BRIDGEWATER, MA- Today, the Ephs traveled to Bridgewater State University to compete in the NEWA "Headlock for Hunger" Dual Meet Tournament.
The Ephs began the NEWA "Headlock for Hunger" Dual Meet Tournament in fine form. In their first match the Ephs put together a dominant performance, blanking Norwich University 44-0. The Ephs were led by Josh Mattana, Carson Brooks, and Kyle Martin, who all pinned their opponents.
The Ephs second round match pit them against the tournament host Bridgewater State University. Josh Mattana put in yet another strong performance defeating Ken Francis, the number one ranked NEWA wrestler. Coach Hasenfus lauded Mattana's performance saying, "Josh dominated a great wrestler in Ken Francis. Josh has been wrestling better and better as the season has worn on. Every day he comes to practice and leads the team by example, he has worked hard to become a better rider and today he really showed how far he has come today. Josh was able to ride Francis all match and dictated the action."
Senior Corey Paulish manhandled his opponent and earned his second technical fall of the day. Paulish's match ended 3:23 in, with Paulish leading 15-0. "Corey has done a great job battling back from injuries" said coach Hasenfus, "Today he did a great job of controlling his opponents and earned three nice wins." After Paulish's match the Ephs dropped five of six matches and found themselves trailing Bridgewater State University 18-19. The pressure was on sophomore Tom Foote to deliver a victory or the Ephs would lose the chance to compete for a spot on the podium. Foote wrestled a tough, close match and was able to defeat Ricky Caruso by a score of 5-2. The final score of the match was 21-19 with Williams coming out on top.
In the semifinal round the Ephs drew rival Wesleyan University. Wesleyan University was ranked 2nd in New England this past week by conference coaches (Williams was ranked 3rd). On paper both teams were equally matched, but on this day the Cardinal were the better team. Wesleyan got of to a quick start and never looked back on their way to a 28-7. Earning victories for Williams were Ces Antista and Ryan Malo. "We had some close matches against Weslyan (five of the Ephs matches were lost by two or fewer points) but were not able to come out on top of any of them." Hasenfus continued, "Wesleyan wrestled outstanding today and deserved to win the tournament, that being said, I'm really looking forward to meeting them again in two weeks."
Williams' third place match was against a familiar foe. Last Wednesday, Springfield College traveled to Williamstown and defeated the Ephs by a score of 19-15. Unfortunately for the Ephs, Springfield's lineup remained difficult to crack. On this day Williams fell by a score of 21-19. Williams was led by Kaison Tanabe and Ryan Malo who both earned second period pins. Coach Hasenfus singled out 184 pound Mike Lomio for a great tournament. Hasenfus was pleased with his freshman's efforts saying, "Mike was able to beat a great wrestler in Nicholas Camera. Camera lost in the finals of the Roger Williams Invitational and is a very talented wrestler. This victory should give Mike some great momentum as we move deeper into our season"
Overall coach Hasefnus was encouraged by his team's effort today saying, "The guys' wrestled tough today and we got a number of great individual efforts. We are looking forward to having a productive week of practice to regroup and correct some issues that prevented us from coming out on top today. As a team we are looking forward to heading down to New Jersey to compete in the NE/Metro Duals. We will be wrestling against a great TCNJ team as well as two very strong Hunter and NYU squads. This should be a great challenge for our team."
Williams returns to the mats in the NE/Metro Duels which will take place this Saturday, January 29th, at The College of New Jersey.
Williams College (WC) 44 vs. Norwich University (NU) 0
125 Josh Mattana (WC) WBF Robby Zyko (NU) F 1:30
133 Taylor Treadgold (WC) WBD Kyle Brouillette (NU) D 2-1
141 Carson Brooks (WC) WBF Nick Tuminelli (NU) F 1:22
149 Corey Paulish (WC) WBD Josh Kernan (NU) TF-5 16-0; 4:30
157 Darius Charles (WC) WBD Nick Roberts (NU) D 8-5
165 Kyle Martin (WC) WBF Mike Babbin (NU) F 1:40
174 Zeb Levine (WC) WBD Chris Schenk (NU) D 7-3
184 Mike Lomio (WC) WBD Samuel Kent (NU) D 8-5
197 Ryan Malo (WC) WBF FORFEIT F FOR
285 Colin Curzi (WC) WBD Anthony Joyce (NU) D 5-3
Williams College (WC) 21 vs. Bridgewater State University (BSU) 19
125 Josh Mattana (WC) WBD Ken Francis (BSU) M 14-6
133 Kaison Tanabe (WC) WBD Steven McCarthy (BSU) TF-5 16-0; 5:30
141 Jerry Joubert (BSU) WBD Carson Brooks (WC) D 1-0
149 Corey Paulish (WC) WBD Sean Fields (BSU) TF-5 15-0; 3:23
157 Steven Ciaccio (BSU) WBD Darius Charles (WC) D 3-2
165 Ethan Raymond (BSU) WBD Kyle Martin (WC) D 12-5
174 Zachary Bates (BSU) WBD Mir Henglin (WC) M 9-0
184 Mike Lomio (WC) WBD Michael Aiken (BSU) M 11-0
197 Andrew Frazer (BSU) WBF Ryan Malo (WC) F 4:59
285 Tom Foote (WC) WBD Ricky Caruso (BSU) D 5-2
Wesleyan University (WU) 28 vs. Williams College (WC) 7
125 Chris Alvanos (WU) WBD Josh Mattana (WC) D 5-3
133 Maika Nagata (WU) WBD Kaison Tanabe (WC) M 13-5
141 Cesare Antista (WC) WBD Greg Faxon (WU) M 12-3
149 Howard Tobochnik (WU) WBD Corey Paulish (WC) D 3-2
157 Troy Sampson (WU) WBD Darius Charles (WC) D 4-2
165 Tom Oddo (WU) WBD Kyle Martin (WC) D 4-3
174 Kyle Roosa (WU) WBF Zeb Levine (WC) F 3:39
184 Jefferson Ajayi (WU) WBD Mike Lomio (WC) D 2-0
197 Ryan Malo (WC) WBD Luke Erickson (WU) M 11-2
285 Dan Conroy (WU) WBD Tom Foote (WC) D 6-1
Third Place Match 28
Springfield College (SC) 21 vs. Williams College (WC) 19
125 Dru Thomas (SC) WBD Josh Mattana (WC) D 4-2
133 Kaison Tanabe (WC) WBF Jesse Sgaglione (SC) F 3:42
141 Blaze Chatham (SC) WBD Carson Brooks (WC) M 9-0
149 Corey Paulish (WC) WBD Joe Ortiz (SC) M 9-0
157 Steve Flathers (SC) WBD Darius Charles (WC) D 11-4
165 Derrick Longo (SC) WBD Kyle Martin (WC) D 3-2
174 Michael Fish (SC) WBD Mir Henglin (WC) TF-5 15-0; 6:42
184 Mike Lomio (WC) WBD Nicholas Camera (SC) D 10-3
197 Ryan Malo (WC) WBF Anthony Dalesandro (SC) F 3
