three win brackets in wrestling opener

It was a good day to be a Muhlenberg wrestler if your last name had four letters.

Juniors Billy Hall (141), Rob Kein (149) and Matt Horn (184) all won their weight classes in the Mules’ first tournament of the season, the King’s Monarch Invitational.

Both Hall and

Horn reached the final of three tournaments last year, placing second each time.

Kein won at higher weight classes than they competed at last year, when they were NCAA qualifiers. Hall went 4-0 to win his fifth career tournament title, scoring a major decision against an Ursinus wrestler in the final. His 7-0 decision in the quarterfinal round was the 50th win of his career. Kein had to win five bouts, four by decision and one by technical fall, to capture the largest weight class (32 wrestlers) in the tournament. He opened last season in similar fashion, winning at King’s at 141 pounds.

Horn won his first career title in impressive fashion, recording three pins, a major decision and a 9-3 decision.

Senior Joe Tartar, ranked 10th in Division III, reached the heavyweight final, where he dropped a 14-8 decision to an Oneonta State wrestler who is ranked second. Tartar’s first two wins were by fall.

Junior Justin Fitch finished fourth at 174 for the second straight year at King’s. Sophomore 125-pounder Tucker Grass went 4-1, with his lone loss coming to the sixth-ranked wrestler in Division III, before forfeiting out.

The tournament, which ended in the wee hours of the night on Saturday, had nearly 600 matches in a field that included 265 wrestlers from 14 schools.

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