Former Newington wrestler Amato is rookie of the week
New England Wrestling Association
NEWA Wrestler of Week: Sophomore David Welch, Roger Williams University, 184 pounds, Salem NH
Welch had another great weekend going 2-0 for the Hawks and helping Roger Williams to two good wins over NYU and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and bring their dual record to 5-0. Welch had a major decision vs. Sam Fry of USMMA and that helped his team win the dual meet, 17-16. He then went on to beat returning All American Patrick Sheehan of NYU, 9-8. Welch is currently ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 4 in the country.
NEWA Rookie Wrestler of Week: Freshman Brian Amato, WPI, 125 pounds, Newington, CT
Amato had a great weekend for the Engineers leading them to a 1-1 record vs Johnson & Wales and Oneonta State. Amato beat Dominic DeGraba of Oneonta in his first match and then beat Joe Smith of Johnson and Wales, 6-2. Amato also won his first two matches at the RIT Invitational a week ago before defaulting after the Semi Finals to a 6th place finish. Amato is now ranked No. 1 in New England at 125.
AROUND THE MAT: Roger Williams University went 2-0 in duals this week and is now 5-0 on the season. They beat NYU, 26-9 and Merchant Marine Academy, 17-16 on Criteria. Freshman standouts Pat LaCroix at 133 and Danny Downes at 149 both went 2-0 and won their matches by decisions. Colin Crowell was 2-0 on the day with a win by tech fall and a 4-3 decision over Jake Walker of the Merchant Marine Academy. Crowell has not been tested much this year and continues his dominant season. Both Crowell and Welch are currently ranked No. 4 in the country at 165 and 184 respectively…Rhode Island College improved to 4-1 on the season with a 36-6 win over Plymouth State. Newly ranked No. 1 Brian Nicoll paced the Anchormen with a pin of Tyler Snyder in 2:15. Silas Murray at 133 and John Georges at 197 also got first period pins…Johnson and Wales (JWU) went 3-0 this week in dual meets. They beat Bridgewater State on Wednesday, 39-11. Bridgewater got a big win to start the dual from Johnson & Wales transfer Andrew Gauthier with a 12-4 major decision over Joe Smith. JWU then turned the dual in their direction starting at 141 with 5 pins in the next 7 matches to put the dual out of reach. The Wildcats then got a big win by their freshman 285 Jonah Aurelio with a 3-1 decision over Ricky Caruso of BSU to end the dual. On the weekend, JWU beat Oneonta State, 25-12 and WPI, 33-6. Joey Gaccione got two big wins to pace the Wildcats. Gaccione won by major decision over Rowley of Oneonta State, 11-2 and beat Mike Perruccio of WPI 7-3 in a battle of two returning conference place winners. Colin Lenhardt remains extremely strong with two first period pins and the JWU freshman Constantine Rissotis at 197 had two big wins including a 5-4 decision over Alex Freilich of WPI. Tyler Tilbe joined Amato as bright spots for the Engineers in the dual vs JWU. Tilbe beat Mike Ferinde who is having a great season 6-5 in TB2. Tilbe looked back to form the last two weeks coming off a win at the RIT Tournament. Tilbe beat Ben Mikac of Oneonta in the finals last weekend 3-1 only to have Mikac reverse the decision by the same score this past weekend in the dual.
Coaches poll, week 5
Johnson & Wales remains on top of
New England poll
New England Division III college wrestling poll for week 5, ending Dec. 16. Record and first place votes in parentheses.
School
Rec. Pts LW
1. Johnson & Wales (13) 3-0 139 1
2. Springfield College (1) 0-0 123 2
2. Roger Williams Univ. 5-0 116 3
4. Rhode Island College 3-1 95 4
5. Wesleyan University 0-0 74 5
5. Williams College 1-0 70 6
7. Norwich University 3-1 56 7
8. Coast Guard Academy 0-1 32 8
9. Southern Maine 5-2 22 9
10. Plymouth State 3-1 21 10
Others receiving votes: WPI, Bridgewater State, Trinity
New England Wrestling Association individual rankings, No. 3
As of Dec. 17, 2013
125 Pounds:
1. Tom Casper - Springfield
2. Anthony D'Anton - Roger Williams
3. Brian Amato - WPI
4. Andrew Gauthier - Bridgewater State
5. Joe Smith - Johnson & Wales
6. Khalik Newbill - Southern Maine
133 Pounds:
1. Silas Murray - Rhode Island College
2. Dan Evangelakos - Williams College
3. Paul Sughrue - Bridgewater State
4. James Hamilton - Wesleyan University
5. Pat Lacroix - Roger Williams
6. Brian Jennings - WPI
141 Pounds:
1. Tyler Tilbe - WPI
2. Mike Ferinde - Johnson & Wales
3. Ricando Cole - Rhode Island College
4. Jacob Strohman - Springfield
5. Carson Brooks - Williams College
6. Matt Pelton - Wesleyan University
149 Pounds:
1. Tim Garripoli - Williams College
2. Ethan Farrell - Johnson & Wales
3. Mike Perruccio - WPI
4. CJ Luth - Southern Maine
5. Dan Downes - Roger Williams
6. Chris Siracusa - Wesleyan University
157 Pounds:
1. Devin Biscaha - Springfield
2. Everet Desilets - Johnson & Wales
3. Jorge Lopez - Williams College
4. Francisco Colom - Roger Williams
5. Ray Welch - Plymouth State University
6. Kevin Barrucci - Rhode Island College
165 Pounds:
1. Collin Crowell - Roger Williams
2. Dave Pinto - Norwich University
3. Dylan Foley - Springfield
4. Steve Jarrell - Johnson & Wales
5. Justin Marsh - WPI
6. Taran Carr - Wesleyan University
174 Pounds:
1. Mike Labell - Johnson & Wales
2. Kyle Lundberg - Trinity
3. Ryan Sblendorio - Wesleyan University
4. Dan Ressler - Roger Williams
5. Will Burns - Norwich University
6. Rob Sotelo - Rhode Island College
184 Pounds:
1. David Welch - Roger Williams
2. Colin Lenhardt - Johnson & Wales
3. Jon Deupree - Southern Maine
4. Chris Perreault - Plymouth State University
5. Kyle Humphries - Rhode Island College
6. Marc Wagner - COAST GUARD
197 Pounds:
1. Hunter Ayen - Springfield
2. Shane Parcel - Roger Williams
3. Petros Hologitas - Trinity
4. Sean Fagan - Southern Maine
5. Mark Howard - COAST GUARD
6. Josh Roometua - Wesleyan University
285 Pounds:
1. Brian Nicoll - Rhode Island College
2. Jamison Sacco - Western New England
3. Ricky Caruso - Bridgewater State
4. Kyle McGuire - Trinity
5. Anthony Joyce - Norwich University
6. Steve Dwight - Springfield
