WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Vermont State University Castleton wrestling team opened the 2025-26 campaign at the Lycoming Invitational on Sunday. While there were no team scores, the Spartans excelled in the first-year/sophomore bracket and the junior/senior brackets, with 10 Spartans taking home first-place wins.

The first-year and sophomore Spartans had a strong showing across their weight classes, as five took home first-place honors. Aidan Shufelt made his Spartan debut and took first place at 133 pounds, going 4-0. Avi Berg also went 4-0, taking first at 125 pounds. Newcomer Joseph Baker took first at 184 pounds after a 4-0 performance. Justyce Mercado dominated the 157-pound bracket, going 4-0 for first place, and Stone Farnsworth did the same at 141 pounds.

In the junior/senior bracket, Drew Marchese went 4-0 at 125 pounds for a first-place finish. Evan Day and Joseph Kennedy finished 2-0 at 285 and 149 pounds, respectively, for first-place. Josh Negron and Nathaniel Camiscioli rounded out the first-place finishers for Castleton, going 3-0 at 197 and 157 pounds, respectively.

All three of Castleton's second-place finishers came out of the first year/sophomore bracket, with Dom Lapier going 3-1 on the day at 157 pounds, as John Marcellus finished 2-1 at 149 pounds, and Nicolas Balella went 3-1 at 149 pounds. Colby Celuck, Jack Voute, and Jamel Johnson all went 3-1 on the day in the first year/sophomore bracket to finish third at 174, 141, and 285 pounds, respectively. Desmond McLaughlin took third at 184 pounds after a 2-1 day in the junior/senior bracket.

Junior Braeden Gray finished fourth at 184 pounds, as did first-year Jack Brown at 197 pounds. Reese Greathouse went 2-2 on the day at 141 pounds as a sophomore for a fourth-place finish. Castleton's fifth-place finishers were highlighted by Dylan Vanegas, Hunter Lines, Keonta Crawford, and Jake Long. Vanegas, Lines, and Crawford finished 4-1 at 157, 141, and 285 pounds, respectively, in the first year/sophomore bracket. Long went 2-1 on the day as a junior, rounding out the Spartans' top-five finishers.

Sophomores Elijah Farias and Zach Olden finished sixth in their respective weight classes of 141 and 165 pounds, while newcomer Lucas Schell went 2-2 in his first outing in green and white at 174 pounds. Junior Caleb Ives finished seventh, despite a 0-2 outing in his first Spartan appearance.

The Spartans are on the road next weekend for the Ithaca Invitational (November 7-8) and the Roger Williams Invitational (November 7).