Oneonta, NY --- Freshman Graysen DeLuca (Canterbury, CT) delivered three wins, including a victory over the reigning regional champion at 157, to key a 2-1 day for the nationally-ranked WPI wrestling team at the Northeast Duals Saturday. The 30th-ranked Engineers defeated RIT, 33-10, before falling to No. 20 Cortland, 28-6, and later rebounding with a 25-12 triumph over Oneonta.
DeLuca opened the day with a 5-2 decision against RIT. He then earned a 5-4 decision to upend the defending regional champion from Cortland, 5-4. The rookie capped off the impressive afternoon with a 14-2 major decision versus Oneonta. Fellow freshman Michael Curtis (Wells, ME) picked up a 7-1 decision versus Cortland and a 9-2 decision against Oneonta, after collecting a forfeit win in the opener at 197 to also earn points in all three of the Engineers contests.
Rookies Pete Nash (Liverpool, NY) and Daniel Wensley (Wakefield, MA) each registered a pin against RIT and classmate Austin Shrewsbury (Westfield, MA) added another in the nightcap to bring the Engineers total to 18 for the month of December. As a result the program will now donate at least 18 presents to Toys for Tots. #PinsForPresents
Nash's pin came at 4:14 in his initial bout of the day and followed up with a 4-3 decision against the 141 pounder from Oneonta. Sophomore Jack Nigro (Closter, NJ) also amassed a pair of wins at 149 as he took a 10-2 major decision in his first bout and tallied a 5-1 decision versus his foe from Oneonta. Junior Brian Amato (Newington, CT) earned a pair of decisions as well at 125 with a 9-2 win against RIT and a narrow 2-1 victory to close out the day against Oneonta.
The RIT match also saw senior Justin Marsh (Upper Black Eddy, PA) and Wensley had their hands raised courtesy of a technical fall (22-5) at 5:54 and a pin at 6:27, respectively. Junior Anton Libsch (Milton, MA) secured an 8-6 decision at 165 while Shrewsbury pinned his 285 opponent at 6:34 to help the Engineers pull away from Oneonta.
WPI (4-1) is off until January 9 when the team heads to Ursinus for the North/South Duals.
