BRISTOL, R.I. – In the 39^th installment of the Battle of the WU's, the Roger Williams University Wrestling team dropped a Senior Night bout to Johnson & Wales, 29-9 in the Campus Recreation Center on Friday night. Senior's Kyle Kaiser (Paramus, N.J.) and Jack Kelly (Sea Girt, N.J.) both picked up Senior Night victories for RWU.
 
With the loss, Roger Williams dropped to 17-5 in duals action this season while the Wildcats improved to 19-4.
 
Prior to the start of the match, the Hawks honored the 15 senior members of the 2021-22 squad: Kaiser, Kelly, Eric Appenzeller (Swarthmore, Pa.), Travis Arata (Riverdale, N.J.), Jordan DelValle (West Orange, N.J.), Armani Dotson (Mattapan, Mass.), Seth Frohnheiser (Allentown, Pa.), Hunter Goodrow (Hopkinton, Mass.), Ryan Grebe (Sound Beach, N.Y.), Andy Lombard (Monroe Township, N.J.), Jack Rogers (New City, N.Y.), Noah Tandy (West Orange, N.J.), Tagan Welch (Plantsville, Conn.), and Eli Wilson (Brewster, Mass.).
 
Beginning action on this night at 174, the guests claimed a quick advantage from Michael Ross (Stratford, Conn.) who got a second period tech fall over Leonard Breit (Johnson, R.I.), 16-0. What followed were three consecutive long, grueling, tightly contested matches in the upper weight classes, all of which JWU came out on the winning end of. Ryan DiVivo (Berlin, Conn.) escaped with a win over Cole Shaughnessy (Fairfield, Conn.), 5-2 at 184, Tommy Wrzesien (Hope Valley, R.I.) held off Arata, 7-4 at 197, and Liridon Leka (Pine Brook, N.J.) slipped past Addison Boisvert (Scarborough, Maine), 6-2 at heavyweight.
 
As the weight classes flipped to the top, the tides did turn in RWU's favor a little. Connor Keegan (Sandwich, Mass.) battled for six and a half minutes but ultimately fell by tech fall to Justin Lopez (Yonker, N.Y.), 19-3. RWU finally got on the board thanks to a win by decision by Kaiser over Gabriel Leo-Esparolini (Roselle Park, N.J.), 5-1 at 133, however.
 
At 141 and 149, Peter Tringali (Chester, N.J.) and Ben Bariso (Butler, N.J.) each fought hard against Hayden Brown (Exeter, N.H.) and Gabriel McDaniel (McDonough, Ga.) respectively right to the end. However, Tringali was shutout, 5-0 and Bariso fell by major decision, 11-2. Finally, at 165, Scott DeFix (Island Park, N.Y.) outlasted Jacob Cardozo (Southington, Conn.) winning by decision, 7-2.
 
Mixed into that stretch, at 157 was the best bout of the evening between Kelly and Steven Ocampo (Princeton, N.J.). Kelly grabbed the first takedown, but Ocampo escaped and after the wrestlers maneuvered out of bounds, he timed up the whistle perfectly to get a clean ankle pick to tie to take the advantage, 3-2. The score would not change in the second frame, but it was nonetheless critical as Kelly piled up riding time that would pay big dividends. RWU chose bottom to start the third period, but the Wildcats elected to sacrifice the one point to get to neutral, thus tying the score. Ocampo got a takedown, but Kelly escaped and as time expired, due to the extra point he received for riding time, the score was tied at five. It was in that extra frame where Kelly would finish the job requiring just 18 seconds to not only get the victory, but get the pin, as he put his opponent to his back and electrified the Hawks bench in the process. In the end however, it was not enough.
 
Match Results
174: Michael Ross (JWU) defeats Leonard Breit (RWU) by tech fall, 16-0 at 3:46
184: Ryan DeVito (JWU) defeats Cole Shaughnessy (RWU) by decision, 5-2
197: Tommy Wrzesien (JWU) defeats Travis Arata (RWU) by decision, 7-4
285: Liridon Leka (JWU) defeats Addison Boisvert (RWU) by decision, 6-2
125: Justin Lopez (JWU) defeats Connor Keegan (RWU) by tech fall, 19-3 at 6:37
133: Kyle Kaiser (RWU) defeats Gabriel Leo-Esparolini (JWU) by decision, 5-1
141: Hayden Brown (JWU) defeats Peter Tringali (RWU) by decision, 5-0
149: Gabriel McDaniel (JWU) defeats Ben Bariso (RWU) by major decision, 11-2
157: Jack Kelly (RWU) defeats Steven Ocampo (JWU) by fall in overtime at 7:18
165: Scott DeFex (JWU) defeats Jacob Cardozo (RWU) by decision, 7-2
 
What's Next
Saturday, February 12 at the Henry Marsh Invitational (Hosted by UNH)