GREENVILLE, Pa. - The 2023 PAC Wrestling Championships came down to the final match to determine the team champion and when it was done, host Thiel College and Washington & Jefferson College had both scored 105.5 points and finished as 2023 Co-Champions of the league.

The shared title was the second championship in a row and 24th in program history for Thiel, breaking their tie with former member John Carroll University for the most in the conference's history. For W&J, it was their seventh conference championship overall and their first since 2019-20.

The drama was building through the championship matches. Both Thiel and W&J had three champions each through the first six weight classes. After the 174-bracket was won by Waynesburg junior Colby Morris (Waynesburg, Pa. | Waynesburg Central), the Tomcats took a slight lead in the team standings following the 184 bout when junior Jared Curcio (Avonmore, Pa. | Kiski Area) scored a 20-13 decision over W&J junior Nick Funovitis (Cranberry Township, Pa. | Seneca Valley).

In the 197 final, W&J retook the lead when unseeded junior Jacob Duncan (South Park, Pa. | Ringgold) completed his run with a victory in the final. The Presidents carried a three-point lead into the the 285 championship bout, which pitted Thiel sophomore Seth Phillips (Hubbard, Ohio | Western Reserve) against W&J sophomore Trevor Manley (Altoona, Pa. | Altoona). The two battled through all seven minutes of a grueling match and although Manley scored late to tie the score, when the final buzzer sounded, Phillips had accumulated enough riding time to score the deciding point and take the 3-2 decision. That evened the team scores at 105.5 and gave both a share of the PAC crown.

Among the individual champions for Thiel were three repeat title winners. They included sophomore Evan Whiteside (Monroeville, Pa. | Gateway) at 125, senior Hunter Martz (Hawthorn, Pa. | Redback Valley) at 149 and senior Peyton Hearn (Conneaut, Pa. | Conneaut Area) at 157. 

Headlining the four champions for the Presidents was freshman Bryce Rodriguez-Uram (Carnegie, Pa. | Carlynton), who won perhaps the match of the day in the 141 final by a 6-4 score in extra time. That effort led Rodriguez-Uram to be voted the PAC Newcomer of the Year by the coaches of the conference. 

The Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament award went to Morris. The Waynesburg junior entered the Championships with a 21-1 record and posted a fall in the third period of the semifinal and a fall in the opening period of the championship match to win the 174 title and become the first Yellow Jacket since Rocky McGeary in 2019-20 to be named the Most Outstanding Wrestler.

The final major award went to W&J Head Coach Sonnie Blanco, who was voted the PAC Coach of the Year. The two-time All-American on the mat for the Presidents earned the honor in his first season as the head coach for his alma mater.

All three programs will represent the PAC at this year’s NCAA Division III Southeast Regional Championships from Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25 at York College. The Division III National Championships, scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 10-11, will be held at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, Va. 

 

All-PAC First Team (Individual PAC champions)
Wt.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown | High School
125	Evan Whiteside	Thiel	So.	Monroeville, Pa. | Gateway
133	Hunter Swedish	W&J	So.	Cranberry Township, Pa. | Seneca Valley
141	Bryce Rodriguez-Uram	W&J	Fr.	Carnegie, Pa. | Carlynton
149	Hunter Martz	Thiel	Sr.	Hawthorn, Pa. | Redback Valley
157	Peyton Hearn	Thiel	Sr.	Conneaut, Pa. | Conneaut Area
165	Logan Marko	W&J	Sr.	Roaring Spring, Pa.  | Central
174	Colby Morris	Waynesburg	Jr.	Waynesburg, Pa. | Waynesburg Central
184	Jared Curcio	Thiel	Jr.	Avonmore, Pa. | Kiski Area
197	Jacob Duncan	W&J	Jr.	South Park, Pa. | Ringgold
285	Seth Phillips	Thiel	So.	Hubbard, Ohio | Western Reserve

     

PAC Sportsmanship Team
Wt.	Name	School	Yr.	Hometown | High School
157	Peyton Hearn	Thiel	Sr.	Conneaut, Pa. | Conneaut Area
165	Logan Marko	W&J	Sr.	Roaring Spring, Pa.  | Central
184	Ayden Bishoff	Waynesburg	So.	Kingwood, W.Va. | Preston