WORCESTER -- RIC's
Dillon Carter (Yorktown Heights, NY) and
Brett Redner (Butler, NJ) rallied from double digit deficits to record pins to spark the Anchormen to a 33-10 victory over host WPI under the spotlight on Senior Night inside Harrington Auditorium on Saturday evening.
RIC closes out the regular season with a 12-5 mark with WPI completes the 2023-24 regular season campaign with a 6-11 overall record.
Prior to the match, the Engineers honored seniors
Mario Barberio (Muncy, PA) and
Tommy Dell'Aera (Eastchester, NY) and manager
Alden Johnson as part of the Senior Night festivities.
With the meet beginning at 157 pounds, Carter found himself in a 14-1 hole before turning the bout totally around with a fall at 3:39. The visitors continued its strong start as
Christopher McCarthy (Middletown, NJ) posted a 10-2 major decision at 165 to give the Anchormen a 10-0 edge.
The Engineers dented scoring column at 174 pounds as
Ethan Edmondson (Milford, CT), the eighth-ranked wrestler in the Northeast region used a late period takedown to claim a 11-3 major decision. The next bout featured a pair of regionally-ranked grapplers at 184 and RIC's #6
Matt Kelly (Katonah, NY) upset the fourth-ranked WPI wrestler with a 17-5 major decision.
WPI was able to close the gap to 14-7 at intermission when
Nicolas LeSieur (Walnut Creek, CA) fended off a late surge to delivery a 5-4 upset of the region's eighth-ranked 197-pounder. The junior is now 10-5 on the season after missing the start of the campaign.
After the break, #7 heavyweight
Edison Guarcas (Providence, RI) pushed the RIC advantage to 20-7 with a first period at 2:23.
The Engineers then got back into the win column in the next match as #7
Tanner Thatcher (Blairstown, NJ) upended the No. 5 wrestler in the region 10-4. It was the team-leading 28th victory this season for Thatcher, who has only been defeated four time in 32 outings this winter.
The hosts appeared poised to get back into the meet as they lead 17-5 in the third period at 133 pounds, but similar to the opening bout of the evening, Redner flipped the matchup on its head with a pin at 6:12 to assure the Anchormen the victory with two matches remaining. RIC closed out the triumph with
Hunter Lundberg (Putnam Valley, NY) collecting a 11-2 major decision at 141 and
Mike Pestana (North Bergen, NJ) posting a 2-0 shutout at 149.
Both teams now focus on the postseason which begins on Sunday, February 25th with the NEWA Futures Tournament at Western New England and continuing the following weekend when WPI hosts the 20-team NCAA Division III Northeast Region Championship in the Sports & Recreation Center on Saturday, March 2nd and Sunday, March 3rd.
Results
