Bristol, RI --- The WPI wrestling team began its 2013-14 campaign Saturday at the Roger Williams Invitational. Mike Perruccio (Pelham, NH) reached the semifinals at 149 pounds while Justin Marsh (Upper Black Eddy, PA) was a placewinner at 165 and Tyler Tilbe (Woodbury, CT) advanced to the quarterfinals at 141. As a team, the Engineers totaled 37 points at the event that saw Messiah edge Johnson & Wales and Cortland State to claim the team title.
Perruccio began his march to the semifinals with a first period pin versus Norwich, a narrow 3-2 decision against MIT and a solid 8-1 win over Roger Williams. In the semifinals he suffered a technical fall to the nationally-ranked (10th) wrestler from Stevens and then finished sixth after a medical forfeit in the consolation round.
Marsh opened with a first period pin against Coast Guard and followed with a 10-3 decision against Roger Williams. After a loss in the quarterfinals to his opponent from Messiah by pin, Marsh rallied to place with a first period pin versus Wesleyan and a 9-6 victory against Stevens. Following a pin his opponent from Johnson & Wales, the sophomore rallied to finish fifth by pinning the same wrestler from Messiah that had pinned him in the quarterfinals.
Tilbe began his day by grinding outs a pair of decisions against opponents from Stevens (7-1) and Roger Williams (4-1) before falling 7-6 in sudden victory to a nationally-ranked (7th) wrestler from Cortland State. He bounced back with a 16-0 technical fall against a different wrestler from Stevens and then was edged 6-5 by a competitor from Wesleyan.
Matt Taber (Berkley, MA) and Everett Wenzlaff (Natick, MA) both registered multiple wins for the Engineers. Taber recorded a 9-4 triumph against Bridgewater State and a technical fall against Roger Williams at 149 while Wenzalaff posted 4-1 and 6-3 victories respectively over his opponents from Roger Williams and Johnson & Wales. Also earning valuable points with consolation wins were Zachary Rahl (Pittsgrove, NJ) with 14-7 decision against Bridgewater State and Joe Pizzuto (Liverpool, NY) and Lucas Muntz (West Hartford, CT) with first period pins versus Sothern Maine and Messiah.
Also competing for the Crimson on Gray on Saturday werw Ben Bianchi (Lexington, MA) at 125 pounds, Dylan Martel (Griswold, CT) at 133. Tanner Burke (Derry, NH) at 157, Austin Brais (Plainville, MA) and Anton Libsch (Milton, MA) at 165, Alan Snapp (Castine, ME) at 174, Ed Caputo Jr. (Cranston, RI) at 197 and Peter DiMaggio (Westford, MA) at heavyweight.
WPI opens up the home portion of its schedule next Saturday with a tri-match against Southern Maine and Norwich. The first match is slated for a noon start in the Sports and Recreation Center.
Results via Track Wrestling
