Kitzis and McMullan: Beast of the East Champions!

Seminary wrestling had another big weekend at the Beast of the East tournament in Newark, DE this past weekend. Sem wrestlers went into the holiday break on a high note, placing six wrestlers, two champions, and placing third overall, missing the second place spot by just three team points.

Affectionately referred to as "The Beast," the annual mega-event is considered by many as the toughest tournament in the nation, a title openly disputed by another event on Seminary's schedule, the Walsh Ironman Tournament.   More than one hundred teams and hundreds of wrestlers competed for one of fourteen highly coveted Beast of the East titles, a feat Sem was able to accomplish twice this weekend. 

For Senior Simon Kitzis (Newton, MA), it was history repeating. Returning to defend his 2008 Beast title, Kitzis performed admirably, dominating nationally ranked Scott Festejo (Long Branch, NJ) in the semi-finals before vanquishing Sussex Tech's Wendell Cannon in overtime to claim his second title, finishing with a 5-0 tournament record. For Kitzis, who has already committed to wrestle at the University of Missouri next season, winning his second beast title was among his top goals for this season; a goal now accomplished. 

For Senior Michael McMullan (Easton, PA), it was a chance to prove himself. McMullan looked to assert himself as the top heavyweight in the nation in a stacked weight class that included nationally ranked #3 Karl Green (Mt. St. Joseph) and #1 Bobby Telford (St. Marks, DE). McMullan was ranked 6th by Amateur Wrestling News. In the semi-finals, McMullan jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over Green, before pinning him in the first period. In the finals, McMullan won a tightly contested contest over Telford, winning his first Beast of the East title, and throwing down the gauntlet to all other heavyweights in the country. For his efforts, McMullan nearly swept all individual awards at the tournament, winning the award for most team points scored and the outstanding wrestler award along with his individual title.

Seminary performed well at the two day tournament not just individually, but on all fronts, winning third place as well as the Team Sportsmanship Award for class on and off the mat. Seminary had four other placers who performed admirably.

Individual Placements
103 Evan Botwin - 8th
*Evan has placed in both the Ironman AND Beast of the East.

112 Dom Malone - 5th
*Dom has placed in both the Ironman AND Beast of the East.

130 Eric Morris - 5th
*Eric is a freshman, and defeated a senior PA state placer twice at the event.

135 Simon Kitzis - Champion 
*Simon has been a finalist both the Ironman AND Beast of the East.

160 Chris Moon - 5th
*Chris has placed in both the Ironman AND Beast of the East.

285 Michael McMullan - Champion
*Michael has won both the Ironman AND Beast of the East.

Team Scores
1 219.5 Blair 0 0 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
2 163.0 Central Dauphin 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 2
3 160.5 Wyoming Seminary 0 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 1
4 156.0 St Marks 0 0 1 2 0 1 2 0 1 0
5 118.0 Frank W Cox 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 1 0
6 109.0 Eastern Regional 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0
7 98.0 Long Branch 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
8 95.0 Sussex Central 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
9 87.0 Christiansburg 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
10 86.5 Timberlane 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0