MIDDLETOWN, CT -- The Williams wrestling team
traveled to Connecticut to take on Oneonta State and Little Three
rival Wesleyan University. The Ephs performed well earning two more
wins and raising their school record season win total to 19. "It
was a storng end of the dual meet season for our team with two wins
over very good teams," commented co-head coach Dan DiCenzo.
The Ephs finished the regular season with an impressive 19-4-1
record against the toughest schedule in recent years.
"After the weigh-ins coaches can decide to start at 125 or draw
a weight class and we drew 184," noted DiCenzo. That meant all of
the matches would start at 184.
Jon Foster at 165 iced the dual meet vs. Oneonta State with a huge
pin," said DiCenzo. "Jon was in a back and forth match against
Jimmy Neal and finally got the pin 6:45 into the match."
"Ethan Cohen had been a little under the weather the whole
season and we have asked big things from Ethan time and time again
without a back up to go out and wrestle every match. We made a
risky move to sit him vs. Oneonta, but we felt it was the right
thing to do for his health. Fortunately, other members on the
team really stepped up and helped in a huge win. Tim Kiely
beat a very good 285 wrestler in James Lamonica 6-3. Kiely's
win made it easier for us to sit Ethan as that was the next match."
Senior captain Ethan Cohen, ranked second in New England at 125,
won his showdown bout with the region's top-ranked wrestler Dan
Bloom, 7-2.
Corey Paulish, Dylan Rittenburg, and Carl Breitenstein were
impressive on the day outscoring their six opponents in the two
duals by a score of 64-9. "Corey, Dylan, and Carl, have been
working extremely hard this year and are really trying to take
their wrestling to the next level," DiCenzo stated. "They were very
sharp this past weekend."
Against, Wesleyan the Ephs came out very strong winning six of the
first eight matches to clinch the dual. The capper was Ethan
Cohen beating the Cardinals' Dan Bloom ranked #1 in NEWA and #8 in
the country, 7-2. Dylan Rittenburg beat a very strong
wrestler in Dave Bachy ranked #3 in NEWA with a 4-1 decision.
Ryan Malo continued his impressive season upping his record to 31-1
on the year with a major decision and a pin. Malo now has 20
pins on the year and is one of the top wrestlers in the country in
pins. The 20 pins on the year is a school record for most
pins in a single season.
"We challenged our ourselves to have a very tough and demanding
schedule so I am very excited to have a 19-4-1 dual meet season,"
said DiCenzo. "Our next step is to continue to get better and
to get ready for the conference tournament in two weeks."
Five Ephs have at least 31 wins on the year and two have already
tied the single season mark for most wins in a year at 34, set last
season by Ethan Cohen.
Leading the list of winners this season are juniors Carl
Breitenstein and Dylan Rittenburg who each have 34 wins.
Breitensetein is 34-12, while Rittenburg is 34-9. Ethan Cohen and
sophomore Corey Paulish each have 32 wins and both have lost 7
times. Malo is the fifth Eph with at least 31 wins at 31-1.
The NEWA Championships on February 21 & 22 at Springfield
College will determine the region's top team and the individual
wrestlers who will be advancing to the NCAA Championships in Iowa.
Williams 25, Oneonta St. 21
125 - Carlos Soto (OS) won by forfeit
133 - Eric Johanson (OS) pinned Mike Penza (W), 5:23
141 - Corey Paulish (W) dec. Justin Davey (OS), 10-1
149 - Dylan Rittenburg (W) dec. Rob Preiss (OS), 8-0
157 - Carl Breitenstein (W) dec. Eric Simmons (OS), 11-0
165 - Jon Foster (W) pinned Jimmy Neal (OS), 6:45
174 - Josh Wake (OS) pinned Drew Gatewood (W), 1:55
184 - Michael Hamilton (OS) dec. Nate Shippee (W), 3-2
197 - Ryan Malo (W) dec. Chris Stafford (OS), 11-1
Hwt - Tim Kiely (W) dec. James Lamonica (OS), 6-3
Williams 24, Wesleyan 13
125 - Ethan Cohen (Wlms) dec. Dan Bloom (Wes), 7-2
133 - Chris Alvanos (Wes) dec. Josh Mattana (Wlms), 4-2
141 - Corey Paulish (Wlms) dec Vin deLalla (Wes), 13-5
149 - Dylan Rittenburg (Wlms) dec. Dave Bachy (Wes), 4-1
157 - Carl Breitenstein (Wlms) won by tech. fall over Ahmad
Ismail (Wes), 18-2 (4:37)
165 - Josh Berkovic (Wes) dec. James McCarthy (Wlms), 6-1
174 - Greg Hurd (Wes) dec. Jon Foster (Wlms), 11-1
184 - Nate Shippee (Wlms) dec. Zach Rolfe (Wes), 4-1
197 - Ryan Malo (Wlms) pinned Chris Mixon (Wes), 5:57
Hwt - Dan Conroy (Wes) dec. Colin Curzi (Wlms), 7-1
