DANBURY, Sept. 30 -- Frank Cammisa, a Danbury High graduate, has been named as the new head wrestling coach at Bridgewater State University. Cammisa, who served as an assistant coach for four seasons, becomes the 12th head coach in team history. He replaces Tim Ferreira, who resigned recently. BSU was 3-12 a year ago.
“I’m confident that Frank will build on the team’s most recent successes and lead them to great achievements, on the mat, in the classroom and in the community," said Dr. Marybeth Lamb, director of athletics at Bridgewater State. “His expertise on the mat is evident, not only in his personal athletic achievements, but also as a coach.”
Cammisa joined the coaching staff in 2010 after an outstanding four-year collegiate career with the Bears. He is the only wrestler in BSU history to compete in the NCAA Division III championships in each of his four seasons with the team. He graduated from BSU in January 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education with a concentration in Recreation.
As a freshman in 2006, Cammisa made an immediate impact, setting school records for most wins (35) and pins (21) by a rookie while winning the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) title at 149 pounds to earn a berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.
In 2008, Cammisa won another NEWA title at 149 to earn another NCAA bid. A year later in 2009, he was second in the NEWA and was awarded a wild card to the NCAA tournament. As a senior in 2010, Cammissa won the NEWA title at 157 pounds. He finished with 110 wins and 46 pins.
In high school, Cammisa won 146 matches at Danbury and was a two-time State Open champion in 2005 and 2006. He finished second in New England both years. In 2006, he was an NHSCA All-American selection at 140 pounds.
PSU's McIntosh eliminates Perry
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, March 21 – A successful collegiate wrestling career came to an end Friday night for former Middletown High wrestler Richard Perry of Bloomsburg University at the NCAA Division I wrestling championships.
Sophomore Morgan McIntosh of Penn State, the No 3 seed at 197 pounds, outlasted Perry in a third round consolation bout, 6-4 to end Perry’s season. Both wrestlers suffered one-point losses in the second round on Thursday night.
McIntosh led 3-2 after one period with a takedown and an escape. Perry had a reversal. Perry (33-3) tied the bout at 3-3 with a second period escape but McIntosh took a 5-3 lead with a takedown with 31 seconds left in the second period. A Perry escape in the final seconds cut the lead to one, 5-4. In the third period, McIntosh escaped with 1:54 left and held Perry at bay for the remainder of the bout.
Perry easily won his first consolation round match with six takedowns in a 14-6 win over Abram Ayala of Princeton. Leading by three after two periods, 6-3, Perry had three takedowns in the final two minutes to earn the win. Perry, the sixth seed at 197, went 2-2 in the tournament.
Sophomore Dominick Malone (133) of Northwestern was eliminated Friday morning in a second round consolation bout by Stanford’s Ryan Mango, 8-4. Malone, who grew up in Granby, trailed by two after two periods, 3-1.
Malone (17-17) cut the lead to one with an escape with 1:53 remaining in the match. But Mango got a takedown with 1:33 left to extend his lead to three, 5-2. A Malone reversal with 58 seconds cut the lead to one, 5-4, but Malone gave up a takedown eight seconds later. Mango got a late takedown for the four-point win. Malone, unseeded and making his first NCAA Tournament appearance, went 1-2 in the tournament.
Perry and Malone were the only two Connecticut-born wrestlers in the tournament.
Perry loses on takedown at the buzzer to Burak
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, March 20 – Iowa’s Richard Burak got a takedown as time expired to stun Bloomsburg University’s Richard Perry with a 4-3 decision in the second round of the NCAA Division I wrestling tournament Thursday night at 197 pounds.
Burak, the No. 11 seed, trailed 3-2 before exploding for a double leg takedown and two points as time expired. "I knew there was 12 seconds left when we came back to the middle," said Burak, who will face No. 14 Chris Penny of Virginia Tech in the quarterfinals. "I went for a double, got in pretty deep and just tried to finish right away. I made sure my toe was in, heard everyone yell two, and saw the ref gave me two. It felt good."
Perry, the Bloomsburg senior who graduated Middletown High in 2008, took a 2-1 lead in the first period with a takedown. Burak tied the match at 2-2 in the second with an escape before Perry, the sixth seed, took a 3-2 lead with an escape with 1:54 remaining in the third period.
Perry (32-2) had a 31-match winning streak snapped. He will be wrestling in the consolation round on Friday. Perry used three takedowns in the second period to take command of his opening round match, a 12-6 decision over Bryce Barnes of Army. A takedown with one second left in the second period gave him the lead for good at 7-5. He added another two takedowns in the third period.
Granby native Dominick Malone of Northwestern (133 pounds) lost his opening round match to No. 5 Tyler Graff of Wisconsin by tech fall, 25-9 in 6:21. But Malone rallied to win his opening round consolation match with a 6-3 win over Kevin Devoy of Drexel with a takedown in each period. Malone will continue wrestling Friday morning.
Perry and Malone are the only two Connecticut-born wrestlers in the tournament. After the first two rounds, Penn State leads Minnesota and Oklahoma by five points with Iowa fourth, six points off the pace. Iowa has six wrestlers in the quarterfinals.
Perry, Malone set
to wrestle at NCAA Div. 1 nationals
Two wrestlers from Connecticut will be competing at the 2014 NCAA Division I wrestling championship tournament this weekend in Oklahoma City. Bloomsburg University senior Richard Perry, a former wrestler at Middletown High, is the sixth seed at 197 pounds. Northwestern University sophomore Dominick Malone, who grew up in Granby, qualified in the 133 pound weight class.
Wrestling begins Thursday morning and will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN3.
Perry is looking to become just the fourth Connecticut wrestler to earn All-American status at the NCAA Division I tournament. The most recent All-American was Middletown High graduate Orville Palmer, who was seventh at 197 pounds for Oklahoma in 2000.
Perry (31-1),has won a school record 30 consecutive matches. He won the Eastern Wrestling League championship at 197 two weeks ago and is one of six Bloomsburg University wrestlers in the tournament.
It is the third straight NCAA appearance for Perry (108-28, career with 17 pins). He is 5-1 this season against other wrestlers in the NCAA tournament field. Perry has beaten No. 11 Dan Mitchell of American twice, No. 20 Alex Polizzi of Northwestern and No. 25 Cody Reed of Binghamton. Perry is 1-1 against No. 5 Travis Rutt of Oklahoma, losing 3-2 in the third match of the season at the Brockport Invitational. Perry won a rematch in February, pinning Rutt in 4:17 at the NWCA Duals.
In his last 11 matches, Perry has three pins and six victories by major decision (eight or more points). Not only did he win his first EWL title this season but he also won individual titles at the Keystone Classic, Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships and CradleGear Invitational.
Perry graduated from Middletown High in 2008 where he wrestled for two seasons. As a senior, he won the Class L and State Open championship and finished second in New England. After spending a year at Hyde-Woodstock, he joined Bloomsburg in 2010.
Malone (133) is in his second season in the starting lineup with Northwestern and earned a NCAA bid based on his overall work this season. He finished eighth at the Big 10 championship tournament and went 16-15 this season. Malone lost twice to Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State in the Big 10 tournament.
This is Malone’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament. He’ll face No. 5 Tyler Graff of Wisconsin in the first round on Thursday morning.
Malone was a three-time All-American in high school at Wyoming Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he graduated from in 2011. He won two prep school national titles in 2010 and 2011.
Thursday, March 20
First Session: 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (Eight Mats) ESPNU/ESPN3
Second Session: 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (Eight Mats) ESPNU/ESPN3
Friday, March 21
Third Session - Quarterfinals: 10a.m. - 1p.m. (Eight Mats) ESPNU/ESPN3
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, March 15 – Williams College’s Chris Chorzepa, a freshman from Newington, earned All-American honors at the NCAA Division III national championships by finishing third at 194 pounds.
He is the first Connecticut wrestler to earn All-American honors at the Division III level since Waterford’s Brendan Ward of Johnson & Wales (184) in 2010. Coast Guard’s Nate Giorgio (133) also earned All-American status by finishing eighth.
Chorzepa (21-5) rallied from a four-point deficit with under a minute left in the third period to beat No. 8 seed Josh Thomson of Messiah College (PA) in the consolation final, 11-10.
Thomson had his second takedown of the third period to take a 10-6 lead with 50 seconds left but Chorzepa escaped and got a takedown with 21 seconds left to pull within a point, 10-9. Thomson was penalized one point for stalling with 10 seconds left to tie the match and Chorzepa earned an additional point for riding time to win the match.
Chorzepa advanced to Saturday’s semifinals with a pair of victories Friday. He beat No. 4 David Welch of Roger Williams (RI), 10-3, avenging a 4-1 loss in the semifinal of the NCAA Div. 3 Northeast Regional at Wesleyan earlier in the month. Chorzepa also beat No. 5 Jeff Hulm of Olivet College (MI), 9-4.
“Chris wrestled out of his shoes,” Williams coach Scott Honecker said. “He’s out there wrestling to his full potential and the whole country knows who is now.”
In the semifinals, top-seeded Riley Lefever of Wasbash College (IN) beat Chorzepa, 9-2. A takedown and near fall in the first period helped him build an early 5-1 lead. But Chorzepa quickly rallied with an 11-0 decision over Ryan Sheldon of Coe College (Iowa) in the consolation semifinals.
Giorgio, a junior, earned All-American honors for the third straight year. After losing his opener, he won two in a row with earn All-American honors. He beat Phillip Opelt from Cornell College, 16-0 and outlasted Dustin Weinmann of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, 10-8. Giorgio built a 10-2 lead after one period with a takedown and three near falls.
Giorgio lost to Silas Murray of Rhode Island College, 8-2 in the seventh place bout. Trinity’s Kyle McGuire (285) went 1-2 while teammate Petros Hologitas (197) was 0-2.
At the NCAA Division II tournament in Cleveland, senior Brock Coutu of Nebraska-Kearney (141) went 1-2 in the tournament, winning his first consolation round match. He qualified for the tournament by taking fourth at the NCAA Central Regional earlier this month. A year ago, Coutu earned All-American honors by taking third at 141.
State wrestlers earn bids
to NCAA Div. 3 nationals
MIDDLETOWN, March 2 -- Coast Guard All-American Nate Giorgio (133) won the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional at Wesleyan to earn a berth to the NCAA Division III national tournament in Iowa for the third straight year. … Trinity had two wrestlers qualify while former Newington High wrestler Chris Chorzepa of Williams College qualified by taking third at 184 pounds. … Cortland State won the tournament with five regional champions. Coast Guard was tenth.
With win in final bout, Sacred Heart snaps long losing streak
BOSTON, Dec. 7 – Heavyweight Nick Lupi got two takedowns in the third period in the final match of the evening to help Sacred Heart snap a 35-meet losing streak with a 22-19 decision over Davidson College Saturday on the campus of Boston University. The Hearts last won a dual meet on January 22, 2011 with a 34-9 victory over AIC, also in Boston.
The match was tied 19-19 when it came to Lupi and Eddie Isola at heavyweight. It was tied 1-1 after two periods but Lupi picked up two takedowns for a 5-1 victory that secured the first dual meet for second-year head coach Andy Lauser. Freshman Casey Mitchell of South Windsor earned an 11-0 win for Sacred Heart (1-0) at 157 pounds, freshman Jon Scheidegger rallied for a 13-11 decision at 165 and freshman Conan Shuster prevailed, 4-1 at 174 pounds. The Hearts host Virginia Military Institute in their dual meet home opener on January 5.
BLOOMSBURG, Nov. 25 -- Bloomsburg University senior Richard Perry (197), a former Middletown High wrestler, was named co-wrestler of the week by the Eastern Wrestling League. Perry, now 8-1,had four wins on the weekend to win the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia. Bloomsburg returns to action on Sunday, Dec. 1 against Illinois and Penn at the Grapple for the Garden at MSG in New York City.
With win at 197, Perry helps
Bloomsburg win Keystone Classic
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 24 – Meriden’s Richard Perry, a senior wrestling at 197 pounds for No. 21 Bloomsburg University, won his weight class at the Keystone Classic tournament Sunday. Perry’s victory helped Bloomsburg win the tournament title with a 117-108 win over Indiana. Granby native Dom Malone, a sophomore with Northwestern, finished second at 133 pounds.
Perry, now 8-1 on the year and ranked No. 21 in the nation, went 4-0 in the tournament, winning it with a 6-3 decision over Daniel Michell of American University. He began the tournament by pinning Pitt’s Matt Patrick in 1:12, beating Indiana’s Thomas Hohenadall by tech fall, 18-1 and beating Northwestern’s Alex Polizzi in the semifinals, 10-6.
Malone got a first round bye and went 2-1 in the tournament. He moved into the finals after beating top seeded Nick Wilcox of Bloomsburg, 3-0 in the semifinals. Malone lost in the championship bout, 2-1 on a tiebreaker to Pittsburgh’s Shelton Mack.
McKeever wins title at ESU Open
VERNAL, N.Y., Nov. 18 -- Binghamton University sophomore Jack McKeever of Brookfield won the 174 pound title in the recent East Stroudsburg Open. He won six straight bouts to win his first collegiate tournament. He posted a 9-0 major decision and a first-period pin in his first two matches and then notched three straight two-point decisions to reach the finals. McKeever beat Adam Mackie of Lock Haven, 7-3 in the final.
