SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Buoyed by five top-six finishes, including a title at 285-pounds, the Centenary University wrestling finished second at the prestigious and challenging Doug Parker Invitational hosted by Springfield College on Saturday.

"I'm extremely proud of these men," said head coach John Garriques. "I asked them before the tournament to set the tone and above all make sure Centenary was known here today. Coming in second out of 14 teams surely made that statement."

Senior Kevin Mulligan claimed the individual title at 285-pounds to lead the Centenary efforts. Mulligan went 4-0 on the day with all four of his victories coming via the fall. He started his day with a fall in 1:49 over Thomas Radzik of Trinity. Mulligan followed that up with a fall in 1:50 versus Roark Ryan of Southern Maine. In the semifinals he took down Travis Manick of Rhode Island in 1:29. Mulligan took home the title with a fall in 2:08 over Tim Ganuncio of Coast Guard.

Sophomore Xavier Pena took home third place at 141-pounds for the Cyclones. He went 4-1 on the day, picking up a pair of wins by fall and one by major decision. Pena started his day with a fall in 2:52 versus Aiden Hebert of Trinity. He followed that up with fall in 1:17 over Asa Brunk of Messiah. Pena moved to 3-0 on the day with a 7-1 decision over CJ Shea of Wesleyan. Pena's only loss of the day came by a 10-4 decision to Chris Trelli of Springfield, who's ranked #4 in this week's coaches poll. Pena bounced back with an 11-2 major decision win over Caden Mareno of Coast Guard to finish third.

Sophomore Keevon Berry went 2-2 at 197-pounds and took home a fourth place finish. Berry started his day with a 12-4 major decision over Will Shiber of Johns Hopkins. He followed that up with a 8-3 decision against Anthony Mears of Southern Maine. Berry was then tripped up by Coy Spooner of Coast Guard. In the third place bout, Berry suffered a tough 7-5 loss by decision to Mike Massa of Johns Hopkins.

Senior Justin Hopman continued his strong start to the season with a sixth place finish at 184-pounds. He was 3-2 on the day for the Cyclones. Hopman started his day with a 17-9 major decision over Marcus Brown of Wesleyan. He then suffered a hard fought 5-3 loss by decision to Jett Tancsik of Rhode Island. Hopman bounced back with a tech fall (16-1) over Cory Grifka of Western New England. He then took  down teammate, Angelo Piazza by a 12-5 decision. Hopman suffered a major decision to William Smith of Williams in the fifth place bout.

Senior Aidan Fernandez went 4-2 on the day and finished sixth at 174-pounds for the Cyclones. Fernandez was tripped up by Casey Allen of Springfield in his first match of the day. He bounced back with a fall in 4:55 over Dylan Sofield of Trinity. He followed that up with a fall in 51 seconds over Jared Butler of Messiah. After a win by medical forfeit, Fernandez got a second chance against Allen of Springfield. That time, Fernandez was victorious by fall. He then suffered a hard fought 7-5 loss by decision to Juan Vernaza of Southern Maine.

The Cyclones are off until Sunday, Dec. 5 when they host the Bob Quade Cyclone Open.