Bridgewater, MA --- Brian Amato (Newington, CT), Tyler Tilbe (Woodbury, CT) and Mike Perruccio (Pelham, NH) combined to go 12-0 as WPI split four matches to finish sixth at the NEWA Dual Meet Championships hosted by Bridgewater State on Sunday.
The Engineers (8-8), who entered the 14-team event seeded sixth, opened with a 43-6 win over No. 11 Bridgewater State before falling 32-10 to eventual champions No. 3 Roger Williams. WPI rebounded by defeating No. 7 Wesleyan 29-13 and then dropped a 25-9 decision to No. 5 Williams in the fifth place match.
The Crimson and Gray took the first nine bouts against the host Bears including forfeits to start from Amato at 125 pounds, Brian Jennings (Danbury, CT) at 133 and Tilbe at 141. Perruccio, WPI's representative on the all-tournament team, expanded the advantage to 24-0 with a first period pin at 149 before Tanner Burke (Derry, NH) and Austin Brais (Plainville, MA) grinded out decisions at 157 and 165 respectively. Justin Marsh (Upper Black Eddy, PA) posted a 14-2 major decision at 174 while Alex Freilich (Worcester, MA) tacked on a first minute pin at 184 and Teddy Kostopoulos (Milford, CT) closed the spurt with a 7-4 triumph at 197.
WPI jumped out to a 10-3 bulge against Roger Williams in the quarterfinals. Amato and Perruccio bookended the run with wins by decisions in bouts that featured regionally-ranked wrestlers while Tilbe collected a 9-1 major decision at 141 pounds. The Hawks got on track and won the final six bouts and then upset No. 2 Johnson & Wales and top-ranked Springfield to take the crown.
The Engineers bounced back against Wesleyan by claiming the first four match-ups. Amato and Tilbe recorded major decisions while Jennings and Perruccio brought home standard victories by decision. After the Cardinals won a pair of bouts to close to within 14-7, WPI rattled of three of the next four, including a decision from Marsh at 174 and forfeits for Freilich and Peter Salem (Dracut, MA) to secure the win.
Versus Williams, WPI also started out quickly, with wins by decision from Amato, Tilbe and Perruccio but the fifth-seeded Ephs notches wins in the last six bouts to close out the day.
Additionally, the Enginners was honored at the event for having the third-highest GPA among all New England programs. The Crimson and Gray boast a 3.17 GPA. Williams took home top honors.
WPI returns to action Saturday with a tri-meet at Southern Maine with Plymouth State. The action is slated to start at 11:30am.
