Providence, RI --- Four different WPI wrestlers accounted for nine WPI victories on Sunday as the eighth-seeded Engineers finished in the same position they were seeded as the Crimson and Gray took part in the 2024 New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Dual Meet Championships hosted by Johnson & Wales.
 
WPI began the day by knocking off ninth-seeded Roger Williams 21-18 in the opening round before falling to top-seed and fourth-ranked Johnson & Wales 49-4 in the quarterfinals and then 27-18 to fifth-seeded and No. 21 Springfield 27-18 and seventh-seeded Western New England 29-7 in the consolation rounds.  The top-seeded Wildcats bested second-seeded and No. 6 Castleton 24-12 to claim the championship. 
 
125-pounder Tanner Thatcher (Blairstown, NJ) led the Engineers with three wins, all with bonus points, on the day.  In the opener that was a rematch of a tight dual with the Hawks also won by WPI last weekend, Thatcher got the Boynton Hillers off to a big start with a 16-1 tech fall and the Crimson and Gray surged ahead 11-0 following a Charlie Pavis (Bethleham, PA) pin to beat the buzzer at the end of the second period at 133. 
 
The two teams then rotated wins through the middle bouts with Mason Basara (Bethlehem, PA) claiming a 5-1 triumph at 149 pounds for WPI and Ryan Hsu (Norwood, MA) grinding out a 4-2 victory at 165.   Roger Williams claimed back-to-back wins at 174 and 184 to pull within five points at 17-12, forcing the Engineers to win one of the last two bouts to claim the team advancement.  Coach Matt Oney's squad did not have to sweat out a spot in the quarterfinals as Nicolas LeSieur (Walnut Creek, CA) seized a 12-4 major decision at 197 to assure WPI a spot in the final eight.
 
Joseph Bernard (Stratham, NH) accounted for WPI's lone win versus the Wildcats in the quarterfinal with a 11-3 major decision at 197 pounds.
 
The Engineers captured four bouts in their next match to Springfield, who did not clinch the victory until a win at heavyweight by a regionally-ranked grappler.  Thatcher put WPI ahead at the start with a 14-1 major decision at 125 pounds before Basara and Joey Baisley (Charlotte, NC) pulled off back-to-back wins.  Basara provided some dramatics with a takedown to register an 8-5 win in SV1 at 149 and Baisley posted a 8-0 major decision shutout at 157.   LeSieur gave the Crimson and Gray the chance for the team win with his 13th pin of the season. 
 
WPI won the first two bouts in its final match-up of the day with versus Western New England.  Thatcher, ranked 15th nationally by The Open Mat, won his third match of the day and team-leading 20 victory of 2024-25 with a 9-1 major decision at 125 pounds and Pavis registered a 10-3 triumph at 133 to move to 14-13 in his junior campaign.

The Engineers host their final multi-team event of the regular season on Saturday, welcoming New England College and Southern Maine to Worcester.  Action is slated to begin at 10am in WPI's Sports & Recreation Center.
 
Tournament Results