CEDAR FALLS, IOWA -- The Eph grapplers traveled
to the University of Northern Iowa to compete in the National
Duals. The National Duals is a team tournament that pits the best
teams in the country against each other. The Ephs were one of 16
Division III teams in the country who were invited to wrestle in
this prestigious tournament. In their first match the Ephs, ranked
14th nationally, were unable to overcome 10th ranked North Central
(IL) and fell by a score of 23-16.
After falling into a 9-0 hole after three matches, the grapplers
forged a fierce comeback. 149 pound Junior Corey Paulish, currently
ranked 6th in the country, dominated Andrew Zoback and scored a 4-1
decision.
Carl Breitenstein, wrestling at 157, was simply dominant. He
controlled the pace of the match en route to a major decision over
Jacob Sandborn, 13-0. Head Coach Dan DiCenzo was pleased with his
senior’s effort saying, “Carl was impressive in his
match today. He controlled every aspect of the match and brought
home a huge win for us.”
Building on the previous two matches’ momentum, Jon Foster
won a tight match over Joby Bodi, 6-5. Foster was tied with Bodi in
the waning seconds of the match but was able to score an escape
with five seconds remaining to give the Ephs a much needed victory.
“Jon gave our team a huge boost today” said Coach
DiCenzo he went on to say, “Jon has only had a week of
practice since returning from abroad and for him to win such an
important match really put our team in a strong position.” By
virtue of their three straight wins the Ephs were leading 10-9.
After a tech fall at 174, the Ephs entered the 184 pound match
down 10-14. In this match Nate Shippee was went up against 3rd
ranked Gabe Youel. Unfortunately for Shippee he was forced to
forfeit due to an elbow injury 2:30 into the 1st period. Due to the
severity of the injury, Shippee is expected to be out a few weeks.
Coach DiCenzo was disappointed to see Shippee get injured,
“Nate has been having a great senior campaign and it is hard
to see him go down like this. However, I am confident that he will
recover in time to make a difference in our team’s stretch
run.” The loss of Shippee not only will prevent the Ephs from
utilizing one of the best 184 pound wrestlers in the country, but
it also cost the Ephs six crucial points in the match team
score.
Junior standout Ryan Malo got the Ephs back on track with a pin
over Vincent Sapienza. Malo dictated the match and had two turns
before finally pinning Sapienza 1:50 into the first period, scoring
six huge points for the Ephs.
Going into the heavyweight match the Ephs were down 16-20, Coach
DiCenzo decided to tap Nikola Mirkovic to wrestle in the final
match because, “at any moment he has the ability to make a
big move”. The Ephs needed at least a major decision to tie
and Coach DiCenzo felt that Mirkovic gave them the best opportunity
to do so. Rodney Knowlton slowed down the match’s pace and
was able to defeat Mirkovic 3-2, scoring and additional 3 points
for North Central.
While the Ephs fell in their opening match Coach DiCenzo was
pleased with the effort his grapplers displayed. “North
Central has been one of the top teams in Division III wrestling for
the past three or four years, their wrestlers really compete hard
and really gave us a test. Now we need to battle back.”
The Ephs don’t have to wait long for redemption; their next
match is against #22 Wisconsin-Whitewater who fell to 2nd ranked
Augsburg College, 33-7. The match begins at 3:00 Central.
Williams College v. North Central (IL)
Weight Result Score/Time Running Score
125 Joseph Norton (NC) Dec. Josh Mattana (WC) 13-6 0-3
133 Nathan Fitzenreider(NC) Dec. Ces Antista(WC) 2-0 0-6
141 John Starzyk (NC) Dec. Dylan Rittenburg (WC) 6-4 0-9
149 Corey Paulish (WC) Dec. Andrew Zoback (NC) 4-1 3-9
157 Carl Breitenstein (WC) Maj Dec. Jacob Sandborn (NC) 13-0
7-9
165 Jon Foster (WC) Dec. Joby Bodi (NC) 6-5 10-9
174 Cowan Brown (NC) Tech Fall. Andrew Gatewood (WC) 22-7
10-14
184 Gabe Youel (NC) Inj Def. Nate Shippee (WC) 2:30 10-20
197 Ryan Malo (WC) Pinned Vincent Sapienza 1:59 16-20
285 Rodney Knowlton (NC) Dec. Nikola Mirkovic (WC) 3-2 16-23
Match #2
Williams College v. Wisconsin-Whitewater
In their second match of the National Duals, the Williams
men’s wrestling team fell to #22 ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater
28-12. The match was marked by a number of close contests matches
with the Ephs coming up on the short end of a number of them.
In the third match of the day Dylan Rittenburg lost to Austin
Bautista, the 1st ranked wrestler in the country in a tight match,
3-2.
The Ephs began to make up ground in their 4th match of the day.
141 pound Corey Paulish, ranked 6th in the country won a decision
over Matthew Schuck, 4-2. The win brought Paulish to 2-0 on the
day.
In the next bout Carl Breitenstein, ranked 8th in the country at
149 continued his strong wrestling. He defeated Corey Schmidt 4-2.
This win brought the Ephs within 6 points of Wisconsin-Whitewater
(12-6). Unfortunately for the Ephs this was the closest the match
would get.
The Ephs lost their next three matches by a decision, pin and
major decision. This allowed Wisconsin-Whitewater to stretch their
lead to 25-6.
Wrestling at 197 Ryan Malo scored his 7th straight pin and 10th
pin in 12 matches over Adam Latella. Malo was simply dominant and
needed only 1:42 to pin his opponent. By virtue of his quick pins,
Malo has wrestled for less than four minutes at the National
Duals.
The Ephs battled to the end. Even though they came up short in a
number of matches Coach Dan DiCenzo called his team’s effort
“outstanding”. He went on to say that “we lost a
number of tight matches that we need to have if we want to win dual
meets.”
The Ephs have a few hours off before their third match of the day
against Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the 7th ranked team in the
country. The match begins at 8:00 Central.
Williams College v. Wisconsin-Whitewater
Weight Result Score/Time Running Score
125 Max Oldenburg (Wisc-W) Dec. Josh Mattana (WC) 7-5 3-0
133 Kyle Wacholder (Wisc-W) Pinned Kaison Tanabe (WC) 4:45 9-0
141 Austin Bautista (Wisc-W) Dec. Dylan Rittenburg (WC) 3-2
12-0
149 Corey Paulish (WC) Dec. Matthew Schuck (Wisc-W) 4-2 12-3
157 Carl Breitenstein (WC) Dec. Corey Schmidt (Wisc-W) 6-4
12-6
165 Jake D’Acquisto (Wisc-W) Dec. Jon Foster (WC) 6-1
15-6
174 Reid Dickerson (Wisc-W) Pinned Rob Brackup (WC) 6:31 21-6
184 David Casper (Wisc-W) Maj. Dec. Andrew Gatewood (WC) 15-3
25-6
197 Ryan Malo (WC) Pinned Adam Latella (Wisc-W) 1:42 25-12
285 Jan Schmidt (Wisc-W) Dec. Colin Curzi (WC) 7-4 28-12
Match #3
Williams College v. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
The Ephs scored a much needed victory in their 3rd match of the
day. Wrestling against the 7th ranked team in the nation, the
University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, the 14th ranked Ephs put
together a strong effort and won 23-19.
125 pound senior Josh Mattana faced Joe Mileski in the
match’s first bout. Mileski has been having a strong season
and is currently ranked 10th in the country. Mattana wrestled
Mileski tough and the match was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation.
In sudden-victory overtime Mileski scored two points to win
4-2.
141 pound Dylan Rittenburg was impressive and won a major decision
over Shane Sweeney 13-2. This victory brought the Ephs within two
points of Wisconsin, 4-6.
149 pound Corey Paulish and 157 pound Carl Breitenstein improved
their records to 3-0 by virtue of an 8-5 decision and a second
period pin respectively. Their wins gave the Ephs a 13-6 lead going
into the second half of the match.
The Ephs entered the 197 pound match with a three point lead. Ryan
Malo capped off his impressive week with a major decision over
Brandon Jochem, 14-3. The victory extended Malo’s winning
streak to eight straight matches. Head Coach Dan DiCenzo recognized
the importance of Malo’s victory saying, “Malo’s
win really iced the match for us.”
Coach DiCenzo was pleased with his teams performance in the
National Duals saying, “I was impressed with the resilience
of boys. Even with the loss of Nate [Shippee] we were able to
bounce back and defeat a very talented Wisconsin-Stevens Point
squad.” He went on to say, “Ryan [Malo], Corey
[Paulish], and Carl [Breitenstein] were strong all tournament and
really stepped up in crucial situations for us.”
The Ephs return to the mats on Wednesday against AIC. The match is
set to begin at 6:00 pm.
Williams College v. Wisconsin-Stevens Point
Weight Result Score/Time Running Score
125 Joe Mileski (Wisc-SP) Dec. (OT) Josh Mattana (WC) 4-2 0-3
133 Jordan Kust (Wisc-SP) Dec. Ces Antista (WC) 5-2 0-6
141 Dylan Rittenburg (WC) Maj. Dec. Shane Sweeney (Wisc-SP) 13-2
4-6
149 Corey Paulish (WC) Dec. Kris Magruder (Wisc-SP) 8-5 7-6
157 Carl Breitenstein (WC) pinned Andrew Dilworth (Wisc-SP) 4:30
13-6
165 Jordan Schulte (Wisc-SP) Dec. Jon Foster (WC) 11-3 13-10
174 Dennis Reckelburg (Wisc-SP) pinned Rob Brackup (WC) 4:00
13-16
184 Andrew Gatewood (WC) forfeit (Wisc-SP) --- 19-16
197 Ryan Malo (WC) Maj. Dec. Brandon Jochem (Wisc-SP) 14-3
23-16
285 Matt Cuadra (Wisc-SP) Dec. Colin Curzi (WC) 7-4 23-19
