (TF 5:22, 16-0).
Brayden Roscosky (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area) won the 184-pound weight bracket to pick up his first PAC individual title with a 3-0 record. Kicking off his day in the quarterfinals, Roscosky beat L. Groover of Thiel by fall (3:36). In a thrilling match, Roscosky registered a sudden victory win over R. Weinzen of Saint Vincent (SV 4-1). In the championship match, Roscosky defeated teammate
Jaden Fields (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) by fall in the final minute of wrestling in the third period (6:21).
Jiovanni DeChicchis (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) wrapped the day as the second-place runner up in the 165-pound weight bracket with a 1-1 record. DeChiccis picked up his only win of the day in the semifinal round over C. Bauerline of Saint Vincent by decision (5-3). In the championship match, DeChicchis was defeated by fall (2:50).
Christian McChesney (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg-Salem) and
Trevor Manley (Altoona, Pa./Altoona) each finished top three in the 285-heavyweight bracket. McChesney wrapped the day with a 2-1 record to finish second. Manley wrapped the day in third with a 3-1 record.
Michael Cruz (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) finished third in the 125-weight class with a 2-1 record. Cruz defeated I. Fuentes of Hiram by fall (Fall 4:37) to advance to the third-place match. Cruz bested E. McCarthy of Thiel in the third-place match by decision (5-0).
The Presidents return to competition on Feb. 28 – March 1 at the 2024 NCAA Division III Southeast Regional. The two-day event will be held in Danville, Va. at Averett University. The top three finishers in each weight class punch their tickets to the NCAA Division III National Championships, which will be held in Providence, R. I., hosted by Johnson & Wales University on Friday, March 14.
