Four Ephs Earn Medals at Northeast Regionals

Portland, Maine – David Yeh, Peter Kane, Dante Gutbrod, and William Smith returned to competition today at NCAA Northeast Regionals hosted by the University of Southern Maine. With regional medals and tickets to the NCAA Championships in Salem, Virginia on the line, the level of competition could not have been higher.
 
At 125, Yeh began the day by picking up a 5-3 win by decision in a tightly contested match with Tanner Thatcher of WPI. Unfortunately, his campaign for a top-three finish was cut short in the following match via a major decision loss to Gavin Bradley of Castleton. Yeh exhibited his resilience in the final match of his career, bouncing back from defeat to take fifth place over Joey Manginelli of Springfield who had dealt him his first loss of the tournament yesterday. Head Coach Scott Honecker had this to share about his stellar senior: "It has been such a luxury for the last 5 years to have David starting us off at 125 and knowing we always had a good chance of starting with a win. This was his highest region finish yet and I was glad to see him go out with a strong performance. History will remember David as a rare 4-time region placewinner and 4-time Scholar All-American, but I will remember him as possibly the most consistent athlete to ever come through our wrestling room."
 
At 157, Kane was able to string together three consecutive wins to secure third place in New England, punching his ticket to Salem. After winning by a comfortable 10-point margin in his first match of the day, Kane had to scrap out back-to-back narrow, low-scoring wins by decision against formidable opponents, besting Joe Chapman of Coast Guard Academy 3-1 in the consolation semifinal and Aaron Goldman of Wesleyan 4-1 in the third-place match. Honecker is very excited for his standout rookie who will be stepping onto the biggest stage in two weeks' time, sharing that "He's been our best guy all year, and he really had to strap it up today. After a setback yesterday, he was going to have to win 3 in a row to extend his season.  He made some good adjustments to become more offensive when guys are trying to shut it down against him."
 
At 174, Gutbrod got off to a good start by winning his first bout handily before having his run to NCAAs cut short in the second match of the day. Like Yeh, he responded with a win in the fifth-place match to take home a regional medal for the second consecutive year. Honecker was very proud of the junior and is excited to see what his final season will bring next year: "Dante has made so many sacrifices for his success and the success of the team.  I was pumped to see him finish fifth and have a great tournament.  Although the NCAA qualification eluded him this time, he is still improving and is one of the toughest kids I have ever worked with. I am excited to help set him up for a great senior year next year."
 
Lastly, at 184, after getting out to a perfect 2-0 start on Saturday, Smith faced adversity in his first match of the day against the eventual weight class runner-up in their semifinal showdown. Smith was able to recenter himself and put forth an impressive performance in the consolation semifinal but came out on the wrong side of a sudden victory, ending his bid for a place in Salem. Honecker is excited to see what the future holds for Smith: "Will competed well, and his semifinal appearance locked up a sixth place finish for him. There were some teachable moments along the way, and Will should improve for the lessons learned in this outing. The good news is our guy has a lot of wrestling ahead of him for the Ephs. His first regional placement should bolster his confidence as he heads into Freestyle and Greco this spring."
 
With these four Ephs medaling and another two scoring points, on the team level, Williams was able to take seventh in a field of 19. 
 
Looking ahead, Peter Kane will be in action in Salem starting Friday, March 10th. 
 
The full results for today are below.
 
David Yeh (125) – 5^th Place

• Consolation Round 3: Win by 5-3 decision over Tanner Thatcher (Worcester Polytechnic Institute)
• Consolation Semifinal: Loss by 11-2 major decision to Gavin Bradley (Castleton University)
• 5^th Place Match: Win by medical forfeit over Joey Manginelli (Springfield College)

 
Peter Kane (157) – 3^rd Place
 

• Consolation Round 3: Win by 11-1 major decision over Eric Zane (Rhode Island College)
• Consolation Semifinal: Win by 3-1 decision over Joe Chapman (U.S. Coast Guard Academy)
• 3^rd Place Match: Win by 4-1 decision over Aaron Goldman (Wesleyan University)

 
Dante Gutbrod (174) – 5^th Place
 

• Consolation Round 3: Win by 5-0 decision over Adam Frost (Trinity)
• Consolation Semifinal: Loss by 7-0 decision to Jason Geyer (New York University)
• 5^th Place Match: Win by forfeit over Jayden Curley (Roger Williams University)

 
Will Smith (184) – 6^th Place
 

• Semifinal: Loss by 19-3 tech fall to Edwin Morales (Bridgewater State University)
• Consolation Semifinal: Loss by 11-9 sudden victory to Scotti DuPont (New York University)
• 5^th Place Match: Loss by 3-0 decision to Cole Shaughnessy (Roger Williams University)