WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University head wrestling coach Jon Laudenslager has announced the Colonels 2017-18 schedule as well as the addition of two new assistant coaches who will help out on the mat this season.
 
Wilkes opens the season at the annual King's College Monarch Invitational on November 4^th before hosting the NY/PA Duals on November 11^th with matches against SUNY Cortland, NYU, Mount Saint Vincent and Hunter College.
 
After a trip to the Mount Union Duals in Alliance, Ohio on November 18^th, the Colonels travel to Westminster, Maryland for the McDaniel Duals on December 2^nd. Wilkes will also compete in the Grapple at the Garden event on December 10^th before hosting the 85^th annual Wilkes Open on December 22^nd.
 
The schedule also includes a trip to the NWCA National Duals on January 4^th and 5^th before competing in the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships on January 20^th hosted by King's. Wilkes will host the John Reese Duals on January 28^th before concluding the season with home duals against Ithaca and King's.

Full Schedule
 
Wilkes also welcomed two new assistant coaches to the staff in former Colonels Guesseppe Rea (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) and Andrew Feldman.
 
Rea was a four-year standout for the Colonels, finishing with a 121-29 overall record. Among his many accolades, Rea finished first in his weight class at the 2012 Monarch Invitational, the 2012 Messiah Petrofes, 2014 Wilkes Open, and the 2015 NCAA East Regional where he was named an All-American. Rea finished the 2013-14 season ranked No. 9 at 125-lbs and the 2014-15 season ranked No. 6.
 
Feldman has spent the last seven seasons working his way up the local high school ranks, starting his career as a two-year assistant before spending five seasons as the head coach at Wyoming Valley West where he was named the 2014 PIAA District II AAA Coach of the Year, then moving on to Wyoming Seminary, where he spent the last two years as an assistant.
 
Feldman had a decorated career on the mat for the Navy and Gold, notching three consecutive second-place finishes in the conference tournament from 2008-2010. Feldman was the 2008 champion at 285-lbs at the Monarch Invitational at King's College, was a member of the 2009 Metropolitan Conference team champions, and was an NCAA Division III Academic All-American.