MONTCLAIR PLACES 13TH AT MENLO INVITE

Atherton, CA (1/15/06) - The Montclair State wrestling team closed out their West Coast trip on Sunday as the Red Hawks finished 13th in the Menlo (CA) College Invitational. Mark D'Elia finished fourth at 174 pounds.

D’Elia lost his first match of the tournament to Cal Stat Bakersfield’s Garth Ware, 5-2, but bouced back as he knocked off Gary Nelson of Menlo, 9-7. D’Elia then earned a 12-10 victory over Jon Sanchez of Menlo setting up a consolation semifinal matchup against teammate Jake Beitz. Beitz had won his first match with a pinfall of 1:31 over Danny Dehl of San Francisco State before falling to eventual champion Mike Jackson of Indianapolis .

In the battle between the two Red Hawks, D’Elia came up victorious with a pinfall at :45 seconds. D’Elia then lost to Ware in the third-place match.

Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, January 18 as MSU takes on Centenary College in Hackettstown , NJ at 7:00 pm .