PORTLAND, Me. –
Marco Gaita '23 of the Wesleyan wrestling team pulled out a dramatic overtime win at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, securing third place in the 174-pound weight class. As a result, Gaita will make his third appearance at the NCAA Division III Championships in two weeks in Roanoke, Virginia.
Aaron Goldman '23 was the next-highest finisher for the Cardinals, taking fourth in the 157-pound weight class, helping push Wesleyan to a 9
th place finish in the 19-team field.
Johnson & Wales won the Regional Tournament with 175.5 points, followed by Coast Guard with 145.5 and Springfield with 112.5. The Cardinals scored 56.5 points as a team.
Competing as the four-seed in the region, Gaita pulled out a pair of tight, low-scoring decisions to advance on Saturday to advance to the semifinal round. He started with a 5-4 win over Brayden Grim of Springfield before defeating Dante Gurbrod of Williams by a score of 4-3. After falling to the top-seed Michael Ross in the semis, Gaita responded with an 8-6 win over Danny Gibson of Coast Guard to advance to the crucial third place bout. Needing a win to secure his spot at Nationals, Gaita landed a takedown in the first overtime session to defeat Jason Geyer of NYU.
Goldman landed a fourth-place finish in the 157-pound weight class for the second straight season, as the senior battled his way to the third place bout in the consolation flight. He started the tournament with a 10-4 win over Ben Bariso of Roger Williams before being bounced from the top flight in a 4-1 defeat to Joe Chapman of Coast Guard. Needing to string together wins in the back draw for a chance at Nationals, Goldman did just that, landing a 15-4 major decision win over Bridgewater State's Michael Hopkins. Goldman followed with a 12-7 triumph over Williams Hughes of Johnson & Wales and stamped his place in the third-place bout with a 15-6 major decision win over Jashon Holmes of Castleton. The final bout saw the top-seed in the region, Peter Kane of Williams, hold Goldman to 0 takedowns in a match that ended in a 4-1 victory for Kane.
Max Martinez '25 placed for the first time in his career at the Regional, landing a couple of wins in the early stages of the tournament to earn a spot in the quarterfinals. He started with a 12-5 win over Colby Reilly of Western New England before defeating the second-seed Tyler Williams of Roger Williams, 3-2. After a quarterfinal defeat to Nate Fitt of Coast Guard, Martinez lost both bouts in the back draw by two points apiece, landing him with a sixth-place finish in the 141-pound weight class.
CJ Shea '25 was heavily involved throughout the weekend, taking part in seven bouts over the two-day tournament before landing in seventh place in the 149-pound weight class, placing at Regionals for the first time in his career. Shea opened the weekend with an 8-6 win over Jahongir Davronov of Hunter College. He then lost to the top-seed Hayden Brown of Johnson & Wales before landing a pin of Western New England's Jimmy Barrett in just 42 seconds. That win secured Shea of a top 8 finish and he closed out the tournament in style, landing a pin in 36 seconds on Matt Lucas of Roger Williams to take seventh place.
In the remaining weight classes,
Greg Fischer '23 landed a pin in the back draw of the 125-pound weight class in his final collegiate competition.
Shailen Savur '25 landed a 10-1 major decision victory in the opening round of the 133-pound weight class.
Jack Reusing '25 secured a 7-6 victory over Jacob Cardozo of Roger Williams in the back draw of the 165-pound class.
Dean Omirly '25 was a winner by pinfall in 4:44 over Anthony Mears of Southern Maine before later defeating Shane Daly of Norwich by pin at 3:56, both in the back draw at 197.
Gaita now prepares for the NCAA Division III Wrestling Championships held in Virginia on March 10-11.
