WILKES-BARRE, Pa.- The Hunter College wrestling team opened its 2025–26 campaign with a strong showing at the Ned McGinley Invitational, highlighted by senior Marc Kleyman's third-place finish at 157 lbs and a dominant 5-1 performance from Jayden Medina at 149 lbs before being sidelined by the six-match daily limit.
Kleyman made an impressive debut for the Purple and Gold, posting a 4-1 record en route to a bronze-medal finish. He tallied a tech fall, a forfeit, and two decision victories to advance to the semifinals, where he narrowly fell 4-1 to Cortland's Colton Havens. Kleyman bounced back with authority, securing third place with an 11-2 major decision over Roger Williams' Tommy Iasiello.
Medina was electric at 149 lbs, racking up five wins on the day before reaching the NCAA's six-match cap. The sophomore opened with a pair of shutouts—a 3-0 decision over Keystone's Michael Palinkas and a 16-0 tech fall against RWU's Gavin McKenna. After a hard-fought 8-6 loss to Stevens Tech's Logan Levine, Medina stormed through the consolation bracket, posting three straight bonus-point victories, including a 16-1 tech fall over York's Jared Schaible, a 14-2 major decision against teammate Christopher Gliaos, and a pin of Stevens' Justin Ciliotta at the 4:09 mark.
At heavyweight, freshman Hayden Roy made an immediate impact in his first collegiate appearance, going 3-2 on the day. After dropping his opener to NYU's Nathan Faxon, Roy responded with three straight wins—a medical forfeit over teammate Lazare Chikhradze, a 9-4 decision against Cortland's Callahan Cortland, and a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Stevens' Ben Rosa.
Junior Botensky Bauzile (133 lbs) added two impressive pins to his resume, sticking RIT's Gurjaan Bhangu in just 1:20 before recording another fall at 5:47 against NYU's Matt Darcy.
Gliaos (149 lbs) showed promise in his Hunter debut, finishing 2-2 on the day. After a narrow loss to top-seeded Vincenzo Napolitano of NYU, Gliaos rebounded with a 24-8 tech fall over Keystone's Ralph Nieves and a 5:45 pin of RIT's Marco Rivera.
At 157 lbs, rookie Anthony Coccarelli also impressed with two wins by fall—pinning USMMA's Samuel Hegel in 1:58 and York's Pierre-Jovan Fuentes in 2:58.
Several other Hawks earned wins in their season debut. Martin Palomeque (157 lbs.) pinned Keystone's Xander Byers in just 1:02 before medically forfeiting. Followed by Jack Kent (165 lbs.) who edged RIT's Logan Williamson with a 6-5 decision. Jordan Fisher (165 lbs.) also earned his first collegiate victory with an 11-7 decision over York's Lahsen Bachir, while Alimkhan Guseinov (197 lbs.) looked sharp in a 13-5 major decision win over Wilkes' Elliot Black.
