BRISTOL, R.I. – The Wesleyan wrestling team hit the ground running as the Cardinals opened the 2024-25 season with a third place showing out of 12 teams at the Roger Williams Invitational. The Cardinals totaled 104 team points to finish behind No. 9 ranked Castleton and Wisconsin-Whitewater, seeing seven individual placers in the competition.

• RESULTS

CJ Shea '25 was the star on the day for Wesleyan, debuting at the 165-pound weight class with a first place showing in the bracket. Shea landed a pin in his opening round bout before beating Connor Gregory of Castleton by a 4-2 decision in the quarterfinal. The senior advanced to the final following a 9-1 major decision win over the three-seed Scott Busse of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Wrestling against Castleton's Jashon Holmes in the title bout, Shea edged out his counterpart in an 8-7 decision.
 
Coming in as the seven-seed, Aris Dashiell '25 went on a thrilling run to the title bout in the 197-pound weight class. Dashiell landed a 5-4 win in the opening round before a convincing 20-4 tech fall win in the round of 16. Facing off against the two-seed Josh Negron, it was Dashiell who came out on top in a decision victory. Dashiell defeated another seeded Castleton wrestler in the semifinal as Andrew Filip lost a 3-1 decision to the Cardinal senior. The title bout saw the top-seed Spencer Fetrow of Roger Williams defeat Dashiell in an 8-2 decision.
 
Hayden Myers '27 landed three wins on the day, claiming fourth place in the 141-pound bracket. He won a thrilling match wherein he was trailing 10-5, landing a pin at 1:14 to defeat Malcolm Chrispin of Bridgewater State. Myers suffered a 12-11 decision loss in the semifinal round of the winners bracket and then fell to Justin Fortugno of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the third place bout.
 
Joe Colon '25 made a thrilling return to the mat after having missed last season, going on to finish in fifth place at 184. Colon opened the day with a pin at 4:02 and followed with a 16-5 major decision win over RJ Samuels of Wisconsin-Whitewater. After two straight defeats, Colon landed a no-contest to take fifth place.
 
Rounding out the day was three sixth place finishes from Ike Guttentag '26 at 149, Max Martinez '25 at 133, and Chris Hong '27 at 125. Guttentag won three times in the winners bracket, advancing to the semifinal round before getting bounced by the top-seed Colby Forst of Southern Maine.  Martinez competed in six bouts on the day, winning four including three by pinfall to finish in sixth at 133. Hong landed three wins on the day, including consecutive victories in the consolation flight that put him into the semifinal round.
 
The Cardinals are back in action next Saturday with a rare dual meet in the fall season as Wesleyan will play host to Trinity at 1 PM from Silloway Gymnasium.