NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Roger Williams University Wrestling team finished the opening day of the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championship in ninth, tallying 41 points, hosted by Coast Guard.

Springfield leads after the opening day, tallying 104.5 total points, with Williams sitting second with 98 points. Vermont State University – Castleton sits third with 96 points.

Highlighting the day, was Jack Forte (Westbury, N.Y.) who punched his ticket into the semifinals, after winning three straight matches. Opening with a major decision victory at 157 pounds, 11-2, Forte followed with a shutout major decision win, 10-0, over Trinity's Durkin Stankevich. Forte Closed out with a tightly contested win in the quarterfinals against Matthew Rodriguez of Western New England, 5-3.

Matthew Castillo (Port Washington, N.Y.)battled his way into day two wrestling at 149 pounds. After winning his first two matches on the day, his opener by tech fall, followed by a win by decision, 3-2, Castillo fell to Johnson & Wales' Jared Spahn. Castillo then responded with a win by SV against Dylan Vanegas in the consolation bracket to advance to day two.

At 184 pounds, Joshua Nieroda (West Suffield, Conn.) will take part in day two after going 2-1 on the day. Nieroda had a win by fall in his opening match before falling 5-3 in round two. Nieroda then finished with a 13-1 major decision win.

Jayden Toppan (Gloucester, Mass.) rounds out the Hawks advancing to day two, finishing 2-1 with a win by decision in round one, beating Wesleyan's Michael DiOrio, 8-1. Toppan then fell in his second match by fall to second rank Adolfo Betancur. Toppan responded with a 3-2 win by decision to advance to day two.