NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Wesleyan wrestling team totaled 45.5 points in the NEWA Futures Tournament on Sunday which was good enough for seventh place out of 16 teams in the competition. The Cardinals had three placers, including a pair in the 174-lb weight class, that led the way for Wesleyan.
Wrestling as the two-seed at 174,
Ben Ronca '28 coasted to a pair of pins in his opening two bouts, needing less than two minutes to win each match. He then lost the semifinal match to Gordon Murray of Roger Williams in a tight 4-2 decision, but managed to respond with a 20-4 tech fall in the third place bout against Tyler Boelhower of Springfield.
Rinaldo DiGiacopo '29 also had a strong day in the 174-lb weight class, going 4-1 overall on his way to a fifth-place finish. He opened with a 21-6 tech fall in the main draw and then went on a three-match win streak in the back draw, winning all three matches via pins to take fifth place.
Silvan Unger '29 went 4-2 in the 157-lb bracket, finishing in sixth place. Unger won his opening two matches in the main draw, the first in a pin and the following match by an injury default. After taking a decision loss in the quarterfinals, Unger won back-to-back decisions in the back draw before losing a tight 3-0 decision in the fifth-place bout.
Other Cardinals who won at least two matches on the day included
Alexander Rivard '28 at 157, who won his opening two matches in the main draw and then another in the back draw before falling one win shy of the fifth-place bout. A group of four Cardinals went 2-2 on the day including
Owen Sheiman '29 and
Jeremy Kwon '29 at 149 while
William Maffei '27 and
Hamilton Tevis '27 each went 2-2 at 197.
The Cardinals are back in action with the NCAA Region 1 Championships from February 28 through March 1 in New London on the campus of Coast Guard Academy.
