WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson men's wrestling team rang in the new year with a first-place finish at the inaugural Jeff Breese Invitational. The invite was held in honor of long-tenured assistant coach of the W&J men's wrestling program, Jeff Breese.
 
Jaden Fields (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) wrapped the day with a first-place finish and a 2-0 record in the 197-pound bracket. Fields earned a bye to the semifinals and picked up a win by pinfall over Tyler Mains of Arcadia (0:48). Fields downed teammate Jack Viti (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) in the first-place match with a victory by pin to win the bracket (2:47).
 
Vitali Daniels (Scenery Hill, Pa./Bentworth) also finished first in the 184-pound bracket with a 2-0 record. Daniels enjoyed a bye to the semifinals and started the day strong with a win by tech fall (17-2, 3:00) over AJ Tomaino of Waynesburg University. In the championship bout, Daniels won by fall over Alexander Tempus of West Virginia Tech.
 
De'Mier Hamilton (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) worked his way through the 165-pound bracket with a 3-0 record on the day. Hamilton started his morning with a win by fall over Landen Taylor of Arcadia in the quarterfinals (0:59). In the semifinals, Hamilton picked up a victory by tech fall (24-6, 5:27) over teammate Peyton Carter (Front Royal, Va./Skyline). Hamilton bested another teammate in the championship match, pinning Jiovanni DeChicchis (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) (2:32).
 
Brandon Dami (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), Bryce Rodriguez-Uram (Carnegie, Pa./Carlynton) and John Starusko (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) also finished second in their respective weight brackets. Rodriguez-Uram finished 2-1 in the 149-pound weight class. Dami and Starusko finished 1-1 on the day with victories in the semifinals at 125 and 174, respectively.
 
The Presidents return to the mats next weekend at the Virginia Duals for a two-day event in Hampton, Va. The Presidents will wrestle first on Friday (Jan. 9) and will cap the event on Saturday (Jan. 10).