BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- Notre Dame competed in an open tournament among mostly NCAA Division I programs at the Binghamton Open on Sunday, and the defending NAIA Champions acquitted themselves well, winning one weight class and placing two athletes. (Results)

The top-ranked (NAIA Coaches' Preseason Poll) Falcons locked horns with numerous Top-40 (InterMat) teams in 10 sets of brackets that featured 300-plus wrestlers from many of the top programs in the East. NDC sent nine grapplers to the event, wrestling in every division except 133 and 197 pounds.

Heavyweight #Orlando Scales# highlighted Notre Dame's participation in the Binghamton Open by going 4-0 to win his weight division. Scales won the title bout over Columbia's (N.Y.) Kevin Lester with a 9-4 decision after a pair of one-point wins (21 and 4-3) earlier in the day. The sophomore from Cincinnati won his first bout of the day with a pin of Caleb Blaney (Brown-R.I.) in 3:30. An NAIA runner-up last March, Scales is off to a 7-0 start to the season.

Fellow All-American #Jeffrey Pelton# went 3-2 with a fall to claim sixth place at 149 pounds. He was one of six Falcons to post winning records on the day. NDC's nine grapplers posted a combined record of 24-17 in Binghamton.

“This was a great day for us,” said Head Coach #Frank Romano#. “The teams that were here included some of the best in all of college wrestling, and our guys are going to take a lot of positives away from this experience.”

#Ashtin Primus# -- Pelton's stablemate at 149 -- went 3-2 on the day. Other NDC athletes posting winning records in Binghamton were #Kevin Hardy# (3-2 at 165), #Jon Bittenger# (3-2 at 174) and #Alex Denman# (4-2 with two pins at 184).

The Falcons are slated to be back on the mat on Saturday, Nov. 20, when they compete at the National Catholic Invitational in Erie, Pa. NDC is the two-time defending champion at the NCI; last year (Nov. 7, 2009) Falcon grapplers earned eight Top-3 finishes in Erie.


NOTES FROM THE NEST …

WHERE THE ELITE MEET TO COMPETE: Sunday's tournament featured seven teams that earned Top-40 marks in the most recent InterMat NCAA-I rankings (Nov. 9). Most prominent among that group was Cornell (N.Y.), which is the current No. 1 in the land in InterMat, the National Wrestling Coaches' Association and most other Division I polls. … Sunday's event featured wrestlers from 22 teams. It was hosted by Binghamton University at the 5,000-seat Events Center on the BU campus.

TIPPING THE SCALES WITH WINS AND PINS: With his 7-0 start to the season, Orlando Scales is now 34-4 in his collegiate career. The big sophomore from Elder High School (Cincinnati) is one of four NDC grapplers ranked as an NAIA No. 1 in the NAIA Coaches' Preseason Poll (#Derek Foore#, Jeffrey Pelton, #Thomas Straughn#).

IVY-COVERED MATS: Six of the teams that competed at the Binghamton Open are members of the Division-I Ivy League. Brown (R.I.), Columbia (N.Y.), Cornell, Harvard (Mass.), Penn (Pa.), Princeton (N.J.) all had wrestlers competing in the event, although some were wrestling unattached.