Joel Barlow graduate Emmett LiCastri (157) won five matches for Franklin and Marshall at the Midlands Championship this weekend. (Photo courtesy Franklin and Marshall wrestling)
EVANSTON, Illinois, December 30 – Franklin and Marshall’s Emmett LiCastri, a junior from Easton, won five matches at the 56th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championship.
Wrestling at 157 pounds, LiCastri came up one victory shy of earning a medal at the prestigious midseason wrestling tournament hosted by Northwestern. He went 5-2 in the tournament.
LiCastri, who graduated from Joel Barlow, won his first match of the tournament over Northwestern’s Eric Yang, 2-1 on riding time but lost to Fresno State’s Isaiah Hokif, 9-4. LiCastri won his next four matches in the consolation bracket.
He had a win by technical fall over Purdue’s Austin Singer, 17-1, beat Central Michigan’s Tracy Hubbard in double OT, 6-3; topped Maryland’s Adam Whitsell, 17-3 and outlasted Princeton’s Leonard Merkin, 6-5.
LiCastri had an escape and takedown in double OT to beat Hubbard. LiCastri had two takedowns in the first period against Merkin and prevailed when Merkin was called for stalling with five seconds left in the third period.
The run ended with a tough 8-4 loss to No. 3 seed John Vanbrill of Rutgers, who finished eighth at 157.
LiCastri is now 8-6 on the year. The junior captain is starting for the third season for Franklin and Marshall at 157. He went 11-20 a year ago after going 16-16 as a freshman.
With six finalists, No. 2 Iowa crowned two champions and won its 28th team title. Austin DeSanto and Alex Marinelli claimed individual titles, helping Iowa to 184 points, topping runner-up University of Northern Iowa by 64½ points. Northern Iowa, third-place Northwestern, Princeton and Arizona State also had two champions.
The Hawkeyes tallied the fourth-highest point total in tournament history.
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