WORCESTER -- Dan Wensley (Wakefield, MA), Michael Curtis (Wells, ME), Ronan Ball (Maynard, MA) and Austin Shrewsbury (Westfield, MA) all were victorious twice on Saturday as the nationally-ranked WPI wrestling team went 1-2 in a star-studded home Super Quad in the Sports & Recreation Center.
The No. 20 Engineers defeated SUNY-Oneonta in their middle match after being knocked off 32-9 by No. 5 Wabash (IN) in the opener and before falling 30-6 to No. 3 Johnson & Wales in the finale. In other action, Johnson & Wales triumphed over SUNY-Oneonta 26-16, Johnson & Wales nipped Wabash 20-17, No. 25 Coast Guard rallied to defeat Castleton 31-14, Castleton edged SUNY-Oneonta 20-19 and Wabash defeated Castleton 43-3.
Andrew Ellis (Arlington MA) got WPI into the scoring column after SUNY-Oneonta went ahead 6-0 on a forfeit at 125 pounds with an impressive 17-2 tech fall at 5:27 of his bout at 133 pounds.
The Red Dragons went ahead 10-5 with a win at 141 pounds before the Engineers rattled off six straight victories to secure the team triumph. Eddie Hay (Bangor, PA) got the train rolling with a 6-4 victory at 149 and Ball put the Crimson and Gray ahead for good with a pin just 49 seconds into his bout at 157. WPI then recorded three straights wins by decision - Brendan Marion (Norristown, PA) 5-2 at 165, Chase Lind (Fairfield, CT) 9-5 at 174 and Wensley 3-2 at 184 before Curtis put an exclamation point on the match with a first period pin (2:46) at 197.
Marsh, the fifth-ranked wrestler in the country at 157 pounds got WPI its first points of the day against No. 5 Wabash when he rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to defeat his opponent 13-8. Wensley, the sixth-ranked grappler at 184, also had his hand raised versus the Little Giants after a 6-2 victory while Curtis followed that by posting a 5-1 win at 197.
Versus third-ranked Johnson & Wales it was Ball and Shrewsbury with wins for the Engineers. Ball bested his foe 9-6 at 157 pounds while Shrewsbury closed the day with a 7-1 win at heavyweight.
WPI is off from competition until after final exams and the holiday season. The Engineers are back on the mat on Friday, January 4th and Saturday, January 5th in the NWCA Dual Meet Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. The 24-team event features 15 of the top 21 teams in the latest NWCA Top 25.
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Round #1
No. 5 Wabash 32, No. 20 WPI 9
No. 3 Johnson & Wales 26, SUNY Oneonta 16 (see below)
No. 25 Coast Guard 31, Castleton 14
Round #2
No. 20 WPI 29, SUNY Oneonta 14
No. 3 Johnson & Wales 20, No. 5 Wabash 17 (see below)
Round #3
No. 3 Johnson & Wales 30, No. 20 WPI 6
Castleton 20, SUNY Oneonta 19
Round #4
No. 5 Wabash 43, Castleton 3
Johnson & Wales 28, SUNY-Oneonta 16
Weight Result/Time Running Score
125 Jay Albis (JWU) Pinned Steve Pocze (ONE) 1:06 6-0
133 Bobby Jordan (JWU) Major Dec. Andrew Desousa (ONE) 8-0 10-0
141 Joe Ferinde (JWU) Dec. Ahken Chu (ONE) 9-5 13-0
149 Tyler Brazinski (ONE) Dec. Mitchell Cook (JWU) 4-1 13-3
157 Sam Tenaglia (JWU) Pinned Michael Marcy (ONE) 1:11 19-3
165 Thomas Marrone (ONE) Dec. Bailey O'Brien (JWU) 1-0 19-6
174 Nick Munsch (JWU) Dec. Jacob Mansman (ONE) 5-3 22-6
184 Ryan Marszal (ONE) Major Dec. Ryan DeVico (JWU) 15-3 22-10
197 Michael DiNardo (JWU) Pinned Peter Pjetri (ONE) 4:23 28-10
285 James Bethel (ONE) Pinned Greg Vaughan (JWU) 2:53 28-16
Johnson & Wales 20, Wabash 17
Weight Result/Time Running Score
125 Jay Albis (JWU) Pinned Sunny Nier (WAB) 2:15 6-0
133 Riley Lomenick (WAB) Dec. Bobby Jordan (JWU) 7-3 6-3
141 Joe Ferinde (JWU) Dec. Owen Doster (WAB) 11-8 9-3
149 Da'mani Burns (JWU) Maj Dec. Griffin Schermer (WAB) 12-3 13-3
157 Jared Timberman (WAB) Maj Dec. Thomas Grippi (JWU) 11-2 13-7
165 Kyle Hatch (WAB) Dec. Adrian Gonzalez (JWU) 6-5 13-10
174 Darden Schurg (WAB) Major Dec. Michael Gargano (JWU) 13-3 13-14
184 Khamri Thomas (JWU) Major Dec. Ethan Herrin (WAB) 12-4 17-14
197 Michael DiNardo (JWU) Dec. Levi Miller (WAB) 8-2 20-14
285 Max Bishop (WAB) Dec. Liridon Leka (JWU) 6-1 20-17