SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Norwich University wrestling team advanced two wrestlers to the semifinals and has two more still in contention in the consolation brackets at the NCAA Division III Northeast Regionals hosted by Springfield College. Norwich sits in seventh place out of 18 teams with 41.5 points.
The two Norwich wrestlers still in contention in the championship bracket are freshman Jacob Forsman (125) (Voorhees, N.J.) and sophomore Frank Girolamo (285) (Stoughton, Mass.).
Forsman, seeded fifth in the 125 bracket, picked up a pair of wins on pinfalls over Dominic DeGraba of SUNY Oneonta and fourth-seeded Nick Barbaria of Roger Williams to advance onto the semifinal round. Forsman will take on SUNY Cortland's Andrew Roden, who is seeded 17th, tomorrow morning. Roden knocked out top-seeded James Kaishian of Ithaca in a 2-1 tiebreaker to draw Forsman in the semifinal round. Neither wrestlers have met in the regular season.
Girolamo, seeded sixth in the heavyweight bracket, pinned Western New England's Oumar Keita in his first match before picking up the second win on the day with a 4-2 decision over Wesleyan's Isaiah Bellamy. Girolamo will open the semifinal round against second-seeded Jake Benedict of Springfield. Girolamo will look for revenge after falling to Benedict in a tiebreaker, 4-3, in the dual match earlier this season.
Wrestlers in the consolation bracket are freshman Sean Randles (133) (Las Vegas, Nev.) and junior Pat McCurdy (165) (Alloway, N.J.).
Randles, seeded sixth in the 133 bracket, started the day with a heartbreaking 2-1 loss in sudden victory to Stephen Masi of Rhode Island College. Randles rebounded in the consolation round with a pin over Plymouth State's Adam Correia in 1:09 before picking up the second win with a 6-4 decision over Williams College's Ben Morton. Randles will face fifth-seeded Jean-Luc Lemieux of Roger Williams University tomorrow in the consolation quarterfinals.
McCurdy, seeded 19th in the 165 bracket, was pinned by third-seeded Alec Golner of Roger Williams in the opening match of the championship bracket. McCurdy quickly rebounded in the consolation round, pinning Daniel Webster's Wilson Pellot-Segui (11th seed) in 3:50 before advancing onto the quarterfinal round after Oneonta State's Evan Wallance (8th seed) ended the match on a medical forfeit. McCurdy will take on fourth-seeded Timothy Garripoli of Williams College in the quarterfinal match of the consolation bracket tomorrow.
The top-three finishers in each weight class advance to the NCAA Championships. Action will resume Sunday at 10 a.m.
