Five Tigers Alive in Wrestlebacks After Day One at Midlands

Sunday, December 29

Hoffman Estates, Ill.

10:30 AM ET/9:30 AM CT

Princeton University

Midlands

Five Tigers Alive in Wrestlebacks After Day One at Midlands

December 29, 2024 | Wrestling

CHICAGO, ILL. – After day one of the 60th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, XX Tigers are alive in the wrestlebacks looking for a chance to compete for XX tomorrow.

Ethan Rivera, Eligh Rivera, Mikey Squires and Sebastian Garibaldi each made the quarterfinals after strong performances in their first two rounds.

Garibaldi ended his first two matches in the second period of each, pinning Purdue's Keagan Martin in just 2:49. Having a day, Garibaldi went on to earn a tech fall over Northwestern's Dirk Morley, 17-0. In the quarterfinal, however, Garibaldi dropped a TF to #29/23 Jacob Bullock of Indiana.

Squires battled to earn a close decision in round one over Michigan State's Lucas Daly, 6-5. Squires came in clutch again in round two with a takedown just seconds into the overtime period for a sudden victory decision over Illinois's Dylan Connell, 4-1. Despite gutting out a close first round, Squires ultimately fell in the quarterfinal to Rutgers's #19 Brian Soldano.

#28/29 Ethan Rivera earned two decisions over Illinois's Caelen Riley and Rutgers's Ayden Smith to advance to the 125 quarterfinals before falling in a decision to Northern Illinois's #26/26 Blake West.

Eligh Rivera joined his brother in the quarterfinals of his weight class, 141, after advancing on two solid decisions over Pitt's #31 Anthony Santaniello and SIUE's Ben Lunn. In the quarters, Rivera battled a close bout with #16/18 Dylan Chappell of Bucknell before ultimately falling 8-6.

In his collegiate debut, Marc-Anthony McGowan had a solid showing, going 3-1 on the day including a tech fall over Pitt's Colyn Lambert and a major decision over Northwestern's Patrick Adams.

Squires, Garibaldi, the Riveras and McGowan will now look to wrestlebacks tomorrow for a spot on the final podium.

Results - Day One
125
Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) DEC Deion Johnson (SIU Edwardsville), 5-0
Ethan Rivera (Princeton) DEC Caelen Riley (Illinois), 5-0
Dean Peterson (Rutgers) DEC Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton), 7-1
Ethan Rivera (Princeton) DEC Ayden Smith (Rutgers), 9-2
Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) TF Colyn Limbert (Pittsburgh), 21-2
Blake West (Northern Illinois) DEC Ethan Rivera (Princeton), 7-1 (Quarterfinal)
Marc-Anthony McGowan (Princeton) MD Patrick Adams (Northwestern), 13-1

133
Andrew Austin (Central Michigan) DEC Drew Heethuis (Princeton), 9-5
Alex Almeyda (Penn) DEC Drew Heethuis (Princeton), 5-2

141
Kole Brower (Illinois) DEC Joseph Davi (Princeton), 6-3
Eligh Rivera (Princeton) DEC Anthony Santaniello (Pittsburgh), 7-3
Alek Vanbebber (Cal Poly) DEC Joseph Davi (Princeton), 5-3
Eligh Rivera (Princeton) DEC Ben Lunn (SIU Edwardsville), 7-2
Dylan Chappell (Bucknell) DEC Eligh Rivera (Princeton), 8-6 (Quarterfinal)

149
Wyatt Krejsa (Purdue) TF Christopher Martino (Princeton), 19-3
Jacob Mann (Princeton) DEC Alec Peralta (SIU Edwardsville),13-6
Christopher Martino (Princeton) F Clayton Jones (Michigan State), 2:38
Sam Cartella (Northwestern) TF Jacob Mann (Princeton),15-0
Jacob Mann (Princeton) DEC Christopher Martino (Princeton), 10-3
Tommy Curran (Northern Illinois) F Jacob Mann (Princeton), 1:32

157
Landen Johnson (Northern Illinois) F Cody Tavoso (Princeton), 5:51
Jacob Bostelman (Northwestern) DEC Cody Tavoso (Princeton), 6-4

165
Drayden Morton (California Baptist) TF Hudson Hightower (Princeton), 16-0
Andy Troczynski (Penn) MD Hudson Hightower (Princeton), 11-1

174
Nick Incontrera (Penn) TF Xavier Giles (Princeton), 17-2
Blake Hinrichsen (Cal Poly) DEC Xavier Giles (Princeton), 3-2

184
Michael Squires (Princeton) DEC Lucas Daly (Michigan State), 6-5
Anthony Moscatello (Princeton) DEC Austin Stewart (Northern Illinois), 5-2
Michael Squires (Princeton) SV-1 Dylan Connell (Illinois), 4-1
Shane Cartagena-Walsh (Rutgers) DEC Anthony Moscatello (Princeton), 8-2
Nathan Taylor (Penn) won by injury default over Anthony Moscatello (Princeton) (Inj. 6:38)
Brian Soldano (Rutgers) MD Michael Squires (Princeton), 8-0

285
Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton) FALL Keagan Martin (Purdue), 2:49
Zach Delsanter (Penn) DEC Will Sather (Princeton), 6-2
Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton) TF Dirk Morley (Northwestern), 17-0
Josh Terrill (Michigan State) DEC Will Sather (Princeton), 9-3
Jacob Bullock (Indiana) TF Sebastian Garibaldi (Princeton), 19-3

Up Next
The Tigers will continue competition at Midlands with the wrestlebacks tomorrow, December 30th at the NOW Arena in Chicago. The Third Session will begin at 10:30 a.m. CT, while the Fourth Session will begin at 3:00 p.m. CT. The awards ceremony will conclude the event at 6:00 p.m.