Bridgewater, MA- The Roger Williams University wrestling team made history on Saturday, January 23rd at the New England Duals. The Hawks took first place for the third year in a row, the hawks are the only team in history to ever accomplish this. The Hawks defeated #8 Norwich 40-6, #4 Wesleyan 31-9 and #2 Johnson and Wales 27-8.
 
The Hawks started off the day with a win in the quarter finals against the Cadets of Norwich University. Freshman Jean-Luc Lemieux (Derry, N.H.) picked up the first two points with a decision in the 133 weight class before freshman James Knoeller (Forked River, N.J.) would pick up fifteen points for the hawks in weight class 141. Junior captain, Thomas Carta (South Glens Falls, N.Y.) followed suit in the 149 bracket bringing in ten points for the hawks with a major. Pete Hilburn and Adam Patsun had two big pins for the hawks in weight class 174 and 285. The Hawks defeated Norwich with a final score of 40-6.

The wins continued and the points piled up as the hawks defeated Wesleyan University in the semi-finals. Sophomore Nicholas Barbaria (Scarsdale, N.Y.) earned a 3-1 decision over Dylan Jones at 125. Junior Alec Golner (Tyngsborough, MA) had a major in weight class 165 and senior Dan Ressler (Hillsdale, N.J.) finished it up for the hawks bringing in nine points with a decision in 174.

In the championship dual the hawks would take on #2 Johnson and Wales University. Freshman Jean-Luc Lemieux (Derry, N.H.) started it off for the hawks bringing in seven points with a decision over Joe Ferinde in weight class 133. Sophomore Justin Cochran (Paramus, N.J.) had a major over Justin Colon bringing in ten points in 141. Junior Danny Downes (Houston, TX) continued with a major in weight class 149 bringing in nine points as well as sophomore Alec Golner (Tyngsborough, MA) with a major in weight class 165. The hawks defeated the wildcats 27-8 to take the victory on the day and claim their third New England Dual championship.

Head coach Jon Egan quoted on the day "Today was a team effort. Every guy contributed. We stuck to the game plan and believed in our training- and it showed."

The hawks take the mats again January 30^th at the Wildcat open in Providence, R.I. at 10am.