Worcester, MA --- Roger Williams captured the last five bouts of the match to rally to defeat host WPI 28-12 in NEWA wrestling action on Wednesday evening.   Later in the evening, WPI defeated Bryant by a score of 24-3, while Roger Williams also knocked off Bryant 25-0.

Trailing 12-8, Roger Williams picked up a win at 165 pounds by Robbie Crothers (Medford, NY) before 174-pounder Kenneth Ford (Meriden, CT) notched a tech fall to give the Hawks a lead they would not relinquish.  After back-to-back wins from twin brothers James Woods (Demarest, NJ) and Dan Woods (Demarest, NJ) at 184 and 197, the visitors closed out the scoring with a forfeit at heavyweight.

Roger Williams had opened the match with major decisions by Mike Trayser (Dublin, OH) and  Jeremiah Mooney (Madison, CT) at 125 and 133.  WPI then stormed backed with three consecutive victories, including decisions by Alex LaBeef (Pomfret, CT) and Matt Wainwright (North Attleboro, MA) at 141 and 149, followed by a pin by 157-pound Tyler Howe (Danbury, CT).  Howe's win, his tenth of the season by pin, improves his record to 22-6 on the year.

WPI then stormed out of the gates versus Bryant, tallying pins in first three contested bouts.  Dan Metcalf (Westerly, RI) at 125 pounds, Wainwright at 149 and Howe at 157 gave the Engineers an insurmountable 18-0 edge.  After Bryant's Jaret Grossman picked up a hard-earned 3-2 decision at 197 pounds, WPI's Scott Guzman (Acton, ME) wrestling up a class at heavyweight, concluded the match with a pin.  

Roger Williams won all five of the contested bouts versus Bryant en route to a 25-0 victory.  Dustin Conner (Glen Rock, PA), Chris Nadeau (Granby, CT) and Phil Kelly (Quincy, MA) racked up pins at 157, 165 and 285 respectively while 125-pounder Jonathan Lemoine (Trumbull, CT) and 197-pounder Dillon Lawler (Verona, NJ) tacked on wins by decision.

Prior to the start of the evening's competition, WPI senior wrestlers Wainwright, Guzman and Larry Loomis (Plainfield, CT) were honored by coach Lance Baden for their contributions to the program. The three seniors were greeted by their families in attendance before hitting the mat to face Roger Williams.

The tri-meet marked the end of the regular season for both WPI (10-8) and Roger Williams (16-8).  Both teams will compete next weekend at the NEWA Championships.  The two-day event, hosted by Springfield, begins on Saturday, February 21st. 

Story written by Ray Cotrufo '98 - WPI Athletics Department

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