Wrestling | 2/16/2020 6:45:00 PM

FAIRFAX, Va. - Five wrestlers earned victories on Sunday afternoon - four with bonus points - but it wasn't enough as the Bloomsburg University wrestling team dropped a 21-19 decision at George Mason University in a Mid-American Conference (MAC) dual at the Patriots' Recreation Athletic Complex. The Huskies dropped to 3-9 overall and 0-7 against MAC opponents while George Mason improved to 8-8 overall and 3-5 in conference action.

Bloomsburg held a 19-17 advantage heading to the final match of the day but George Mason's Jake Slinger was able to knock off redshirt sophomore Michael Porreca (Barto, Pa./Boyertown) by major decision in the heavyweight bout to give the Patriots the two-point victory. Porreca was competing in just his second match of the season with both coming over the weekend.

Things started off well for the Huskies as freshman Christian Gannone (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) and redshirt freshman Josh Mason (New Ringgold, Pa./Blue Mountain) each won by major decision at 125 and 133, respectively, to give Bloomsburg an 8-0 advantage. Gannone defeated Talha Farooq, 14-3, to even his record at 11-11 on the season while Mason posted an 8-0 victory over Josh Jones to improve to 16-6 on the year. Mason has won six of his last eight matches.

However, the Patriots came back with a technical fall by Alex Madrigal at 141 pounds and a pin from Colston DiBlasi at 149 pounds as the hosts took an 11-8 lead through four matches.

Sophomore Alex Carida (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) tied the match at 11-11 with a 3-1 decision over Kolby Ho at 157 pounds. Carida improved to 14-9 on the year as he continues to enjoy a breakout season for the Huskies after winning just eight matches as a freshman a year ago.

George Mason retook the lead at 17-11 with back-to-back decisions at 165 and 174 before the Huskies scored consecutive major decision wins at 184 and 197 to claim a 19-17 advantage.

Redshirt senior Trevor Allard (Mexico, N.Y./Mexico) earned his 20th victory of the year with a 12-2 win over Ali Salem to pull the Huskies to within two points. It was Allard fourth major decision of the season as he improved to 20-2 overall and 11-1 in duals. The victory also pulled him to within nine wins of becoming the 19th member of the 100-win club in program history. Senior Kyle Murphy (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) followed with an 11-3 win over Paul Pierce to give the Huskies a two-point lead heading to the final bout of the day. Murphy moved to 11-12 overall and extended his winning streak to five consecutive matches.

Despite the setback, the Huskies lead the all-time series against the Patriots, 8-5.

Bloomsburg will close the 2019-20 regular season next Sunday, February 23, when it heads to Old Dominion University. Action gets underway at 1:00 p.m.