John Carroll has improved from last year and today's finale to the Citrus Invitational proved no different.  The Blue Streaks, who finished 10th out of 11 teams last year, finished 5th out of 13 teams with 149.0 points, ending up ahead of schools such as Cornell and St. John's among others.  Finishing ahead of the Blue & Gold were RIT (180 points), #23 Ferrum (169), D-II UNC Pembroke (161.5 points), and #18 NYU (160.5).

John Carroll sent wrestlers to the final match in three different weight classes, adding seven more wrestlers to the Citrus Invitational podium.

Andrew Perelka shutout Collin Wickramaratna of Ursinus in a tightly contested 2-0 decision to advance to the championship.  Once in the championship, Perelka's bid for a third tournament championship in his already impressive freshman season came up short however as Nick Daggett of Division II UNC Pembroke won with a 13-5 major decision.

Jarrod Brezovec beat Evan Drill of NYU in a closely contested 4-3 match to advance to the championship match.  Once in the finals, Brezovec would unfortunately follow in his teammate's footsteps and lost to another UNC Pembroke wrestler in the championship match.  Jonathan Miller from UNC Pembroke beat Brezovec with a 15-7 major decision, leaving Brezovec to finish in second place.

Jarrad Lasko avenged his teammates by beating Kaleb Warner of UNC Pembroke in an 8-6 Decision to move into the championship match.  There, Trinity wrestler Grant Sorensen executed a buzzer-beating pin over Lasko, leaving the senior with a strong second place showing.

Spencer Dusi beat Alex Prunoske of RIT to claim the fifth place title in the 133 pound weight class.  Dusi dominated throughout the shortened match when he pinned Prunoske in a minute and 56 seconds. Dusi ended the tournament by contributing 15 points to John Carroll's team total. 

Danny Novak was the first to reach the podium on the day for the Blue Streaks after he won the seventh place match due to a medical forfeit. Novak helped contribute a very important 12 points to the Blue Streaks score.

In the 165 pound division John Carroll had a couple of teammates compete against each other for the 7th place crown.  Seth Winkle and Sam Gross faced each other, with Sam Gross coming out the winner by way of the pin, earning 7th place for himself with Seth Winkle finishing in 8th.  Gross and Winkle joined Perelka and Murray in the 125 pound division to be two different teammates to join each other on the podium.

Vittorio Santillo, who placed in last year's regional tournament, not only picked up his first win of the season but also contributed to the Blue Streak campaign with an 8th place finish after losing to Scott Dupont of NYU.

Luca Santillo was matched up against Jacob Lill of NYU in the heavyweight division for 7th place.  Santillo joined his brother Vittorio on the podium for the eighth place spot. Luca lost to Lill after they were tied 1-1 until Lill got a takedown with 40 seconds making the score 3-1, a score that would stand for the rest of the match.

Kyle Murray faced off against Keegan Schultschik of Cornell for the seventh place match, but the Division I wrestler from Cornell proved too much for Murray, forcing Murray into the 8th position in the 125 pound weight class.

In the consolation brackets, the Blue Streaks garnered six more place winners, including two champions.

In the 165A consolation bracket, Luke Reicosky sweep his three matches of the day.  Winning the first due to a medical forfeit, then winning two straight Decisions, including one in the championship match.  The victory made Reicosky the first Blue Streak in the winner's circle in Fort Lauderdale.

John Carroll's Josh Stasek flat out dominated his way to the heavyweight consolation title pinning all three of his opponents, the first in 3:52, the second in 1:58, and the championship in an outstanding 29 seconds.

In the 133 pound division, junior Dom Devine came out strong.  He won his first match with a 10-0 major decision and pinned his second opponent half way through the third period, earning second place.

Jeff Brichford has made his way through the 141 pound division with three decisions coming by less than five points, two of which were decided by a single point.  Once in the championship, Brichford would hotly compete against Will Deese from UNC Pembroke, but ultimately fell 7-5, leaving him with the silver in the 141 consolation division.

Shane Ging had a strong run through the 157A bracket as well, but would lose in the final to Austin Smith from Ferrum with a 13-2 major decision.

Jimmy Suhayda won his third place bout over Timothy Rathbun (Oneonta State) with a tech fall, 18-3.  Suhayda's route to the third place match in the 174 pound division was a bit of a long road, having to wrestle four total matches to get to the podium.  Suhayda went 3-1, with his other two wins coming by a pin and a 10-7 decision victory.

The Blue Streaks will wrestle next on Tuesday January 15th against OAC rival Otterbein at home in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center at 7 p.m.