Grello, Suriano Secure Titles at Black Knight Invitational

Sunday, November 19

West Point, NY

9:30 a.m.

Rutgers University

Black Knight Invitational

Grello, Suriano Secure Titles at Black Knight Invitational

Nov 19 | Wrestling

Final Results

12 Scarlet Knights place during Sunday action in West Point, N.Y.

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Sophomore 125-pounder Nick Suriano and redshirt freshman 174-pounder Joseph Grello captured individual titles for No. 11 Rutgers wrestling at the Black Knight Invitational, hosted by Army, on Sunday in West Point, New York. In total, 12 of 14 Scarlet Knights placed in their respective weight classes at the tournament.

Along with Suriano and Grello's individual championships, the Scarlet Knights finished Sunday with two runner ups – 174-pounder Jordan Pagano and heavyweight Razohnn Gross – and two third-place finishers in 141-pounder Michael Van Brill and 197-pounder Kevin Mulligan.

"We learned a lot about our team and where we need to get better," said head coach Scott Goodale. "We left a lot of points out there, but we also had a lot of bonus points ourselves and had some dominating performances. There were good things today, but there are a lot of areas we need to improve on in these next two weeks before we take on Lock Haven and Iowa next month."

Suriano shined on Sunday, as he used a 22-3 tech fall over Steven Bulzomi (Binghamton) to advance to the 125-pound final. In the championship round against Alonzo Allen (Chattanooga), Suriano registered a takedown in the first period, followed by four near fall points in period two. Suriano's escape and riding time point at the end of the bout secured an 8-0 major decision.

Suriano opened the invitational with a 16-4 major decision over Fabian Gutierrez (Chattanooga). Suriano collected his first pin at Rutgers in his following quarterfinal match, defeating Brandon Loperfido (Lock Haven) by fall at the 2:32 mark in the first period to move to the semifinals.

In his four bouts on Sunday, Suriano outscored his opponents, 46-7, with two major decisions, a tech fall and his first-career pin as a Scarlet Knight.

It was an all-Rutgers final at 174 pounds, Grello and Pagano both advanced to the championship bout. Trailing 2-1 in the final period, Grello's escape and takedown secured his 4-3 decision over Pagano for the title. Grello's 4-0 performance marked his first appearance this season after missing time due to injury.

Grello rattled off three consecutive wins to reach the 174-pound final, which included pins of Jared Siegrist (Lock Haven) and Anthony Lombardo (Binghamton). Pagano had a 10-1 major decision in his quarterfinal match with Nunzio Crowley (Binghamton), and pinned Justin Lampe (Chattanooga) at the 1:46 mark to secure his spot in the final.

After a first-round bye, Gross collected back-to-back victories, including a 5-3 decision over Connor Calkins (Binghamton) to advance to the final. There, Gross was pinned by Thomas Haines (Lock Haven), who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler.

Van Brill was one of two third-place finishers for RU, as he defeated teammate Peter Lipari in the consolation final with a pin at the 5:50 mark. Van Brill closed out his day with a 3-1 record.

After his last-second semifinal loss to Scottie Boykin, 10-9, Mulligan turned out back-to-back victories to close out his day in third place. Mulligan defeated Rocco Caywood (Army), 5-1, in the consolation final after he fell to Caywood last week by major decision, 13-1, at the Journeymen Classic.

Lipari (4^th, 141), redshirt freshman Alex Mackall (4^th, 133), freshman Nick Santos (4^th, 149), sophomore Brett Donner (5^th, 157), freshman Kyle DiNapoli (6^th, 133) and redshirt junior Ralph Normandia (6^th, HWT) all placed for Rutgers at the invitational.

Rutgers returns to action on Friday, Dec. 1, when the Scarlet Knights hit the road to face Lock Haven at 7 p.m. in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.