WORCESTER -- WPI wrestling captured eight of 10 bouts, including five by fall, as the Engineers capped the dual meet portion of its schedule with a 40-6 victory over visiting Western New England in a New England Wrestling Association match under the spotlight in Harrington Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.
WPI concludes its dual meet campaign with an 8-12 mark, with five wins in its last nine outings while the Golden Bears end their dual meet slate with a 6-10 overall record.
Prior to the match, the Crimson and Gray honored nine seniors including Jared Bushnell (Rutland, MA), Chris Cook (Mount Kisco, NY), Caden Crist (Westerville, OH), David Gibson (Goffstown, NH), Adam Marsh (Upper Black Eddy, PA), Joe Martin (Boca Raton, FL), Tyler Riggs (North Scituate, RI), Julian Robles (Westwood, RI) and Lucas Wilson-Wuestefeld (Barrington, RI).
The two teams traded wins by decision to start the match before the hosts broke up the match with four consecutive bonus point victories. Seventh-ranked Tanner Thatcher (Blairstown, NJ) got WPI on the board at 125 pounds with a 5-0 shutout before Austin Monteiro (Wilbraham, MA) pulled back three points for the Golden Bears with a 11-5 triumph at 133.
The Engineers began their bonus point spurt with back-to-back first period pins. Cook got it started at 141 pounds when he finished his opponent at 1:49 and Ethan Wilson (Braintree, MA) quickly followed at 149 with a fall at 2:08. Tommy Dell'Aera (Eastchester, NY), ranked eighth in the NEWA and 20th nationally by The Open Mat, claimed a 13-4 major decision at 157 and, in a match-up of NEWA-ranked wrestlers at 165, Mario Barberio (Muncy, MA) pinned his foe at 3:48.
Jaylen Hawkins () got Western New England back into the win column at 174 pounds, coming from behind to win 8-7. From that point on, it was all WPI seniors, as Gibson, wrestling for the first time since early December posted a dramatic 6-5 win in SV1 and seventh-ranked 197-pounder Riggs and heavyweight Wilson-Wuestefeld ended the match with consecutive first period falls.
Both teams turn their attention to the postseason with the NEWA Futures Tournament on Sunday, February 19th at Western New England and then in two weeks with the two-day NCAA Division III Northeast Regional at Southern Maine on Saturday, February 25th and Sunday, February 26th.
