Ephs Take Down Hunter College Amid Tough Competition at NEWA/METRO Duals

BRIDGEWATER, MA – The Williams College Wrestling Team took part in the 2018 NEWA/METRO duals today at Bridgewater State University. Competition began at 12:00 pm and ran throughout the day. 

The annual duals meet pits three New England Wrestling Association Teams against three Metropolitan New York Teams in a series of matches.  This year the New England Teams are Williams College, Bridgewater State University, and Roger Williams University.  The Metropolitan teams are Centenary University, Hunter College, and The College of New Jersey.   The Ephs got a chance to compete against each of the Metropolitan teams.

Williams college Wrestling completed the day 1-2 amidst a very competitive field of teams.  Their convincing defeat of Hunter College was followed by two close losses to The College of New Jersey and Centenary University. Head coach Scott Honecker commented on the Ephs' efforts today: "Today was a tough slate with two nationally ranked opponents in TCNJ and Centenary.  With a short week coming off the New England duals our goals were to wrestle hard and show improvement.  Our guys answered the bell.  We opened with Hunter and really slammed the door on them by recording 4 falls and rolling to victory.  In the TCNJ and Centenary matches we really competed hard.  The most important thing is we showed growth as a team, improving both technically and with our fitness over the last time out.  Although we can see the postseason on the horizon, we are still improving physically and technically.  We have a full month to take advantage of and I know this group is going to make great strides." 

Williams wrestling began the day against Hunter College.  The Ephs had a strong start, taking the first eighteen points.  Senior Matt Morris set the tone with a quick 0:41 pin.  Junior Ben Morton followed suit with a 2:07 pin.  First Year Joseph Rosetti won another six points via forfeit. 

It was not until the 4^th match that the Hawks got on the score board.  However, a series of close matches in the 141, 149, 157, 165, and 174 weight divisions ended in Hunter College victories.  Their success brought the score to 18-14. 

Even this impressive rally was not enough to overcome the Ephs.  A forfeit to senior Carl Sangree put the score at 24-14.  Junior Sebastian Dziadkiewicz and Sophomore Nicholas Beauchamp finished the match with two successive pins in 0:43 and 5:19 respectively.

The matches' final score was Williams College 36, Hunter College 14.

FINAL SCORE: Williams 36, Hunter 14

Start Time: 12:00 PM     End Time: 12:51 PM

In the Ephs second match of the day they faced off against difficult opponent, The College of New Jersey.  The College of New Jersey won their first match of the day against Roger Williams University 19-12 and their third match against Bridgewater State 47-0.  Matt Morris maintained his earlier success with a 4-2 win to put Williams up 3-0 to start the match. 

The Lions captured the 133 and 141 pound weight divisions to bring the score to 7-3.  However, Junior Brendon Seyfried rallied with a 7-4 victory over his opponent to make the score 7-6.  Unfortunately, The College of New Jersey edged out Williams Competitors in the rest of the remaining matches.

The final score was 35-6 in favor of The College of New Jersey.   

FINAL SCORE: TCNJ 35, Williams 6

Start Time: 1:50 PM    End Time: 3:03 PM

In the Ephs final competition they were pitted against Centenary University.  Centenary University came into the match undefeated on the day after defeating Bridgewater State University 39-12, and Roger Williams University 21-19. 

Centenary took an early 3-0 lead with a win at 125 pounds.  Ben Morton evened the score with a strong 9-7 victory over his opponent.  However, Centenary earned well fought victories in the next two matches to bring the score to 11-3.  First year Brendan Kiernan recorded a win in his first match of the day to make the score 11-6.

Regrettably, other than Carl Sangree's dominant 4:53 pin over his adversary, the Cyclones defeated the rest of the Williams College representatives.

The final score of the match was Centenary University 31, Williams College 12.

FINAL SCORE: Centenary 31, Williams 12

Start Time: 3:20 PM    End Time: 4:33 PM

The NEWA/METRO Duals marks the end of the Ephs' contests for January.  Their next chance at competition will be on February 3^rd when they travel to Wesleyan University to take on Wesleyan, Ithaca, and SUNY Oneonta. 

COMPLETE RESULTS