Worcester, MA --- Roger Williams captured the last five bouts of the match to rally to defeat host WPI 28-12 in NEWA wrestling action on Wednesday evening. Later in the evening, WPI defeated Bryant by a score of 24-3, while Roger Williams also knocked off Bryant 25-0.
Trailing 12-8, Roger Williams picked up a win at 165 pounds by Robbie Crothers (Medford, NY) before 174-pounder Kenneth Ford (Meriden, CT) notched a tech fall to give the Hawks a lead they would not relinquish. After back-to-back wins from twin brothers James Woods (Demarest, NJ) and Dan Woods (Demarest, NJ) at 184 and 197, the visitors closed out the scoring with a forfeit at heavyweight.
Roger Williams had opened the match with major decisions by Michael Trayser (Dublin, OH) and Jeremiah Mahoney (Madison, CT) at 125 and 133. WPI then stormed backed with three consecutive victories, including decisions by Alex LaBeef (Pomfret, CT) and Matt Wainwright (North Attleboro, MA) at 141 and 149, followed by a pin by 157-pound Tyler Howe (Danbury, CT). Howe's win, his tenth of the season by pin, improves his record to 22-6 on the year.
WPI then stormed out of the gates versus Bryant, tallying pins in first three contested bouts. Dan Metcalf (Westerly, RI) at 125 pounds, Wainwright at 149 and Howe at 157 gave the Engineers an insurmountable 18-0 edge. After Bryant's Jaret Grossman picked up a hard-earned 3-2 decision at 197 pounds, WPI's Scott Guzman (Acton, ME) wrestling up a class at heavyweight, concluded the match with a pin.
Roger Williams won all five of the contested bouts versus Bryant en route to a 25-0 victory. Dustin Conner (Glen Rock, PA), Chris Nadeau (Granby, CT) and Phil Kelly (Quincy, MA) racked up pins at 157, 165 and 285 respectively while 125-pounder Jonathan Lemoine (Trumbull, CT) and 197-pounder Diller Lawler (Verona, NJ) tacked on wins by decision.
The tri-meet marked the end of the regular season for both WPI (10-8) and Roger Williams (16-8). Both teams will compete next weekend at the NEWA Championships. The two-day event, hosted by Springfield, begins on Saturday, February 21st. RWU will also have wrestlers competing in the New England Sub-Varsity Championships, Sunday, Feb. 15, also at Springfield College.
Story written by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Athletics Department
Roger Williams 28, WPI 12
Weight Match Winner Result Match Loser Score
125 Mike Trayser-RWU Major Dec. Dan Metcalf-WPI 16-3
133 Jeremiah Mahoney-RWU Major Dec. Stephen Poppa-WPI 10-2
141 Alex LaBeef-WPI Dec. Chris O'Shea-RWU 8-1
149 Matt Wainwright-WPI Dec. Kyle D'Urso-RWU 10-4
157 Tyler Howe-WPI Pin Alex Roth-Honigfeld-RWU 3:34
165 Robbie Crothers-RWU Dec. Joe Vanni-WPI 9-4
174 Kenneth Ford-RWU Tech Fall Kenneth Adams-WPI 16-0
184 James Woods-RWU Dec. Garrett Yablonski-WPI 6-3
197 Dan Woods-RWU Dec. Scott Guzman-WPI 5-3
HWT Phil Kelly-RWU Win by Forfeit ----
RWU 25, Bryant 0
Weight Match Winner Result Match Loser Score
125 Jonathan Lemoine-RWU Dec. Matt Moore-BRY 12-2
133 No Contest ----
141 No Contest ----
149 No Contest ----
157 Dustin Conner-RWU Pinned Joe Becker-BRY 1:57
165 Chris Nadeau-RWU Pinned Colin Clark-BRY 3:36
171 No Contest ----
184 No Contest ----
197 Dillon Lawler-RWU Dec. Jaret Grossmen-BRY 8-5
HWT Phil Kelly-RWU Pinned Josh Labosier-BRY 1:23
