Men's Wrestling: Cadets Fall to Huskies in Tightly Conested Dual

GORHAM, Maine — The Norwich University men's wrestling team dropped a tight 22-19 decision to Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon, winning five of 10 bouts in a dual that came down to the final match in their final varsity tune-up before NCAA Northeast Regionals.

Norwich opened the afternoon strong at 125 pounds as Robby Lyons (Milford, Mass.) pinned Carter Noble in 2:03 to give the Cadets an early 6-0 lead. Southern Maine answered with back-to-back technical falls at 133 and 141 to swing momentum and take a 10-6 advantage.

The Huskies extended their lead with wins at 149 and 157, including a fall at 157 that pushed the team score to 19-6.

Norwich responded in the middle weights. Gannon White (Rincon, Ga.) earned an 11-6 decision at 165, and Jonathan Neypes (Columbia, Md.) followed with an 11-5 decision at 174 to trim the deficit to 19-12.

Southern Maine picked up a decision at 184 to move ahead 22-12 before the Cadets made a late push. Kevin Rodriguez (Sylmar, Calif.) delivered a 20-5 technical fall at 197, cutting the margin to five points. At heavyweight, Rory Nolan (Wadsworth, Ohio) secured a 7-3 decision over Jason Canavan-Dwyer to bring Norwich within two.

A team point deduction following the 285-pound bout finalized the score at 22-19 in favor of Southern Maine.

Norwich also competed in five exhibition bouts, highlighted by a 12-2 major decision from Ryker Evans (Northport, Maine) at 174.

Up next for junior varsity competitors is the New England Wrestling Association (NEWA) Futures tournament on Feb. 15, hosted by the United States Coast Guard Academy. Varsity competitors will return to action Feb. 28 in the NCAA Northeast Regionals, also hosted by Coast Guard.