OSWEGO, N.Y. – Penn College placed four wrestlers on the podium in its first-ever Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference Championship hosted by SUNY Oswego Saturday. Ryan Berstler and Mason Leshock both earned bronze medals, while Noah Hunt and Patrick Snoke earned fourth-place finishes. The Wildcats finished seventh in the nine-team tournament. 

Berstler, who was unseeded entering the tournament, started the day off strong by pinning  No. 4 seed, Mason Drew of Alfred State and earning a decision against No. 5 seed, Justin Amendola of Cortland to guarantee all-conference status. After dropping a close 4-3 decision to Liam Bullock of  Brockport in the semifinals, Berstler responded with two consecutive wins over Christian Leviano of Cortland and Danny Poggi of Oneonta to earn a bronze medal and win the consolation bracket.

A 5 seed entering the event, Pat Snoke opened the day by earning a pin in the round of 16 against Brett Rosenberg of Oswego. Snoke's run in the championship bracket was upended by Isaias Torres of Ithaca in the quarterfinals. Snoke responded on the backside by avenging a loss from the Ned McGinley and pinning Jeff Robinson of RIT early in the second period. Snoke kept his momentum rolling by collecting a major decision against Peter Sacco of Oneonta and a medical forfeit victory to reach the bronze medal bout and settle for fourth after being defeated by Torres of Ithaca.

Hunt entered the day as a No.3 seed and opened his tournament with a fall in the round of 16 over Michael Snowden of Ithaca. He continued his dominance by pinning Ben Lloyd of Alfred State to reach the semifinals and guarantee all-conference status. Hunt was upended by eventual champion, and most outstanding wrestler award winner, Cahal Donovan of Cortland in the semifinals. Hunt responded by earning his third pin of the day over Christopher Mableton of Cortland to position himself in the consolation final. After wrestling a high-scoring match that saw leads switch multiple time throughout the bout, Hunt would settle for a fourth-place finish.

Leshock out wrestled his fifth seed by earning two consecutive victories over Michael Fronczak of Brockport and upsetting No. 4 seed Liam Strouse of RIT to setup a semifinal with No. 1 seed Jackson Gray of Ithaca. After suffering a loss to Gray, Leshock responded with a second period pin over Fronzcack of Brockport in the consolation final to set up a second showdown with Strouse – which Leshock ended with a 40-second pin.
Liam Goodrich, Colin Jens, Nicholas Semon, and Anton Esterbrook all picked up a pair of wins.

 Penn College returns to action Dec. 3 at the RIT Invitational.