Roger Williams tops Springfield for NEWA Duals championship
New England Wrestling Association
CO-NEWA Wrestler of Week: Sophomore David Welch (Salem, N.H.), Roger Williams University, 184 pounds
Dave went 3-0 with three pins to help lead Roger Williams University to the NEWA Dual Championship. He also was awarded the Outstanding Wrestler award by the conference’s coaches. In the quarters, Welch pinned Lucas Muntz of WPI in 3:21. In the semifinals, he pinned returning All American Colin Lenhardt of JWU in 2:15. In the finals, he helped clinch the dual with a pin in 1:36 over Devin Hurst of Springfield.
CO-NEWA Wrestler of Week: Junior Dylan Foley (Southborough, MA), Springfield College, 165 pounds
Dylan went 3-0 for the Pride in leading Springfield College to a second place finish at the NEWA Duals. Foley beat a tough Mike Shermot from Coast Guard in quarters; he followed that with a 3-2 win over Brandon Conrad of RIC in the semi-finals, and then knocked off previously ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 2 in the country Colin Crowell of Roger Williams University 7-5 in overtime.
NEWA Rookie Wrestler of Week: Freshman Martin Strenk (Delaware Valley, PA), Williams, 174 pounds
Martin went 4-0 at the NEWA Duals helping lead Williams to a fifth place team finish and a 3-1 Dual meet record on the day. Strenk also made the All-Tournament Team. In the last match Strenk beat a very tough Justin Marsh of WPI 3-2. He also pinned Dean Gilbert of Coast Guard in 2:58, he beat Rob Sotelo of RIC by major decision 14-6, and pinned Taylor Lozier of Plymouth State University in 1:40.
Roger Williams wins NEWA Duals title
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Highlighted by Most Outstanding Wrestler, sophomore David Welch's (Salem, Mass.) pin at 184, third-seeded Roger Williams took six of ten matches to claim their second New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Headlock for Hunger Dual Meet title with a 28-12 decision over top-seeded Springfield at the Adrian Tinsley Center.
The Hawks, who took home their first New England Championship since 2007, trailed 12-9 after the 165 bout where junior Dylan Foley (Southboro, Mass.) of Springfield outlasted senior Collin Crowell (Hampstead, N.H.) of Roger Williams in triple overtime, 8-4.
Roger Williams though seized control of the match with an 11-2 major victory by sophomore Dan Ressler (Hillsdale, N.J.) at 174, a pin by Welch in 1:36 at 184, another pin by senior Shane Parcel (Pine Brook, N.J.) in 4:59 at 197 and a 3-1 decision victory by freshman Kyle Foster (Somers, Conn.) in the heavyweight matchup.
Springfield held the early 3-0 edge with a 1-0 decision at 125 by senior Tom Casper (Bergenfield,N.J.), but then the Hawks went up 6-3 after a pin in the 133 matchup by freshman Pat Lacroix (Salem, N.H.). The Pride then reeled off three of the next four weight classes in decision wins by freshman Jacob Strohman (E. Longmeadow, MA) at 141, senior Devin Biscaha (Jackson, N.J.) at 157 and Foley's victory at 165.
Roger Williams charged through the tournament with a 36-15 first round win over No. 14 Trinity College followed by a 32-10 decision over sixth-seeded WPI in the quarterfinals. The Hawks stamped their ticket to the championship match with a decisive 30-3 upset victory over No. 2 seed Johnson & Wales University in the semifinals.
Springfield appeared in their fifth New England title match since the tournament started in 2000 and came into the tournament as the two-time defending champions. After a first round by, the Pride advanced to the finals by virtue of a 37-3 win over No. 8 Coast Guard in the quarterfinals and 16-15 semifinal victory over No. 4 Rhode Island College.
Craig Buckley of Bridgewater State and Ken Shull of MIT along with Kyle DeForest and William Tirone of Plymouth State were inducted into the NEWA Hall of Fame. Mel Graff of Johnson and Wales was honored as the Administrator of the Year while head coach of Coast Guard Steve Eldridge earned Man of the Year accolades.
Williams claimed the highest Grade Point Average award with a sparkling team GPA of 3.31. Trailing Williams was Western New England University (3.168), WPI (3.167), Southern Maine (3.119) and Wesleyan (3.01).
Five men inducted into Hall of Fame
A group of four wrestlers and one coach were inducted into the New England Wrestling Association College Hall of Fame at the tournament Sunday. The four wrestlers and coach Steve Eldridge will be in the NEWA Hall of Fame. Mel Graf, the athletic director from Johnson and Wales, was recognized for her great support to the sport of wrestling by the conferences coaches.
Craig Buckley is arguably the greatest grappler in the history of the Bridgewater State wrestling program. A 2004 graduate of BSU was a three-time New England Champion and two-time All American. He had a career record of 110-16 at 184 and 197 pounds for the Bears.
Kyle DeForest a 1996 Plymouth State graduate, was a two-time New England Champion and All American. The 118 pounder was a three-time All New England wrestler, a two time champion including the outstanding wrestler of the 1996 championships. He went on to a 6th place finish and All American honors that year at the NCAA championships.
Ken Shull, a 1984 graduate of MIT, was a three-time New England Champion, a two-time Academic All American, and earned All American honors in 1984 with his performance at the NCAA tournament. He was the outstanding wrestler of the New England tournament his senior season in 1984 at 142 pounds. He had a career record of 82-9 with 24 pins.
A four-time New England champion, William Tirone still ranks as one of the top all-time wrestlers in Plymouth State and New England history. Tirone won all four of his titles at 177 pounds and graduated from Plymouth State in 1972. A two-year captain of the Panthers, Tirone earned All-America honors his senior year his only time competing at the NCAA’s and posted a career record of 54-6.
NEWA Administrator of the Year: Mel Graf
Mel Graf is entering her 2nd year as the Executive Director of Athletics at Johnson & Wales. Under her leadership, Wildcat Athletics is experiencing unprecedented growth and success. Graf is also a Colonel in the U.S. Army, with more than 28 years of service. She served on two deployments. JWU wrestling has been one of the best programs in Division III for the past 10 years and Mel’s commitment and dedication to the Johnson & Wales athletics and the sport of wrestling is truly appreciated.
NEWA Man of the Year: Steve Eldridge
Coast Guard Academy veteran wrestling head coach Steve Eldridge retired this season after 47 years as the head coach at the Academy. Eldridge, who has at least 314 career coaching wins, earned four Coach of the Year awards and led the Bears to five New England team championships. He was inducted into the Coast Guard Academy Hall of Fame in 1989 and the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III Hall of Fame in 1995. Eldridge was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2004.
MORE FROM THE NEWA DUALS:
Springfield 16, Rhode Island College 15
The semifinal match between Springfield and Rhode Island College was nip and tuck all the way. Springfield’s Tom Casper, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in New England, got the meet going with a 8-5 win over No. 2 ranked Jon Murray. Casper controlled the match from start to finish.
At 133, Murray’s brother Silas took on Tyler Keane. Silas, in a very controlled methodical way, took care of business with the 4-1 decision. At 141, RIC had No. 1 Ricondo Cole going up against No. 4 Jacob Strohman, one of Springfield’s tough freshman. Cole had to get a late takedown in the third just to clinch the win and beat Strohman 7-3. Joe Slane who is a newcomer to the RIC lineup the last month looked very good as he won a decisive decision over Zach Joseph of Springfield, 9-4 to give RIC a 9-3 lead.
At 157, it was Springfield’s chance to send out their No. 1 wrestler in Devin Biscaha hoping for bonus points. Biscaha wrestled great but there was not a lot of action as Lake slowed the match down and did not want to attack Biscaha. Lake ranked 4th in the conference wrestled tough only giving up a 4-0 decision to the national champion. At 165, No. 1 Dylan Foley beat a tough Brandon Conrad 3-2. Conrad has great length and was definitely creating problems for the physical and aggressive Foley. For the low scoring affair it was a great match with some good action. Foley’s win tied the meet at 9-9.
At 174, Justin Caparco won a big swing match 4-2 over Will Henson of the Pride. Caparco was the aggressor from the beginning and earned a huge win, putting RIC up 12-9. At 184, Springfield sent out back up Devin Hurst and RIC went with starter Kyle Humphries. As the match wore on you could tell the wrapped knee of Humphries only had one match in him. Humphries showed a gutty performance against a tough Hurst to win 2-0.
With the Anchormen up six points with two weights to go, most people in the gym thought it would be an upset with RIC moving on to the finals. At 197, freshman standout Hunter Ayen beat another freshman John Georges 12-1 and looked great doing it. He wrestled well on all three areas and continues to impress. Ayen’s win gave RIC a 15-13 lead with one match remaining at 285 pounds.
RIC sent out No. 1 ranked Brian Nicoll, a three-time conference place winner and Springfield was going with Irakli Kkauridze. Irakli has had an up down season, winning the Ithaca tournament back in November but struggling in other opportunities. He took advantage of a pressure filled opportunity over the weekend as the sophomore from Howell, N.J., beat Nicoll, 3-2 to give Springfield the victory. The wrestlers exchanged escapes in the second period. In the third period with the match 1-1, Nicoll attempted a shot and Irakli was able to hit a reattack go behind for 2 and hold on for the 3-2 decision.
Roger Williams 30, Johnson & Wales 3
Roger Williams won the final seven matches to dominate No. 2 seed Johnson and Wales, 30-3 and earn a spot in the championship match. Even with the match decided, there was a buzz in the gym for the bout at 184 pounds featuring returning regional champ and All American Colin Lenhardt of against sophomore sensation Dave Welch of Roger Williams. Welch has been one of the best wrestlers in the region pound for pound and helped make 184 one of the toughest weights in the conference. Welch struck first with a takedown and a two- point lead. Lenhardt countered with a reversal to tie it as 2-2 and looked to have control on top and was slowing Welch down. After a restart Welch got Lenhardt in trouble and reversed him to his back and ended up getting a huge pin in 2:15 in the first period. Welch and the Hawks were fired up and with the pin. Freshman Kyle Foster (Somers, CT) beat George Madosky of JWU 5-3 in his semifinal bout at 285 pounds. Foster is another Hawk that has been getting better as the season has continued.
Some other great matches between top ranked wrestlers that took place Sunday
285 – Anthony Joyce Norwich Dec. Dan Suarez of USM 5-2
