December 9, 2008

Ephs 2nd in NE & 18th Nationally/Malo NEWA & d3wrestle.com Wrestler of the Week/Record 8 Ephs Ranked in NE/Malo 6th nationally


photo courtesy of Bridgewater State

The Williams wrestling team leaped over the Springfield College Pride in latest New England poll and is now just one point behind top-ranked Johnson and Wales University (JWU). JWU has 143 points and eight first place votes and a total of 143 points and the Ephs have 142 points and seven first place votes. In the national poll the ephs are ranked 18th and Johnson & Wales is ranked 20th.

Williams went from third place, one point behind Springfield, to putting up a 32-point lead over the Pride (110) and take firm control of second place. The Eph climb was fueled by its successful trip to Iowa where they tied with ninth-ranked Luther College; downed Simpson College 34-6, and then followed that up the next day with a solid fourth place finish in a strong field in the Simpson Invitational, placing six wrestlers.

Sophomore transfer Ryan Malo (Georgetown, MA), who was named the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Wrestler of the Week and the d3wrestle.com/WWSport.com Wrestler of the Week for his win at 184 over #8 Nic Barclay of Luther on Friday and his championship at 197 in the Simpson Invitational.

Ryan Malo '11

"Ryan Malo had a huge weekend, after pinning the #8 wrestler at 184 Nic Barclay on Friday, he went up a weight class and beat a kid who was fourth in the country last year at 197," said Eph co-head coach Dan DiCenzo. "Ryan wrestled with great confidence and intensity and his relentless style is starting to become contagious on our team.  He is excited about wrestling, enjoys being around his teammates, and is always trying to make himself and everyone around him better.  As coaches we are very proud of the outstanding effort he put forth this weekend."

The fourth d3wrestle.com/WWSport.com Wrestler of the Week is 184 lb.   Malo pinned Wonderlin and won a tight 5-4 match over Kramer in the finals to finish the week 6-0.

A transfer from Boston University, Malo is in his first season at Williams and currently carries a 13-0 record.  He won titles at the Ursinus Fall Brawl, Springfield's Doug Parker Invitational, and the Simpson Invitational.  Prior to college, Malo wrestled in Massachusetts for St. John’s Prep (Danvers, MA) where he won  two state titles and finished his senior year 58-0.  He went on to place 8th in the NHSCA Senior Nationals before moving on to Boston University where he was 5-5 as a freshman before transferring to Williams this season.

Malos is currently ranked sixth nationally at 184 pounds.

Next up for the Ephs is the Desert Duals to be hosted by #1 Wartburg College in Las Vegas on December 21.

In the latest individual rankings in New England the Ephs have placed a Williams record eight wrestlers in the 10 weight classes. Only the 165 and 285 rankings do not include an Eph.

Sophomore Corey Paulish is the top ranked Eph and is number one in the region at 141. Four Ephs are ranked second with senior Ethan Cohen at 125, junior Carl Breitenstein at 157, Malo at 184 and senior Kyle Ayer at 197.

Junior Dylan Rittenburg is ranked third at 149 and sophomore Josh Mattana (133) and junior Drew Gatewood (174) are both ranked sixth.

Team Rankings

Individual Rankings