WILIAMSTOWN, MA -- Scott Honecker's Williams
College wrestling team (18-2) hosted WPI and Springfield in a
tri-match on Senior Day in the Ephs' historic Lasell Gym in the
last regular season event of the year.
The day also marked the last home appearance of Eph seniors Dan
Evangelakos, Kyle Gaffney,
and Dan
Kurnick.
The crowd anticipated a day of tight matches, as all three teams
were so close in the regional rankings. Williams was particularly
focused on redeeming the earlier season loss against Springfield,
22-20.
The Ephs quickly gained some momentum in their first match
against WPI. Senior Dan Evangelakos secured the first win for the
team. First year Jake Savoca followed with an equally strong
performance, beating his opponent 9-0.
Senior Kyle Gaffney fought a particularly close match. In the
very end of the second period, Gaffney notched a takedown to scrape
out two points after being down for the first round. Gaffney
solidified a 4-3 win.
A series of three pins by the Ephs finalized the win for the
Ephs against WPI. Sophomore Christopher
Chorzepa started it off, battling hard to pin his opponent. He
continued his undefeated season, improving to 30-0. Senior Anthony
Brooks matched Chorzepa's performance, also defeating his opponent
via a pin. Sophomore Ben Wertz finished off the Eph victory with a
quick pin in just 0:48. The Ephs downed WPI 43-4.
Williams rode the momentum from the WPI win into the match
against Springfield. Savoca, again, had a dominant performance
collecting a 14-1 victory.
Garripoli followed the Savoca win with a second round pin to
gain another six points for the Ephs.
In his last match on his home mat, Gaffney came from behind to
win by a fall, putting the Ephs ahead 16-6.
Chorzepa won again to raise his season record to 31-0. After a
quiet first round, Chorzepa found his groove, gaining ten points to
win in a major decision. Chorzepa is the first Eph to post a
perfect regular season record since Tom Prairie '05 did it in
2004-05 when he went 26-0. Prairie is now the head coach at
Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA.
Springfield stole a couple of wins to narrow the margin, but
first year Matt Morris sealed the deal with a victory by fall,
ending his match in just under a minute.
Eph junior Jorge Lopez (157) lost for the first time this season
when Eric Hamrick edged him 5-4. Lopez is currently 20-1 on the
year.
The Ephs secured their 18th win of the year and reversed the
earlier loss to Springfield with a 29-12 victory.
The Ephs wrestled today with the lineup that head coach Scott
Honecker feels is his strongest and will give the Ephs their best
chance at NCAA Northeast Regionals. "I'm really proud of the three
guys who made the dramatic weight move -- Jake Savoca, Tim
Garripoli, and Kyle Gaffney."
"Tim [Garripoli] has been wrestling at a national qualifier
level at 165 all year long and he really earned the right to make a
run at his best weight class, 149," added Honecker.
"I felt like we got everybody's best effort today," said
Honecker. "Gaffney's hitting his groove at just the right time.
We're getting falls and bonus points when we smell blood in the
water. The best thing is we are still a handful of small
adjustments away from everyone wrestling their best at every
weight. We're fortunate enough to be healthy so we can make this a
very developmental next two weeks in preparation for
regionals."
#5 Springfield (S) vs. #7 WPI (WP)
Team Records: WPI (11-12) Springfield (10-7)
|
Weight
|
|
Team Score
|
|
133
|
Tyler Keane (S) Dec. Steve Jendritz (WP) - 10-3
|
3-0 S
|
|
141
|
Tyler Tilbe (WP) Dec. David Colvin (S) - 5-1
|
3-3 T
|
|
149
|
Zach Joseph (S) Tech. Fall Jack Nigro (WP) - 17-1
|
8-3 S
|
|
157
|
Eric Hamrick (S) Maj. Dec. Tanner Burke (WP) -
14-2
|
12-3 S
|
|
165
|
Andrew Tanner (WP) Dec. James Gendler (S) - 1-0
|
12-6 S
|
|
174
|
Justin Marsh (WP) Pin 1:17 Will Henson (S)
|
12-12 T
|
|
184
|
Michael Case (S) Dec. Lucas Muntz (WP)- 3-1
|
15-12 S
|
|
197
|
Hunter Ayen (S) Maj. Dec. Teddy Kostopoulos (WP)-
8-0
|
14-12 S
|
|
HWT
|
Joe Pizzuto (WP) Fall Jake Benedict (S)- 5-4
|
19-18 S
|
|
125
|
Brian Amato (WP) Pin 5:19 Rodney Benjamin (S)
|
24-19 WPI
|
#4 Williams (W) vs. #5 WPI (WP)
Team Records: Williams (17-2) WPI (11-13)
|
Weight
|
|
Team Score
|
|
133
|
Dan Evangelako (W) Dec. Steve Jendritz (WP) - 7-1
|
3-0 W
|
|
141
|
|
7-0 W
|
|
149
|
|
13-0 W
|
|
157
|
|
16-0 W
|
|
165
|
Kyle Gaffney(W) Dec. Andrew Tanner (WP)- 4-3
|
19-0 W
|
|
174
|
|
19-4 W
|
|
184
|
|
25-4 W
|
|
197
|
|
31-4 W
|
|
HWT
|
|
37-4 W
|
|
125
|
Matt Morris (W) Wins by Forfeit Brian Amato (WP)
|
43-4 W
|
#4 Williams (W) vs. #7 Springfield (S)
Team Records: Williams (18-2) Springfield (10-8)
|
Weight
|
|
Team Score
|
|
133
|
Tyler Keane (S) Dec. Dan Evangelakos (W) - 6-2
|
3-0 S
|
|
141
|
Jake Savoca (W) Maj. Dec. David Colvin (S) - 15-1
|
4-3 W
|
|
149
|
Tim Garripoli (W) Pin 3:45 Zach Joseph (S)
|
10-3 W
|
|
157
|
Eric Hamrick (S) Dec. Jorge Lopez (W) - 5-4
|
10-6 W
|
|
165
|
Kyle Gaffney (W) Pin 5:20 James Gendler (S)
|
16-6 W
|
|
174
|
Martin Strenk (W) Dec. Will Henson (S) - 9-3
|
19-6 W
|
|
184
|
Chris Chorzepa (W) Maj. Dec. Michael Case (S) -
10-0
|
23-6 W
|
|
197
|
Hunter Ayen (S) Dec. Anthony Brooks (W) - 5-2
|
23-9 W
|
|
HWT
|
Jake Benedict (S) Dec. Ben Wertz (W) - 11-6
|
23-12 W
|
|
125
|
|
29-12 W
|
Next up for the Ephs is the Futures Tournament at Roger Williams
University in Bristol, RI, on Feb. 22, where five Ephs will
compete: Dan Kurnick (184) , Chris Washington (174), Gabriel
Corrochano (184), and Jacob
Cytrybaum (125).
The following weekend Feb 28 & Mar. 1 the Ephs will compete
in the NCAA Northeast Regionals at Roger Williams University, where
the top three finishers in each weight class earn a berth in the
NCAA Championships in Hershey, PA Mar. 14 & 15.
