SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Johnson & Wales University wrestling team continued its dual meet dominance on Saturday at Springfield College. Eighth-ranked Johnson & Wales opened by beating Castleton, 27-13, then topped Cortland State, 35-13. The Wildcats ended the day by toppling Springfield, 22-15.
The trio of wins ran the Wildcats' record to 21-6. JWU has won 53-straight against New England schools.
Johnson & Wales and Castleton were nearly even through the first five bouts with Michael DiNardo giving JWU a 15-7 advantage with his pin of Joseph Galusha in 3:54 of their 285-pound contest. Hayden Brown's pin at 133 pounds wrapped up the team triumph and seventh-ranked Da'mani Burns added a pin for good measure at 149 pounds.
The Red Dragons had an early lead, but the Wildcats finished the meet by winning six of the last seven weight classes. Tommy Wrzesien and DiNardo had back-to-back pins then Brown added his second pin of the day. Burns capped the win against his previous school with a 13-4 major decision.
Wrzesien only needed 55 seconds to pin Springfield's Sam Ware then DiNardo scored a 5-4 upset of #4 Joe Fusco. The Pride pulled within 9-6, but ninth-ranked Jordan Robinson at 141 pounds, 149-pounder Marvin Cunningham and William Hughes at 157 pounds all won to push the JWU margin back to 22-9. Rookie Christian Murphy notched a 9-4 decision at 174 pounds to wrap up the win.
Johnson & Wales goes across town to take on Rhode Island College Friday at 6 p.m.
#8 Johnson & Wales 27, Castleton 13 JWU-WPI
157 Darius Joyce (JWU) over Cooper Fleming (CU) Decision 8-4 3-0
165 Christian Murphy (JWU) over Reese Millington (CU) Decision 3-2 6-0
174 Chance LaPier (CU) over Cam Altobelli (JWU) Major Decision 14-1 6-4
184 Nick Caracappa (JWU) over Jason Hoffman (CU) Decision 4-2 9-4
197 Mitchell LaFlam (CU) over #9 Giovanni Santiago (JWU) Decision 4-3 9-7
285 Michael DiNardo (JWU) over Joseph Galusha (CU) Fall 3:54 15-7
125 Joseph Valentino (CU) over Justin Lopez (JWU) Decision 3-2 15-10
133 Hayden Brown (JWU) over Nicholas Camacho (CU) Fall 3:30 21-10
141 Max Tempel (CU) over Freddy Eckles (JWU) SV-1 3-1 21-13
149 #7 Da'mani Burns (JWU) over Cqari Bacote (CU) Fall 5:00 27-13
#8 Johnson & Wales 35, Cortland State 13 JWU-WPI
157 Ben Bivar (CS) over William Hughes (JWU) Fall 2:43 0-6
165 Christian Murphy (JWU) over Charlie Buckley (CS) Major Decision 16-5 4-6
174 Demitereus Henry (CS) over Steven Ocampo (JWU) Decision 7-2 4-9
184 Nick Caracappa (JWU) wins by forfeit 10-9
197 Tommy Wrzesien (JWU) over Mark Rivera (CS) Fall 1:44 16-9
285 Michael DiNardo (JWU) over Zach Herbert (CS) Fall 2:43 22-9
125 Justin Lopez (JWU) over Benjarmin llyod (CS) Decision 8-3 25-9
133 Hayden Brown (JWU) over Vincent Santilli (CS) Fall 1:53 31-9
141 Chandler Merwin (CS) over Freddy Eckles (JWU) Major Decision 9-0 31-13
149 Da'mani Burns (JWU) over Ryan Burgbacher (CS) Major Decision 13-4 35-13
#8 Johnson & Wales 22, Springfield 15 JWU-SC
197 Tommy Wrzesien (JWU) over Sam Ware (SC) Fall 0:55 6-0
285 Michael DiNardo (JWU) over #4 Joe Fusco (SC) Decision 5-4 9-0
125 Joey Manginelli (SC) over Justin Lopez (JWU) Decision 5-2 9-3
133 Chris Trelli (SC) over Freddy Eckles (JWU) Decision 8-5 9-6
141 #9 Jordan Robinson (JWU) over Gianni Manginelli (SC) Decision 7-2 12-6
149 Marvin Cunningham (JWU) over Michael Vietri (SC) Decision 4-3 15-6
157 William Hughes (JWU) over Jordan Baker (SC) Major Decision 19-7 19-6
165 Zack Lawrence (SC) over Steven Ocampo (JWU) Decision 11-6 19-9
174 Christian Murphy (JWU) over Nicholas Almonte (SC) Decision 9-4 22-9
184 Ryan Errico (SC) over Nick Caracappa (JWU) Fall 6:47 22-15