NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University wrestling team competed on the second and final day of the Ithaca College Invitational on Saturday. The Cadets captured sixth place, racking up 60.5 team points against the 11 other teams at the invitational.
"As a coaching staff, we are happy with our team's performance at the Ithaca Invitational," remarked Head Coach Alex Whitney. "One thing was evident to us – Norwich wrestlers have plenty of fight. Win or lose, we pushed the pace of each match. I don't believe there was a team that could match our conditioning."
Freshman Joseph Hennessey (Boonville, N.Y.) placed second in the 184-pound bracket, defeating Danny Moore from the Stevens Institute of Technology before ultimately falling to Oswego State's Jordan Bushey via pinfall in 3:58. He began his afternoon with a 7-4 win by decision over Nicholas Greenquist from the Rochester Institute of Technology in the quarterfinal.
Junior Frank Girolamo (Stoughton, Mass.) finished in third place at the 285-pound bracket, beginning his day with 5-3 win by decision over Vince Wilson from Greensboro in the quarterfinals. Despite a 4-0 loss by decision to Ithaca's nationally-ranked wrestler, Matt Booth, Girolamo did well to edge Joe Fusco of Springfield by an 11-8 decision before a convincing 10-3 decision over Kade Andrews from Oswego State.
Sophomore Jacob Forsman (Voorhees, N.J.) concluded the tournament with a fourth-place finish at 133 pounds. After yesterday's championship round loss to Ian Tolotti of Springfield, Forsman rattled off five-straight victories (three by pinfall, one via injury and one by tiebreaker) before losing via pinfall in the third place match against Johnson & Wales' Jay Albis, who is the top-ranked wrestler in the weight class by the NEWA.
Senior Pat McCurdy (Alloway, N.J.) earned his first victory of the season at the 165-pound flight, pinning Dan Lucey of the Rochester Institute of Technology (4:42) before dropping a third-round consolation tilt. Senior Benjamin Swanson (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.) would lose his quarterfinal match at the 157-pound bracket, but would win via pinfall over Taylor Pfaff of Western New England in the fourth consolation round.
Junior Connor Gobeille (Shelburne, Vt.) and freshman Brandon DesFosses (Methuen, Mass.) would each pick up one major decision win at 157 to round out the strong performances for the Cadets.
"We are excited to get some of our key wrestlers healthy and back in the lineup for the Roger Williams Invitational next weekend," concluded Whitney.
The RWU Invitational will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12.
