PROVIDENCE, RI. –The host Johnson & Wales University wrestling team came through with two crowns at the Futures Tournament. The Wildcat got victories from DJ Tirelli at 141 pounds and Pete Hailer at 184 pounds.
Johnson & Wales had 11 wrestlers finish in the top five of their weight class.
Tirelli (Oradell, NJ) was a pinning machine as he recording a fall in all five of his victories. He pinned Matt Elias of Roger Williams at the 2:07 mark of their championship bout.
JWU was guaranteed a victory at 184 pounds as teammates Hailer (East Milton, Mass.) and Adrian Gonzalez (Providence, RI) squared off against each other. Riding time gave Hailer the victory as he narrowly won, 4-3.
A tech fall put Dominick Salvatore (Lodi, NJ) into the finals of 133 pounds, but he was pinned by Ryan Cabezas at the 4:13 mark. At 157 pounds, Desmond Towns (Morrisville, NJ) used back-to-back major decisions to get into the finals, but his run was stopped 1-0 by Carter Merecki of Roger Williams.
Rookie Stephen Nadera (Old Bridge, NJ) lost in the semifinals of 125 pounds but rebounded to win the third-place match with an 11-2 major decision over Springfield's Tyler Fitzpatrick. Sophomore Christopher Behen (Danvers, Mass.) had to beat teammate Brandon Flemming (Marshfield, Mass.) to get into the third-place match at 165 pounds where we topped Castleton's Nolan Viens, 8-7. An opening-round loss motivated freshman Kyle McQuaide (Chelmsford, Mass.) to record two major decisions to take third at 197 pounds.
Rookie Zachary Deaguero (Commerce City, Colo.) rebounded from a semifinal loss at 174 pounds to take third. Junior Watna Cunha (Brockton, Mass.) lost his first match at 141 pounds, but fought his way back through the consolation bracket to take fourth. Also working his way back from a first round loss was freshman Johanser Joseph (Pompon Plains, NJ) as he took fourth at 285 pounds.
The Wildcats are back in action on Saturday and Sunday when they travel to Roger Williams for the NCAA East Regional. The top three wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the NCAA Championships.
