Wrestlers Take Impressive 3rd at Doug Parker Invitational
Springfield, Massachusetts -- The Ephs grapplers traveled to the Doug Parker Wrestling Invitational knowing that they would face a field consisting of some of the top wrestlers in the country. Even though the Ephs have only been practicing for a few short weeks, they performed admirably.
The Ephs secured their best finish in school history (3rd) finishing just two and a half points shy of second place. The squad was able to accumulate 122 points with contributions coming from throughout their roster.
At 125, Senior Captain, Ethan Cohen had another productive day. He cruised through his first four matches. In the finals he faced off with Dan Bloom of Wesleyan, a familiar opponent. Last year Cohen was able to go 2-1 against Bloom, however, on this day Bloom was able to get the better of him (3-2).
At 133 Sophomore Josh Mattana had a great day winning five matches including two pins to take 6th place. Mattana beat a tough Nate St. Elme of Centenary 16-6 to make it into the placing rounds. Co-head coach Dan DiCenzo was very happy with Mattana's performance, "Josh had a great day and was a big reason why we were able to do so well as a team. He scored big points winning 5 matches and wrestled tough all day."
At 141 Corey Paulish had a strong day going 6-1 and taking 3rd place. Paulish won his first two matches before losing to Mike Trasso of RIC 5-3. Paulish then went on to win 3 matches and, in the conciliation finals, beat Trasso. This time by a score of 4-3.
At 149 Dylan Rittenburg recorded two wins before losing in the quarterfinals to Kevin Sutherland of RIC 4-3 in double OT, on a tie breaker riding time criteria point. Rittenburg and Sutherland battled for over 10 minutes until Sutherland prevailed by having 7 seconds more riding time as is the criteria in a tied match in the second tie breaker. Rittenburg came back and won three matches in a row before losing to Sutherland again this time by the score of 5-2.
At 157, Junior Carl Breitenstein went 4-1 on the day and took 2nd place in what proved to be a very tough weight class. Breitenstein was able to cruise to the quarter final where he pinned Scott Lowe of USMMA in 4:20. He went on to beat Rob Mifsud of Springfield 5-4 in the Semi-finals. In the finals lost to Mike Martini of RIC 4-3. Martini is the defending conference champion and currently ranked #6 in the country. Carl started the action off with a nice single leg takedown and had a 2-1 lead after the 1st period. In the second period Martini chose down and reversed Breitenstein, but Breitenstein escaped 20 seconds later to tie the match at 3-3. In the start of the 3rd period Breitenstein chose down. There were four very good scrambles in the match but Carl could not get away and lost 4-3 with the additional riding time point for Martini. Coach DiCenzo was very happy with Breitenstein's effort, "Carl had a good day, he is wrestling very well at this point in the season and his goal is to continue to get better every week. We as coaches feel he really has something special this year and is a top kid in the country."
In the 184 pound weight class, Ryan Malo continued his impressive first season at Williams, he pinned every wrestler he faced. In the semi finals he pinned two time all NEWA wrestler James Woods in 2:42. The finals brought a new opponent but a familiar result for Malo, he pinned Nick Logan of RIC in 3:44. Coach DiCenzo was very pleased with Malo's effort, "Ryan wrestled exactly the way Coach Vega and I want him and our team to wrestle. He was constantly attacking and putting pressure on his opponent." So far this year Malo has been dominant and should prove to be an integral part of the Ephs success this season. DiCenzo went on to say, "Ryan should be very proud of his efforts so far this year. He has won both of his first two tournaments and has pinned six of the seven wrestlers he has faced. Ryan is fun to coach as he is always looking to get better every day that he comes to practice."
At 197 Kyle Ayer had a strong day taking 4th place. Ayer pinned his first opponent in 1:50 and then beat Judd Connell of USMMA 7-4 in the quarterfinals. Ayer then lost in the semifinals 5-0 to a previous NEWA finalist Joe Silverman of MIT by the score of 5-0. Ayer would then beat two-time All NEWA wrestler Josh St Ours of PSU 9-2 to set up another match with Connell for 3rd and 4th. Ayer would lose the match 11-6 and settle for a 4th place finish.
Sophomore Jon Foster preformed well, going 3-2 with two pins and had wins over two strong NEWA opponents in Dan Zotollo RWU and Zack Rolfe Wesleyan University. Foster lost a close match in the round of eight, one match shy of placing.
Overall the Ephs had a very productive performance in just their second tournament of the year. While there is definitely room for improvement, the team has a strong nucleus that should continue to improve as the season progresses.
Williams next wrestles in Iowa on Dec 5th vs. Simpson College and then participates in the Simpson Invitational on the 6th .
