Photo
Gallery
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA- An undermanned Williams
College team, without star wrestlers Dylan Rittenburg, Corey
Paulish, and Nate Shippee fell to a determined American
International squad, 21-18. The match was tied going into the final
bout which AIC narrowly won.
The match was marked by a series momentum swings with the Ephs
storming out to an early lead. Senior Josh Mattana got the match
going with a win over Este Lara, 4-2. In the first period Mattana
was taken down early but managed to escape and scored a take down
of his own. After choosing down to start the second period, Mattana
quickly escaped. The rest of the match was marked by a series of
stalemates with Mattana dictating the pace of play.
Kaison Tanabe, wrestling at 133, controlled Brian Clay for the
majority of the match. After quick Clay escape, Tanabe was able to
gain a crucial takedown with just five seconds left in the first
period. Tanabe decided to take top in the final period and rebuffed
all of Clay's attempts except for a last second reversal.
Tanabe had 4:36 in riding time and won the match 9-6.
Ces Antista, wrestling up a weight class due to the absence of
Dylan Rittenburg, looked sharp. Antista took down Anthony Cortright
just ten seconds into the match. Antista successfully completed a
series of tilts and was leading 9-0 after the first. To begin the
second period Antista found himself on bottom, and quickly scored a
reversal, he went on to pin Cortright a minute later. At the time
of pin Antista was up 11-0. By virtue of their strong lightweight
wrestlers the Ephs led AIC 12-0.
The 149 pound match featured Anthony Miceli, wrestling in his first
dual meet of the season, against Sam Gauvine. Miceli wrestled hard
but fell by a score of 16-6.
Reigning NEWA Wrestler of the Week Carl Breitenstein was unable to
slow AIC's spirited comeback. His match against Ronald
Tetreault was tied at zero heading into the third period.
Breitenstein chose down in the final frame and scored an early
escape. However, Tetreault was able to take down Breitenstein 1:10
into the final period. With 20 seconds left in the match, the ref
reset action to the center of the mat. Breitenstein attempted a
gramby role and was rebuffed. The match ended with Tetreault
winning by a score of 2-3.
The Ephs lost another tough match at 165. Junior Jon Foster,
wrestling against Martain Thompson, faced a steady dose of single
leg take down attempts. Foster was able to fight off the majority
of Thompson's attempts and at the end of the second period
the match was tied 2-2. With 27 seconds l
eft in the 3rd period Thompson finally nailed a take down. Foster
scored an escape but was unable to put any more points on the board
and fell by a single point, 3-4.
After two more Eph losses, one by tech fall and the other by a
decision, Williams found themselves down six points in the team
score 12-18. In the 197 pound bout Williams sent out junior stud
Ryan Malo against AIC's Wausa Onigbanjo. After over two
minutes of fierce wrestling with both wrestlers trading reversals,
Malo caught Onigbanjo in a compromised position and scored a pin at
2:29. Malo's pin tied the team scores going into the final
match.
In the deciding match, Williams sent out Colin Curzi while AIC
countered with Casey Hines. Curzi found himself down 2-4 after the
first period. In the second Curzi managed to escape after just 4
seconds. Curzi and Hines were engaged in a stalemate until four
seconds left in the period where Hines managed a takedown. Curzi
entered the third period down by a single point. After a hard
fought third period marked by a series of near takedowns and
brilliant escapes Hines managed one final take down and defeated
Curzi 4-8 and won the match for AIC.
Head Coach Dan DiCenzo had this to say about the contest,
“Tonight I knew we would have a tough match. They have
several scholarship wrestlers on their roster while we had five
wrestlers out; we needed our depth to show. We had tight matches at
285, 157, and 165 with some of our best wrestlers but just fell
short. Give AIC a lot of credit for coming out here and wrestling
hard.”
The loss drops the Ephs to (6-3). They look to get back on track
this Saturday in a quad meet at Plymouth State.
Williams College 18, American International 21
Weight Result Score/Time Running Score
125 Josh Mattana (WC) Dec. Este Lara (AIC) 4-2 3-0
133 Kaison Tanabe (WC) Dec. Brian Clay (AIC) 9-6 6-0
141 Ces Antista (WC) pinned Anthony Cortright (AIC) 4:01 12-0
149 Sam Gauvine (AIC) Maj Dec. Anthony Miceli (WC) 6-16 12-4
157 Ronald Tetreault (AIC) Dec. Carl Breitenstein (WC) 2-3 12-7
165 Martin Thompson (AIC) Dec. Jon Foster (WC) vs. 3-4 12-10
174 Jason Pagan (AIC) Tech Fall Mir Henglin (WC) 7-23 12-15
184 Yaakov Bloch (AIC) Dec. Andrew Gatewood (WC) 3-7 12-18
197 Ryan Malo (WC) Pinned Wausa Onigbanjo (AIC) 9-4 2:29 18-18
285 Casey Hines (AIC) Dec. Colin Curzi (WC) 4-8 21-18
