BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Wrestling team fell to the Wildcats of Johnson & Wales University on Friday evening, 36-9, in a New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) dual.

Beginning at 149 pounds, the Hawks saw Nick Fatone (Norwalk, Conn.) dropped his match by tech fall to Jared Spahn, 17-1, before Thomas DiResta earned a 9-6 win over Tommy Iasello (White Plains, N.Y.). JWU also grabbed five points at 165 pounds with Jack Richardson earning a 15-0 win by tech fall. Trailing 13-0, the Hawks saw Gordon Murray battle to within one point in a 7-6 decision loss to Patrick Wisniewski.

Barron Ransom took a key victory at 184 pounds over Joshua Nieroda (West Suffield, Conn.), who fell in a high-scoring bout, 34-18, in 6:56 seconds. Anthony Fernandez then took the win at 197 pounds by major decision, 10-0. The Hawks picked up their first points of the match with a pin by Jayden Toppan (Gloucester, Mass.), in 5:48 before CJ Wood (Haverhill, Mass.) fell at 125 pounds, 20-5, after two periods. Caden Bruseo (Brookline, N.H.) then tallied another three points for the Hawks with a win by decision at 133 pounds, before Nicholas Torres closed out the match with a pin at 141 pounds for the Wildcats.

Roger Williams (14-6) will return to the mats on Sunday, Feb. 15 at Coast Guard for the Futures Tournament.