The Muhlenberg wrestling team opened its 2004-05 season by having two of its upperweights earn places at the Monarch Invitational, hosted by King’s.

Sophomore Matt Loesch, who kicked off his collegiate career by winning the 197-pound bracket at King’s last year, made it to the final again, but this time was defeated by a wrestler from the host school. In his first bout of the season, Loesch pinned his opponent in a career-fastest 35 seconds.

At 187, sophomore John Hesse got off to a rockier start, getting pinned in his first bout. But Hesse came all the way back to win the consolation bracket by sweeping his next five bouts, including one against the Stevens Tech wrestler who had pinned him.

Senior Jeremy Hart and freshman Brian Saval tied for fifth at 149. Saval won the first two bouts of his career, both by major decision, before losing by decision to the fourth-ranked wrestler in Division III.

Freshmen Joseph DeCampo (141) and Brett Gallaway (174) also opened their career with wins, with Gallaway’s coming by fall.

The Mules finished eighth out of 11 teams.

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The Mule women came in ninth, one off their best finish ever, and the men were 10th, landing in the top 10 for the third time in four years. It was only the second time in school history that both Muhlenberg teams placed in the top 10.

Senior Jenna Belisonzi recorded the second-best finish ever by a member of the Mule women’s team, coming in 14th to earn all-region honors for the second year in a row. She is only the second Muhlenberg female to make the all-region squad twice, and the first to do it in consecutive seasons.

The men’s team failed to place a runner on the all-region team for the first time since 1998. Junior Alexander Hotz was the top finisher for the Mules, in 46th place.

As expected, the Muhlenberg teams split with Moravian, with the men winning by a wide margin. Combined with the football win, that gives Muhlenberg a 4-3 lead in the Matte Award standings heading into the winter season.

Click here for Muhlenberg box score.
Click here for complete results.