Gorham, ME --- Tanner Thatcher (Blairstown, NJ) reached the 125-pound championship bout and was joined on the podium by 174-pounders Ethan Edmondson (Milford, CT) and Ryan Addeche (Foxboro, MA) and 141-pounder Mason Basara (Bethlehem, PA) as the WPI wrestling program traveled to Southern Maine on Saturday to compete in the Ted Reese Invitational.
 
As a team, the Engineers amassed 79 points to place third overall, edging fourth-place Southern Maine (73) and fifth-place SUNY Oneonta (72.5).  Castleton edged Coast Guard by a single point, 173-172, to claim the team title.
                                                               
Thatcher, who is ranked fourth in the NEWA and fifth in the NWCA Northeast Regional rankings, cobbled together three straight wins to reach the finals at 125 pounds.  The junior piled up bonus point victories with consecutive second period falls before posting a 14-2 major decision in the semifinals.  Thatcher was defeated in the finals by second-ranked and top-seeded Gavin Bradley of Castleton.    
   
The Engineers were busy at 174 pounds.  Edmondson, Addeche and Joseph Tully (Carver, MA) all were victorious in Round of 16 bouts with Edmondson and Tully recording first period pins and Addeche a 9-4 decision.  Addeche moved onto the semifinals with a medical forfeit and after a pair of defeats, had his hand raised in victory in the fifth place match.  Edmondson rattled off three straight victories, including a pair of falls, in the wrestle-backs to claim fifth place while Tully and Ryan Hsu (Norwood, MA) both collected pins in consolation bouts. 

Basara used a pin 1:52 into his opening match and a 14-2 major decision to reach the quarterfinals at 141 pounds and then used a 20-3 (4:30) tech fall and a first period pin on his way back to a sixth place showing.  Jerry Hill (Bethel, CT) and Mason Medina (Orlando, FL) also started their days with wins at 141 as Hill registered a second period fall and Medina collected a medical forfeit after jumping out to a 6-1 first period advantage and each amassed wins in the consolation round with Hill notching a pin with just five seconds remaining in the first period and Medina seeing his match end at the end of the first period as a result of a 18-1 tech fall.  Jonah Weber (Avon, CT) provided even more points in the weight class for WPI, rallying from an opening round defeat with a pair of first period falls.
 
Theo Sawyers (Boston, MA) posted three victories at 165 pounds, beginning his day with a 18-2 tech fall at 3:27 and later registering another tech fall, this time a 17-0 count at 3:23, and a pin at 1:18.   Bud West (Concord, MA) and Zachary Rioux (Nashua, NH) both won a pair of matches at 157.  West began with a 10-7 win in SV1 and also had a 17-2 tech fall at the end of the second period and Rioux delivered back-to-back first period falls in the wrestle-backs.
 
Charlie Pavis (Bethlehem, PA) notched a pair of wins at 133 pounds, beginning his day with a pin just 44 seconds in and tacking on a 15-7 major decision.   Lucas Marchese (Branchburg, NJ) and Ethan Wilson (Braintree, MA) both tallied multiple wins at 149 with Marchese starting with 11-4 decision and chipping in with a third period and Wilson seeing his hand raised with a medical forfeit and a first period.  Joe Bernard (Stratham, NH) was a repeat winner at 197, opening action with a hard-earned 8-6 decision and posting a 8-1 triumph in the consolation round.

Other winners for WPI included heavyweight Trevor Bowen (Frenchtown, NJ), who notched a first period pin, Connor Doran (Gales Ferry, CT), who was part of a high-scoring 23-18 victory at 149 and Nicolas LeSieur (Walnut Creek, CA) at 197 pounds.

The Crimson and Gray close out the 2023 portion of their schedule next Saturday with a trip to Bristol, RI to compete in the Scott Vierra Open hosted by Roger Williams.
 
Results