MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The No. 6-ranked Gannon University men's wrestling team stormed back from an 8-0 deficit against host Millersville in Friday night's dual meet to claim the eventual victory, 27-14. The win improves Gannon's dual meet record to 2-2 in 2021-22, while Millersville's dual record falls to 4-2.
 
The Golden Knights' quartet of nationally-ranked wrestlers (Dom Means (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic), Alex Farenchak (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside), Joey Petrella (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley), and Joel Leise (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds)) all picked up victories, as Gannon won seven of the 10 bouts in the dual.
 
The Knights also won all five contested exhibition bouts, courtesy of Parker Loera (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) (141), Hayden Butterfield (Erie, Pa./McDowell) (149), Nick Coreno (Willoughby, Ohio/Lake Catholic) (157), Frank Guzzi (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) (184), and Gehrig Hutchison (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) (197.)
 
Freshman Chris Petteys (Hudson Falls, N.Y./Hudson Falls) almost pulled off an improbable comeback to begin the night at 125, trailing Millersville's Bryce Beatty 6-1 after the first period but clawing his way back into it with a second-period takedown to make it 7-3 heading into the third. Beatty chose neutral and an energized Petteys went on the attack, taking Beatty down twice but simply running out of time and suffering a 9-7 defeat.
 
At 141 pounds, senior Austin Hertel (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) began a streak of five Gannon victories with a 9-2 decision over Tim Uhler. Uhler kept it close until midway through the second period, with a Leise takedown giving him a 5-1 lead and control of the bout. He added two third period takedowns for the 9-2 decision.
 
Means (ranked No. 2 at 149 pounds) came out of the gates on fire, taking down Alex Bendinelli within the first three seconds. He rode Bendinelli tough and eventually turned him and got the shoulders down for a fall in just 2:28 to give Gannon the lead in the team score, 9-8.
 
At 157, Evan Fisler (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) came close to scoring multiple times in the first period but was denied by Jonathan Parrilla. Fisler shot and got hold of Parrilla's right leg on three separate occasions but could not complete the takedown. Fisler did finally take Parrilla down with under 20 seconds to go in the second period and critically rode him the rest of the period to deny the escape point. He took a 2-1 lead into the third period and added an escape and a stall point for the 4-1 decision.
 
No. 1-ranked Farenchak (165) found himself in a battle with the Marauders' Guy DeLeonardis. After a scoreless first period, Farenchak picked up his escape point in the second and expertly defended a shot as time ran out in the period. DeLeonardis equalized with an escape of his own in the third but Farenchak's patience paid off, finally taking DeLeonardis down with under a minute left and holding on for the 3-1 decision.
 
Another great match was had at 174 pounds, with Gannon's No. 12-ranked Petrella taking on the unbeaten Anthony Yacovetti. A scoreless first period led into Yacovetti's first escape point just 20 seconds into the second period. Petrella picked the left ankle with a quick shot with under 40 seconds to go but could not score. Petrella confidently chose neutral to begin the third and scored the first takedown of the bout with a fireman's carry to take a 2-1 lead. Yacovetti's escape tied it, 2-2, and overtime was needed to decide the victor. In sudden victory, Yacovetti's aggressiveness brought him in close range to Petrella, who latched on a body lock and muscled him down to the mat, earning the two points and the 4-2 decision.
 
Leise, ranked No. 3 at 197 pounds but wrestling only his fifth match of the season, needed only 37 seconds to earn a fall over vs Bruce Vaughan at the edge of the circle to seal the dual meet and give the Knights a 24-14 advantage with just one bout remaining.
 
Freddie Nixon (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) took Millersville's Bishop McCoy to overtime at 285 pounds, with an inspired effort to ride the larger McCoy in the first tiebreaker period eventually paying off, earning the victory thanks to riding time to improve his record this season to 11-1.
 
Next up for the Golden Knights is a mid-week dual meet at local rival Mercyhurst on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 7:00 p.m.
 
FULL RESULTS

Gannon University 27, Millersville University 14
 
125 - Bryce Beatty (MU) dec. Chris Petteys (Hudson Falls, N.Y./Hudson Falls) (GU), 9-7 (3-0 MU)
133 – Devin Flannery (MU) tech fall Aseel Almudhala (Dearborn, Mich./Fordson) (GU), 16-1, 3:00 (8-0 MU)
141 – Austin Hertel (Rochester, N.Y./Hilton) (GU) dec. Tim Uhler, 9-2 (8-3 MU)
149 – Dom Means (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) (GU) fall over Alex Bendinelli (MU), 2:28 (9-8 GU)
157 – Evan Fisler (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) (GU) dec. Jonathan Parrilla (MU), 4-1 (12-8 GU)
165 – Alex Farenchak (Painesville, Ohio/Riverside) (GU) dec. Guy DeLeonardis (MU), 3-1 (15-8 GU)
174 – Joey Petrella (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Bishop Hartley) (GU) dec. Anthony Yacovetti (MU), 4-2 SV (18-8 GU)
184 – Anthony Giampietro (MU) fall over Cameron Page (Frewsburg, N.Y./Falconer Central) (GU), 4:50 (18-14 GU)
197 – Joel Leise (Transfer, Pa./Reynolds) (GU) fall over Bruce Vaughan (MU), 0:37 (24-14 GU)
285 – Freddie Nixon (Buffalo, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute) (GU) dec. Bishop McCoy (MU), 3-2 TB1, (27-14 GU)
 
Exhibitions
 
141 - Parker Loera (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) (GU) dec. Danny Capozzoli (MU), 6-1
149 – Hayden Butterfield (Erie, Pa./McDowell) (GU) tech fall. Edward Scheck, 18-0, 3:39
157 – Nick Coreno (Willoughby, Ohio/Lake Catholic) (GU) fall over Jayden Johnson (MU), 4:31
184 – Frank Guzzi (West Homestead, Pa./Steel Valley) (GU) maj. dec Patrick Johnson (MU), 11-2
197 – Gehrig Hutchison (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) (GU) dec. Daniel Pereira (MU), 9-5