BRISTOL, R.I. – The Norwich University wrestling team finished ninth out of 11 teams, three being nationally ranked, at the Roger Williams Invitational on Saturday, Nov. 14. Two grapplers finished in the top six of their bracket as the Cadets earned 41.5 points on the day.
No. 12 ranked Roger Williams University won the tournament with 180 team points, while No. 4 Messiah College finished second with 162.5 team points. No. 2 Cortland State finished third with 151 team points followed by Johnson & Wales and Ohio Northern in fourth and fifth with 117 and 92.5 points, respectively, to round out the top five.
After a bye in the first round, freshman Sean Randles (Las Vegas, Nev.) won his next two matches with a 6-4 decision over Frank Crippen of Weselyan followed by a 5-2 decision over Dominick Summers of the Coast Guard Academy to advance into the semifinal round at the 133 bracket. Randles battled his way through a hard-fought match against Johnson & Wales' Joseph Ferinde before a 12-6 decision bumped him out of the championship bracket.
From there, Randles contested Stephen Jendritz (WPI) but came up short in the pursuit of the third place spot with a 5-4 decision before facing Summers for the second time on the day for the fifth place spot. Randles wasted no time and quickly pinned Summers in just 1:18 to finish the 133 bracket in fifth.
At 149 pounds, freshman Dakota Lewis (Rockdale, Ga.) represented Norwich and suffered his first loss to Roger Williams' Daniel Downes by technical fall, 16-0, before winning three straight matches in the consolation round. Lewis would pick up a 12-5 decision Bridgewater State's Matt Jiampetti before advancing to the third round in the consolation bracket on a medical forfeit and picking up his third win of the day with a 7-4 decision over Cory Obendorfer of Messiah College. Lewis looked to stay in contention but came up short in the fourth round in sudden victory to WPI's Jack Nigro.
Senior Bryan Giblin (Georgetown, Mass.) looked to improve his tournament status after finishing fourth in the Ithaca Invitational last weekend. Giblin would weigh in at 197 pounds and started the day with a pair of pins over Cortland's Issac Serrano in just four minutes followed by another pin over Hiago Fontoura of Bridgewater State in just 1:48 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the championship bracket.
Giblin's run came to an end after Roger Williams' David Welch picked up the 10-0 major decision, bumping him to the consolation bracket. From there, Giblin responded with an 8-1 decision over Adam Patsun (RWU) before WPI's Michael Curtis ended his day on a 6-2 decision.
At 285, sophomore Frank Girolamo (Stoughton, Mass.) finished in sixth place for the Cadets. He would pick up a pair of wins in the first two rounds with a 5-4 decision over Connor O'Neal of Johnson & Wales and a 5-1 decision over Nick Lupi of Cortland. Girolamo would get bumped out of the championship bracket in the semifinal round after a 4-1 decision to Messiah's Jason Wright. He contended for a chance to finish third in the tournament but had to settle for a sixth place finish after falling to Kody Bellamy (Ohio Northern) before prevailing to Johnson & Wales' Jonah Aurelio in the fifth place match.
The Cadets will prepare and train all week long for their next scheduled contests. Norwich will travel to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Saturday, Nov. 21 for a trio of dual meets against No. 12 Roger Williams, Ursinus and WPI.
