New England coaches poll, week 2
The New England Wrestling Association’s weekly Division III coaches poll with first place votes in parentheses.
Week 2, Nov. 17, 2015
Rec. Pts. LW
1. Roger Williams (15) 3-0 150 1
2. Johnson & Wales 0-0 132 2
3. Williams
0-0 122 3
4. Springfield 1-2 93 5
5. Coast Guard 0-0 91 7
6. Wesleyan 0-0 82 6
7. WPI 0-0 61 4
8. Norwich University 1-0 34 8
9. Rhode Island Coll. 1-0 30 10
10. Southern Maine 1-0 16 9
Also receiving votes: Plymouth State
NEWA Wrestler of Week
Senior David Welch (Salem, NH), Roger Williams, 197 pounds
Welch went 5-0 and won the Roger Williams Invitational at 197 pounds. The weight class included last year’s NCAA Div. 3 regional and national champion Joe Giarmita of Cortland State. In the final, Welch beat Khamri Thomas of Johnson and Wales, who beat Giarmita in the semifinals. Welch also beat returning fourth place region placewinner Isaiah Bellamy of Wesleyan, 3-2 in his semifinal bout.
NEWA Rookie Wrestler of Week
Freshman Khamri Thomas (Windsor Locks), Johnson and Wales, 197 pounds
Thomas finished second at 197 pounds at the Roger Williams Invitational, beating defending NCAA Div. 3 national champion Joe Giarmita of Cortland State in the semifinals, 7-3 and Kyle Kosher of Messiah, 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Kosher finished fourth in the nation last winter. Thomas also had a first round pin. He lost in the final to David Welch of Roger Williams.
College roundup
Jack is ranked
No. 1 in nation
DANBURY, Nov. 18 -- North Carolina State sophomore Kevin Jack of Danbury (141 pounds) is off to a strong start this season. Jack was ranked No. 1 in the nation at 141 pounds in the latest NCAA Division I rankings by FloWrestling.
Jack went 2-0 at the Journeyman Northeast Duals over the weekend in Troy, N.Y. with a pair of decisions. No. 12 North Carolina State went 3-0 at the Northeast Duals, winning 24 of 30 matches in their three bouts.The Wolfpack beat Sacred Heart, 32-16, Army, 32-6 and No. 16 Minnesota, 31-3.
The Sacred Heart wrestling opened the dual meet portion of its 2015-16 season at the Journeyman/Asics Northeast Duals, falling to No. 3 Michigan, 47-3 and No. 12 NC State, 32-13.
Junior Matt Fisher was the lone winner for the Hearts against Michigan with a 10-6 win over at 157 pounds. Conan Schuster dropped a close 9-5 decision at 174.
Against the Wolfpack, freshman Gerard Daly (125) earned a 15-5 decision and Schuster won at 174 with a 10-4 win over Lee Davis. Sasha Oliinyk won by pin in 1:03.
"Competing against ranked teams can be intimidating. I'm proud of the guys that took advantage of the opportunity to be tested," Hearts assistant coach Derek Moore said. " They will be tested again next weekend with another tough field of competition. Our guys are used to the grind and embrace the underdog position." the Pioneers will head out next week to compete in the Keystone Classic hosted by Penn on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Johnson & Wales freshman Khamri Thomas (Windsor Locks) picked up two big wins at the Roger Williams Invitational Saturday. Thomas, who is wrestling at 197 pounds beat Kyle Kosher of Messiah, ranked No. 9 in the country, 2-1 in the quarterfinals. Thomas followed that up with a 7-3 win in the semifinals over defending NCAA Div. 3 national champion Joe Giaramita of SUNY-Cortland. Thomas fell in the finals to No. 5 ranked David Welch of Roger Williams, 2-1 in overtime.
In other New England wrestling news, Norwich University beat Plymouth State University 21-20. Norwich won six of the 10 matches but Plymouth State kept it close with bonus points. Joey Aumann a freshmen for PSU looks very strong. He went 2-0 last week and beat Jacob Forsman of Norwich, 12-8. Forsman was third at the Ithaca tournament. PSU got a pin from Clay Callahan at 165 and Chris Perreault won 18-3 at 184 but in the end Norwich was able to win by decision at 133, 141, 149, 174, and 285. PSU then beat Daniel Webster, 28-17 over the weekend. At 125 Aumann won again this time by tech fall in 5 minutes. At 165, Seth Carter pinned Clay Callahan of PSU in 5:46. Perreault got his second tech fall win in as many matches sealing the dual for the Panthers.
The University of Southern Maine competed at the East Stroudsburg Open. It is a tournament primarily with Division I redshirt wrestlers competing so the competition is very strong. Returning NCAA Div. 3 national qualifier Daniel Del Gallo finished fourth. After losing his opening match he won his next five matches including three decision wins over Division 1 wrestlers. He also beat Kent Lane of Lehigh, 6-5, after losing to him by technical fall in his opening match.
Western New England University competed at the Fall Brawl hosted by Ursinus. The Golden bears had two place winners in Austin Sisco who was second at 133 and Brian Donovan who was third at 197. Sisco started his day by pinning Brandon Caffrey of Gettysburg in 1:40, before pinning the College of New Jersey's James Goldschmidt in 4:45 and advancing to the final with a 13-1 major decision victory over Brian DiCesare of Liberty. Sisco dropped an 11-4 decision to Keven Hoogeheem of host Ursinus in the final. Donovan went 4-1 to take 3rd. He won his first two matches before falling in the semifinals. He came back and won his next two matches 6-3 to take third place.
Springfield College competed in the Journeymen Duals in Troy, N.Y., which was comprised of mainly Division I teams. The Pride went 2-1, losing to Division I Buffalo and Niagara Community College. Springfield did beat LIU Post 19-15. The Pride got wins from Nirichio at 125, Keane at 133, Kokalis at 157, Bohringer at 174, Burgos at 184, and Kakauridze at 285 to help secure their lone win on the day.
The Roger Williams Invitational was the main event for New England Division III programs over the weekend. Roger Williams won the event outlasting Messiah and Cortland. Johnson and Wales, who was without a few starters until after Thanksgiving, was fourth with seven wrestlers in the top six of their respective weight classes. Coast Guard was sixth, placing 6 wrestlers with Wesleyan close behind in seventh place.
