Wrestling Knocks Off Wesleyan, 24-12

The wrestling squad posted an impressive 24-12 victory against Wesleyan at the Harborside Recreation Center on Saturday evening.

Wesleyan took the first points of the evening with a 6-4 win by freshman Ben Schwartz (Highland Park, Ill.) at 125 points for the 3-0 lead.  After the visiting Cardinals took a 6-0 lead, JWU's TJ Webster (Markham, Ill.) tied things up with a win by pin fall in a time of just 1:15 at 141 pounds to knot the match at 6-6.  A 9-6 win by Wesleyan's Howard Tobochnik (Kalamazoo, Mich.) put the Cardinals up 9-6, but JWU regained the 12-9 lead after a pin fall victory by sophomore Michael Frick (New Fairfield, Conn.) at 157 pounds.  The Wildcats extended their lead to 15-9 on a 9-2 win by freshman Frank Marotti (Fairfield, N.J.) at 165 pounds.  JWU freshman Sean Prell (Warwick, N.Y.) posted a 7-2 upset win over the #2 wrester in New England at 174 pounds to put the Wildcats up 18-9.  A 7-5 win by Wesleyan junior Jefferson Ajayi (Richmond Heights, Ohio) at 184 pounds closed the gap to 18-12.  It was not enough though as sophomore Blake McNulty (Framingham, Mass.) had a 9-6 win at 197 pounds and JWU junior captain Humphrey Swift (Danbury, Conn.)  closed out the evening with a 8-2 win at heavyweight to propel the Wildcats to the 24-12 victory.

With the win Johnson & Wales is now 7-2 in dual matches while Wesleyan falls to 1-5 for the season.  The Wildcats will return action on Sunday, January 15^th when they host Springfield Tech, Norwich and Southern Maine for a quad match, starting at 12:00 p.m.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    (JWU-WU) 

Wt.                                                                                            Score     Running Score

125         Ben Schwartz (WU) Dec. Joe Pronk (JWU)                   6-4          0-3

133         Joey Schwartz (WU) Dec.  John Donaleski (JWU)        3-2          0-6                         

141         TJ Webster (JWU) Pinned Nick Scotto (WU)                1:15        6-6                         

149         Howard Tobochnik (WU) Dec. R.J. Pilkington                6-9          6-9                            

157         Michael Frick (JWU) Pinned Alex Cannon (WU)             1:53        12-9                       

165         Frank Marotti (JWU) Dec. Thomas Oddo (WU)               9-2          15-9                       

174         Sean Prell (JWU) Dec. Kyle Roosa (WU)                        7-2          18-9                       

184         Jefferson Ajayi (WU) Dec. Connor Nelson (JWU)            7-5          18-12                       

197         Blake McNulty (JWU) Dec. Luke Erickson (WU)               9-6          21-12                    

285           Humphrey Swift (JWU) Austin Frank (WU)                   8-2          24-12