Saturday, February 15, 2003
TRINITY WRESTLING SPLITS WITH SHOCKING LOSS AT BRIDGEWATER
Bantams Still Finish With Best Ever Record
Bridgewater, Mass.- Freshman heavyweight Michael Blair (Plymouth, N.H.) pinned one opponent and blanked another, 6-0, to lead the Trinity College Bantams to a split in a wrestling tri-match against the Bridgewater State College Bears and the Rhode Island College Anchormen this afternoon. Trinity, ranked No. 1 in New England and No. 24 in the Nation, finishes the regular season with a best-ever 23-3 record but snaps a College record 15-match winning streak with a 20-18 loss against the host Bears. The Bantams also downed Rhode Island College, 28-9. The Bears, ranked No. 3 in New England finish at 13-13 and the Anchormen, ranked No. 8 in New England, end up 14-10.
Trinity won eight out of 10 matches against the Anchormen, including a pin by sophomore 197-pounder Matt Webster (Foxboro, Mass.) and major decisions by freshman 125-pounder Luis Murillo (Meriden, Conn.) and junior co-captain 184-pounder Michael Doros (East Hartford, Conn.).
Against the Bears, 133-pound Kyle Hunsicker (Augusta, N.J.), 141-pound Ken Stone (Milford, Mass.), 149 pound Greg Barnes (Halifax, Mass.) and 157-pound Steve Hawkins (Chelmsford, Mass.) all picked up wins in their respective weight classes, as the home team stunned Trinity with a 13-6 lead into the 165-pound match.
Trinity junior co-captain 165-pounder Wes Connell (Simsbury, Conn.) pulled the Bantams closer as he decisioned Bridgewater senior Andy Cook (Hanson, Mass.), 3-0, to close the gap to 13-9. Then, in what may have been the deciding match of the evening, Bridgewater junior Brian Bartlett (Weymouth, Mass.) upset 174-pound Lucas McKittrick (Lincolnville, Maine), ranked No. 6 in his class in New England, 11-6, to give the Bears a little breathing room at 16-9.
Doros, the top-ranked wrestler in New England at the 184-pound weight class, made it a formality over Chris Primo (Hingham, Mass.) with an 11-5 decision, but junior All-American Craig Buckley (Hingham, Mass.) sealed the upset victory for the Bears with a 12-3 major decision win over Trinity sophomore Oded Carmi (Framingham, Mass.). Blair rounded out the scoring with a pin of Bear junior heavyweight Doug Currier (Haverhill, Mass.) to make the final score 20-18 in favor of the Bears.
TEAM RESULTS
Rhode Island College 23, Bridgewater State 12
Trinity (Conn.) 29, Rhode Island College 8
Bridgewater State 20, Trinity (Conn.) 18
TRINITY MATCH RESULTS
Trinity vs. Rhode Island College
125: TC- Luis Murillo d. Eddy German 12-0
133: RIC- Mike Riley d. Jim Malone 22-7
141: TC- Will Moyet d. Rich Chute 6-4
149: TC- Eric Egolf d. Matt Kelly 6-2
157: RIC- Carlos Lopez d. Eric Viani 9-5
165: TC- Wes Connell d. Dennis Stone 5-1
174: TC- Lucas McKittrick d. Keith Neslen 7-2
185: TC-Mike Doros d. Ryan Klupt 14-0
197: TC- Matt Webster d. Andre Labonte pin time (5:35)
HWT: TC- Michael Blair d. B. J. Atkinson 6-0
Trinity (Conn.) 28 Rhode Island College 9
Trinity vs. Bridgewater State
125: TC- Warren Wong d. Andrea Giacomozzi pin time (1:29)
133: BS- Kyle Hunsicker d. Luis Murillo 4-0
141: BS- Ken Stone d. Will Moyet 14-3
149: BS- Greg Barnes d. Eric Egolf 10-9
157: BS- Steve Hawkins d. Eric Viani 8-6
165: TC- Wes Connell d. Andy Cook 3-0
174: BS- Brian Bartlett d. Lucas McKittrick 11-6
184: TC- Mike Doros d. Chris Primo 11-5
197: BS- Craig Buckley d. Oded Carmi 12-3
HWT: TC- Mike Blair d. Doug Currier pin time (1:49)
Bridgewater State 20, Trinity (Conn.) 18