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This page was last updated on: October 5, 2014
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Year-end awards presented by NEWA
Two wrestlers from Williams College were named as the Wrestler of the Year and Rookie of the Year by the New England Wrestling Association in their year-end balloting by the league coaches. Sophomore Jorge Lopez, who finished third in the nation at the NCAA DIvision III national championships at 157, was named wrestler of the year while freshman Chris Chorzepa (184) was named rookie of the year. Johnson and Wales swept the coach of the year and assistant coach of the year awards while Johnson and Wales' Colin Lenhardt was named Scholar Athlete of the Year and won the award for most pins.
The league also released its All-NEWA teams for the 2013-14 campaign.
Wrestler of Year: Jorge Lopez, 157 pounder, Williams College, SO, (Wharton, NJ). Jorge finished the season 31-3. He is now a two-time All American and two-time region finalist. Lopez was the Northeast Regional champion and went on to take 3rd place at the NCAA Division III championships. Lopez was sixth last season as a freshman at 149 at the NCAA’s. This year, Lopez won 16 of his matches by pin and was definitely a wrestler who got stronger as the season continues. In the region semifinals, e pinned last year’s NCAA champion Devin Biscaha of Springfield in 2:31, avenging one of his three losses on the season. Lopez then went to the NCAA tournament seeded 6th and finished third. He won his first two matches to make the semifinals and after a tightly contested loss in the semifinal, he picked two wins in the consolation bracket No. 4 and No. 5 seeds including a pin over Reece LeFever of Wabash in the third place match.
Rookie Wrestler of the Year: Chris Chorzepa, 184 pounder, Williams College, FR, (Newington, CT). Chris Chorzepa had a great first campaign for Williams. After a slow start due to injury Chorzepa adjusted to college wrestling quickly. In his first competition of the year, Chorzepa went 3-0 at the Lycoming National Duals on January 10. At the Northeast Regional tournament, he was seeded fifth and went on to take third place and qualify for the NCAA tournament. In his first match at the NCAA Division III tournament, he faced No. 4 seeded David Welch of Roger Williams and beat Welch 10-3 after losing to him in the semifinal of the Northeast Region, 11-6 two weeks prior. Chorzepa then beat the No. 5 seed Jeff Holm of Olivet in the quarterfinal, 9-4. After losing in the semifinal to the eventual national champion, Chorzepa won his next two matches to take third place earning, All American honors in his first trip to the NCAA tournament. In the 3rd place match Chorzepa beat two-time All-American Josh Thomson of Messiah 11-10.
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Colin Lenhardt, 174 pounder, Johnson & Wales University, SR, (Gloucester, VA). Colin Lenhardt is a three-time Scholar All American and a two-time NCAA All American. He has been a leader and vocal representative for wrestling as a SAAC member. He is a multiple time Deans list recipient. He has been part of the National Student Athlete Day multiple times. He has a 3.70 GPA in Accounting at Johnson & Wales University. The JWU wrestling team has been ranked in the top 20 each of his four years for the highest team GPA including a 7th place finish this season.
Gorriaran Award: Colin Lenhardt, 174 pounder, Johnson & Wales University, SR, (Gloucester, VA). Colin Lenhardt wins the Gorriaran Award for most falls in a season. Lenhardt finished the season 37-8 including 25 wins by pin. Lenhardt earned his second All American honors this season after an injury two weeks prior to the Northeast Regional tournament almost ended his already impressive career at JWU. Lenhardt, last year’s Northeast Regional champ and 6th place finisher at the NCAA’s, went down to 174 to help his team after they had another injury in the second half of the season. Lenhardt, wrestling with a torn ACL, went 3-0 at the regional tournament with 3 pins, including a second period pin in 3:21 over Carlos Toribio of Ithaca in the semifinal. Already qualifying for the NCAA tournament, Lenhardt medical defaulted in the finals. Coming into the NCAA national tournament two weeks later unseeded, Lenhardt went 2-1 the first day with pins over the No. 6 and No. 7 seeds to earn All American honors for the second year in a row. The next day he medically defaulted to eighth place and ended his career as a two-time All-American.
Assistant Coach of the Year: Brian Allen, Johnson & Wales University. Coach Allen does a great job organizing and running the day-to-day practices in the wrestling room. He updates and promotes all of JWU’s social media. He is on the NEWA and NCAA ranking committees. He has helped organize different fundraising and community service projects with the program. Brian has been at JWU for 15 years and has now won the Assistant Coach of the Year award for the 3rd time. The team finished No. 7 in the country for best team GPA, 8th at the NCAA’s, and finished ranked No. 1 in the country for most pins as a team with 185. Under Coach Allen and Coach Morris the Wildcats have won four NEWA Dual Championships and one NEWA Championship.
2014 New England Wrestling Association Awards
All NEWA Teams
1st Team
(Weight class and alphabetical order)
125 – Tom Casper, Springfield
125 – Jon Murray, Rhode Island College
133 – Silas Murray, Rhode Island College
141 – Mike Ferinde, Johnson & Wales
149 – Eric Hamrick, Springfield
157 – Everett Desilets, Johnson & Wales
157 – Jorge Lopez, Williams
165 – Colin Crowell, Roger Williams
165 – Dylan Foley, Springfield
174 – Colin Lenhardt, Johnson & Wales
184 – Chris Chorzepa, Williams
184 – David Welch, Roger Williams University
197 – Petros Hologitas, Trinity
285 – Ricky Caruso, Bridgewater State
2nd Team
125 – Brian Amato, WPI
133 – Nate Giorgio, Coast Guard
141 – Ricondo Cole, Rhode Island College
149 – Joey Gaccione, Johnson & Wales
157 – Devin Biscaha, Springfield
174 – Ryan Sblendorio, Wesleyan
184 – Jon Deupree, Southern Maine
197 – Shane Parcel, Roger Williams
285 – Kyle McGuire, Trinity College
285 – Jamison Sacco, Western New England
Honorable Mention
(Weight class and alphabetical Order)
125 – Anthony D’Anton (RWU), James Hamilton (Wesleyan), Dan Sedita (Williams)
133 – Dan Evangelakos (Williams), Tyler Keane (Springfield), Pat LaCroix (RWU), Paul Sughrue (BSU)
141 – Mike Giorgio (CG), Matt Pelton (Wesleyan), Jacob Strohman (Springfield), Tyler Tilbe (WPI)
149 – Daniel Del Gallo (USM), Danny Downes (RWU), Tim Garripoli (Williams), Mike Perruccio (WPI)
157 – Frankie Colom (RWU), Mike Palumbo (CG), Ray Welch (PSU)
165 – Taran Carr (Wesleyan), Brandon Conrad (RIC), Stephen Jarrell (JWU), Dave Pinto (Norwich)
174 – Will Burns (Norwich), Kyle Lundberg (Trinity), Dan Ressler (RWU), Lucas Taylor (CG)
184 – Mike Case (Springfield), Alex Freilich (WPI), Chris Perrault (PSU), Dylen Seybolt (JWU)
197 – Hunter Ayen (Springfield), Anthony Brooks (Williams), Sean Fagan (USM), Josh Roometua (Wesleyan)
285 – Kyle Foster (RWU), Anthony Joyce (Norwich), Brian Nicoll (RIC)
All Rookie Team
125 – Brian Amato - WPI
133 – Pat Lacroix – Roger Williams University
141 – Jacob Strohman – Springfield College
149 – Danny Downes – Roger Williams University
149 – Daniel Del Gallo – University of Southern Maine
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, March 15 -- The Trinity College wrestling team sent two representatives to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament for the first time since 2001, and Bantam Head Coach Marques Gales was honored for his outstanding effort in his first year at the helm for Trinity as one of three to share the 2014 National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Rookie Coach of the Year honors.
Gales was hired as Trinity's head coach in late summer, inheriting a small roster that yielded 12 or more points to Bantam opponents due to forfeits at two or more weight classes. Trinity wrestlers battled its opponents tough from the beginning of the year to the end, finishing with a 2-18 dual-match record but rallying to finish 11th in the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Championships at Wesleyan two weeks ago. He shares the NWCA National Rookie Coach of the Year Award with Nate Yetzer, of Ferrum, and Efrain Ayala, of Wisc.-Oshkosh.
Coach of the Year: Lonnie Morris, Johnson & Wales University. The JWU Wildcats went 18-5 this season, capping off another impressive season in Providence. JWU won the prestigious York Spartan Invitational and finished 3rd at the NEWA Duals. They also finished 3rd at the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional tournament and were the highest placing New England team at the regionals. They continued their strong wrestling with the highest New England finish at the NCAA tournament with an 8th place finish. JWU sent four wrestlers to the NCAA Division III tournament with each wrestler winning at least 2 matches and 3 of their wrestlers earning All-American honors. Coach Morris has been at JWU for 17 years and this is his fourth time earning Coach of the Year honors. He has an overall record of 248-118-4; he has coached 21 conference champions, 14 All-Americans, and 31 Academic All-Americans.
Notes from the 2014 NCAA Division III national tournament: The NEWA Conference had a great NCAA tournament and had their most All-Americans in over 20 years. With the second year of the regional format the conference benefitted with more wrestlers getting the opportunity to compete at the Nationals. Thirty wrestlers came from the Northeast Regional and 18 of those 30 were from New England Schools. There were 16 All American wrestlers from the Northeast Region, more than any of the other regions and 11 of the 18 wrestlers from New England came home with All American honors. In the All-American round of 12, we also had New England wrestlers meet up at 184 and 285 knocking out two of our own wrestlers trying to make the podium. The new format has given New England college wrestling more opportunity and the hard work of the wrestlers and coaches is definitely paying off with such an outstanding showing. Another interesting fact is that the top 3 from each region make the NCAA’s. Of New England’s 11 All-Americans, six of them (Giorgio, Ferinde, Desilets, Foley, Chorzepa, and Caruso) were third place finishers at the Northeast Regional tournament. That was much like Devin Biscaha in 2013, who was third in the region and then won the national championship. The new format is definitely giving more opportunity and benefitting those teams that are wrestling national level schedules.
Johnson & Wales finished in 8th place at the NCAA national tournament with 37 points and four wrestlers qualifying for nationals. Mike Ferinde (141) came in unseeded and in his first match beat the No. 5 seed Wayne Black, 8-2. He then won in the quarterfinals over No. 4 seed Justin Holm of Olivet by defensive pin. It’s a move the Wildcats have been very good at for years, as Lenhardt pinned one his opponents the same way. Fans could see Ferinde was wrestling at a high level during the regional and had a confidence every time he came to the mat. That confidence continued as he earned All-American honors with a 5th place finish. After losing to the eventual national champion in the semifinal, he came back and won 5-4 to take 5th place beating Henry Stauber of Johns Hopkins. At 149, Joey Gaccione wrestled great going 2-2. Gaccione beat Will Keeter of Augsburg 8-4. Keeter was an All American two years ago. He then beat No. 5 seed Gage Pederson by fall in 4:04. In the All-American round he lost a close match to two-time All American Jacob Long of Concordia, MN. At 157, Everett Desilets had a great tournament. After dropping his opening match to the eventual 4th place finisher 8-6, Desilets won four straight matches including two pins to set up a rematch with Lefever of Wabash in the consolation semifinal. Desilets would drop the match 7-6 but come back to take 5th place beating Jon Garrison of Mount Union the No. 4 seed, 11-2. Desilets went 5-2, had two other wins by major Decision, and beat 3 AA’s on the weekend. Colin Lenhardt the conference’s Gorriaran Award and Scholar Athlete Award winner took 8th place and earned his second All American honors of his career.
Williams College brought two wrestlers and both had outstanding tournaments, taking All-American honors. Williams scored 28 points and finished in 13th place. Jorge Lopez the NEWA Wrestler of the Year earned his second All-American honors taking third place and freshman Chris Chorzepa also took third after being unseeded. Lopez and Chorzepa, the NEWA Rookie of the Year, both showed off great scrambling ability and both seemed to enjoy the pressure of the big stage. With both wrestlers being underclassmen the future is bright for the Ephs.
Roger Williams University sent three wrestlers and finished in 26th place with 15.5 points and coming home with two All-Americans. Collin Crowell avenged a loss from earlier in the season beating the No. 8 seed Tommy Desir of Kings by major decision in his first match, 16-7. After losing to the No. 1 seed, Crowell came back through beating Jake Krogstad of Concordia 7-5 to earn All-American honors for the first time. Crowell ended his season 31-7, a two-time region finalist and one time champion, and an All-American with an 8th place finish. His teammate David Welch at 184 also earned All-American honors. Welch was seeded 4th but after losing his opening match showed great perseverance and toughness winning three straight matches to make All American. In the round of 12, he faced conference opponent Jon Deupree. Welch lost in the region finals to Deupree but beat him 3-1 to make it to the podium. Welch would finish the tournament in 7th place going 4-2 on the weekend including a fall in 4:54 over No. 3 seeded Eric Twohey in the 7th place match. Senior Shane Parcel went 1-2 on the weekend before falling a match short of All American. Parcel pinned Christian Psomas of Ursinus in 1:18 before falling to the 6 seed. Parcel was 36-9 on the year.
Springfield College sent two wrestlers to the NCAA’s and finished in 36th place scoring 8.5 points. Dylan Foley came back after an opening round loss to Nick Carr of W&J the eventual national finalist to win 3 matches in a row and earn All-American honors. Foley had three straight wins beating Peter Kootstra of MSOE 7-3, Anthony Carlo of Ursinus 8-4, and Stephen Aiello of Wheaton 4-3. All three were physical, tough matches just like Foley likes to wrestle. Foley capped a great season going 42-9 and won 4 matches at the NCAA’s enroute to his 6th place finish…Rhode Island College sent Silas Murray to the NCAA’s and came home with All American hardware. Murray after dropping his opening match came back to win two in a row including a 10-3 win over the No. 8 seed Myzar Mendoza of Wilkes 9-2 in the All American round. Murray would go on and beat Nate Giorgio of Coast Guard for the 3rd time this season 8-2 and finish in 7th place. Murray ended his season 26-3. His brother Jon Murray at 125 fell short of his goal of becoming an All-American but went 1-2 at the NCAA’s and finished 18-6 on the season…Coast Guard’s Nate Giorgio earned All American honors for the second time in his career with an 8th place finish at 133. Giorgio who had an injury shortened season got better every week and after a 3rd place finish at the region he went on to go 2-1 the first day of the NCAA’s including a tech fall over Phil Opelt of Cornell College and a 10-8 win over Dustin Weinmann of Wisc-Lax in the All American round. All three 133 pounders from the Northeast Regional made All American at the NCAA’s…Ricky Caruso of Bridgewater State University made All American in his first trip to the NCAA’s. Caruso upset the No. 5 Cody Lovejoy in his first match 6-4 in overtime. In the All-American round he beat region champion from Trinity -- Kyle McGuire 8-3 to make All American. McGuire also wrestled well at the NCAA’s going 1-2 and had a 2-1 win over Matan Peleg of Ursinus to make the All American round. McGuire finished his season 26-7. Caruso finished the tournament in 8th place and his season 42-8.
