Hawks eighth in New England Wrestling Championships

Springfield, Mass. - The 32nd annual New England Wrestling Association Championships held at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass., finished with the Hawks taking eighth place among the 14 teams, earning 46 points. Williams College took the title with 128.5 points overall.

Springfield College took second place with 100.5 points, while both Wesleyan College and Johnson & Wales tallied 95 points to tie for third.

Junior Nick Cambi (Cohasset, Mass.) performed very well in the two-day event, advancing all the way into the Finals, falling only in the end to top-seeded Ryan Malo (Georgetown, Mass.) of Williams. After posting two pins Saturday at 2:36 and another at 5:17 he advanced to defeat Johnson and Wales' Patrick McCrohan (Berkley, Mass.), Sunday, 3-2; TB1. Against Malo, Cambi battled into the final period when he was pinned at 6:35. He moved on in the double-elimination tournament to defeat Luke Erickson (Bloomington, Minn.) from Wesleyan, 8-2, giving him another shot at Malo in the Finals. Proving again why he was the top seed, Malo defeated Cambi with a win by fall at 4:11.

Freshman Philip Ernst (Succasuanna, N.J.), wrestling at 184, also had an strong tournament beginning with a 2-1 victory in his first match followed by a tight 7-5 win in the sudden victory period over Williams' Nathan Shippee (Bolton, Conn.). Sunday he fell to top seed and eventual champion Brennan Ward (Waterford, Conn.) of Johnson and Wales, and eventually finished third place overall.

Wrestling at 165, senior Kyle Rodgers (Danbury, Conn.) easily won his first match Saturday morning, 13-0. He fell 6-4 in his next match, but bounced back for a 9-1 win to continue in the consolation bracket. There he defeated Ben Speicher (Boston, Mass.) from Trinity, 9-4, but fell in a tight bout to Ethan Raymond (Middlebury, Vt.) from Bridgewater State College, 3-2. In the fifth-place match he easily defeated his opponent from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 17-1.

At 174, senior Chris Nadeau (Granby, Conn.) also won his first match, 6-2, before a loss moved him to the consolation bracket. There he posted his second victory, 13-6, to continue in Round 4C. There he met a strong Joe Manley (Wayland, Mass.) from Rhode Island College and dropped the decision, 15-2.

In the heavyweight division, Bennett Kissane (Tranquility, N.J.) recorded a 2-2 record, shutting-out his first opponent, 4-0, before getting downed by eventual champion Jamison Sacco. In the consolation bracket he earned a tight 2-1 victory before his elimination by pin at 4:20 of his next match.

Freshman Kaare Stokdal (Olive Bridge, N.Y.) and sophomore Martin Mitchell (Laurel, Md.) recorded 1-2 records wrestling at 125 and 141, respectively.

The final brackets can be seen by clicking here. Team scores are posted here.

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