Providence, RI --- WPI and host Rhode Island College alternated bout victories before Adam Marsh (Upper Black Eddy, PA) rallied from an early deficit at 174 pounds and the trio of Ethan Edmondson (Milford, CT), Tyler Riggs (North Scituate, RI) and Lucas Wilson-Wuestefeld (Barrington, RI) registered first period pins to propel the visiting Engineers to a 33-11 victory in a New England Wrestling Association match-up on Friday evening.
WPI has now won four of its last seven contests and is 7-11 on the season while the Anchormen dip to 9-10 overall.
The two squads were on the seesaw to start the evening. Tanner Thatcher (Blairstown, NJ), the seventh-ranked NEWA wrestler at 125 pounds, got the Crimson and Gray off on the right foot by posting an 8-4 victory. Rhode Island College broke into the win column when Kwesi Amoa (Central Islip, NY) delivered an 11-1 major decision at 133 before WPI's Chris Cook (Mount Kisco, NY) recorded the Engineers first of four falls on the night with a pin at 4:07.
The hosts countered when Jensen Offerman (Huntington, NY) registered a 4-0 shutout at 149 pounds to close the team score to two points at 9-7. Tommy Dell'Aera (Eastchester, NY), ranked 20th in the latest The Open Mat rankings at 157 grinded about a 4-2 decision for Engineers before RIC's Nathan Lackman (Wernersville, PA), a 2022 NCAA Champion and the top-ranked wrestler in the country at 165, compiled a 12-3 major decision for his eye-popping 52nd straight victory over Division III opponents and in the process, closed the WPI advantage to one at 12-11.
The Anchorman looked like they grabbed momentum at that point and quickly got a takedown and a four-point near fall in the opening seconds of the 174-pound bout, but Marsh came storming back with a quick escape and takedown to begin to build significant riding time bulge and eventually took the lead in the second and cruised to a 12-7 triumph. From that point, it was all WPI as Edmondson bumped up a weight class to collect a pin late in the first period (2:37) at 184 pounds and Riggs, ranked seventh in the NEWA at 197, followed with a fall at 2:22 and Wilson-Wuestefeld capped the run of pins with one of his own at 1:36.
WPI closes out the regular season with a pair of dual matches next weekend. The Engineers head to Springfield next Friday to tangle with the Pride at 7pm and entertain Western New England at 3pm the following day as part of Senior Day in Harrington Auditorium. Rhode Island College has a busy day tomorrow, traveling to Roger Williams for a 10am matchup before venturing north to New England College for 6pm contest.
