Men's Swimming | 10/23/2026 10:20:00 PM

CLARION, Pa. – The Gannon men's swimming team turned in a strong performance Friday evening against Clarion, capturing six event victories and outscoring the Golden Eagles 113-92 in swimming events despite falling 124-113 in the overall Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) dual meet.

Clarion benefited from 32 points in diving, an event in which Gannon does not compete, to secure the overall victory.

The Golden Knights were led by Mert Ata Pehlivanoglu and Nikita Pau Poparcea Greiter (Sant Carles de la Rapita, Spain), who each earned two individual victories. Gannon also swept the top three positions in both the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard backstroke.

Pehlivanoglu opened his individual performance with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1:45.12 to edge Clarion's Evan Ream by just three-hundredths of a second. He later claimed the 200-yard butterfly in 2:00.28, leading a Gannon sweep of the top three spots.

Poparcea dominated the sprint freestyle events, winning the 50-yard freestyle in 21.54 seconds before adding a victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 47.70.

Marcos Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain/Santa María del Pilar) added an individual victory in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 1:58.20 as Gannon claimed the top three positions for the second time during the meet.

The Golden Knights concluded the swimming competition by capturing the top two positions in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

THE MEET FACTS

Official Score: Clarion 124, Gannon 113
Swimming Events Only: Gannon 113, Clarion 92
Location: Clarion, Pa.
Date: Oct. 23, 2026

THE KNIGHT CAP

• Double Winners: Pehlivanoglu and Poparcea combined for four individual victories. Pehlivanoglu claimed the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.12) and 200-yard butterfly (2:00.28), while Poparcea won the 50-yard freestyle (21.54) and 100-yard freestyle (47.70).

• Butterfly Sweep: Gannon claimed the top three positions in the 200-yard butterfly, led by Pehlivanoglu (2:00.28), Adrian Paredes Carrillo (Tega Cay, SC/Fort Mill) (2:02.84) and Tyler Turgeon (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin High School) (2:04.11).

• Backstroke Sweep: Rodriguez led another first-through-third finish in the 200-yard backstroke, touching first in 1:58.20. Patrick Biasio (Muggiò, Italy/Liceo Majorana) finished second (1:58.72), followed by Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) in third (1:59.67).

• Relay Victory: Gannon's 400-yard freestyle relay of Pehlivanoglu, Biasio, Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) and Poparcea captured first place in 3:10.66. The Golden Knights' second relay of Emmanuel Cisneros (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young Magnet), Derell Augustine (La Brea, Trinidad & Tobago/Vessigny Secondary School), Bengimin Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) and Bryce Burét (East London, South Africa/Merrifield College) followed in second at 3:11.65.

• Additional Strong Finishes: Burét placed third in the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.39), while Dylan Ray (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney Community) earned runner-up finishes in the 200-yard individual medley (1:59.69) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.08).

• PSAC Qualifying Standards: Twelve Golden Knights combined for 16 individual performances meeting PSAC qualifying standards. Pehlivanoglu (200 freestyle and 200 butterfly), Poparcea (50 and 100 freestyle), Ray (200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke) and Paredes Carrillo (200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke) each met two standards. Burét (200 freestyle), Cisneros (1,000 freestyle), Dexter Jones (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) (1,000 freestyle), Rodriguez (200 backstroke), Biasio (200 backstroke), Nickolas Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) (200 backstroke), Luis Lebrons Montesinos (Madrid, Spain/The Bolles School) (500 freestyle) and Bengimin Ambrosiani (Seward, Alaska/Seward) (50 freestyle) also met conference standards.

• Swimming Advantage: Gannon totaled 113 points in swimming events compared to Clarion's 92. However, the Golden Eagles added 32 diving points to claim the overall dual meet, 124-113.

Up Next

Gannon returns home on Saturday, Nov. 7, when the Golden Knights host Case Western Reserve at the Carneval Athletic Pavilion Pool at 1 p.m.

This story was written with the support of AI.