Bristol, RI --- The WPI wrestling team opened its 2008-2009 season with a 10th place finish Saturday at the Roger Williams Invitational.  

Carl Anderson (Billerica, MA) had a great day on the mat, recording a 4-1 record to place third at 125.  157-pounder Tyler Howe (Danbury, CT) notched a pair of pins for the Engineers to finish with a 3-2 record which was good enough to earn him fifth place.  

The freshman trio of Alex LaBeef (Pomfret, CT), Alex Pittera (Salem, NH) and AJ Meldrim (Cortland, NY) all posted 2-2 records with two pins apiece at 141 pounds, 133 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively while classmate Rich Wingert (Hyde Park, MA) was 3-2 with a pin and a technical fall.  

Other winners for WPI included Jeff Root (Milford, CT) at 141 pounds, Dan Metcalf (Westerly, RI) at 125, Matt Wainright (North Attleboro, MA) at 149, Nick Mercurio (York, ME) at 184 and Joe Vanni (Hamilton, MA) at 165.  

The Engineers are back in action next Saturday at the SUNY-Oneonta Tournament.

Results (pdf)

TEAM SCORING:

1) Johnson & Wales         142.5
2) Messiah                     140.5
3) RWU                         120.0
4) RIC                           115.5
5) Wesleyan                   106.5
6) Univ. of S. Maine         92.5
7) Bridgewater State       82.5
8) Norwich                     78.5
9) Johns Hopkins             68.0
10) WPI                         62.5
11) MIT                         49.0
12) USCGA                     45.5     

1^ST, 3^RD AND 5^TH PLACE MATCHES AT EACH WEIGHT:

125-1^st Place: Dan Bloom (Wesleyan) 10-6 over Billy Cole (USM)
125-3^rd Place: Carl Anderson (WPI) 7-3 over James Soprano (JWU)
125-5^th Place: Chris Alvanos (Wesleyan) pinned Mitchell Cohen (JWU)

133-1^st Place: Nick Cucciniello (JWU) 17-16 over Domineak Commodore (Messiah)
133-3^rd Place: Scott Legacy (RIC) 5-4 over Mike Testa (J Hopkins)
133-5^th Place: Brian Conrad (USCGA) 9-3 over Brian Powers (JWU)

141-1^st Place: Steve Valastro (USM) 1-0 over Michael Trasso (RIC)
141-3^rd Place: Andrew Hawley (RWU) 11-2 over Andrew Armstrong (USCGA)
141-5^th Place: Travis Drappi (RIC) 7-2 over Alex DeHart (Messiah)

149-1^st Place: Frank Cammisa (BSC) 8-2 over Stephen Eberle (JWU)
149-3^rd Place: Mike Bressler (Messiah) 8-0 over tom Tuminelli (RWU)
149-5^th Place: David Bachy (Wesleyan) med. Forfeit over John Marsh (BSC)

157-1^st Place: Mike Martini (RIC) 4-2 over Craig Gin (Messiah)
157-3^rd Place: Conor Keating (Norwich ) 6-2 over Matt Cross (Messiah)
157-5^th Place: Tyler Howe (WPI) 9-4 over Ethan Raymond (BSC)

165-1^st Place: Mike Morin (USM) 6-3 over Trent Zempel (Messiah)
165-3^rd Place: Clayton Brittingha (Norwich) 5-3 over Will Stark (USCGA)
165-5^th Place: Josh Berkovic (Wesleyan) 7-5 over Chris Nadeau (RWU)

174-1^st Place: Jerome Owens (JWU) 5-4 over Greg Hurd (Wesleyan)
174-3^rd Place: David Jones (Messiah) pinned Tim Stewart (Messiah)
174-5^th Place: Mike Fenner (BSC) pinned Andrew Brochu (J Hopkins)

184-1^st Place: Bryan Lenhardt (JWU) 4-2 over Nicholas Logan (RIC)
184-3^rd Place: James Woods (RWU) 9-5 over Hector Cintron (J Hopkins)
184-5^th Place: Ryan O'Rourke (BSC) med. Forfeit over Jordon Ferguson (Norwich)

197-1^st Place: Joe Silverman (MIT) 3-2 over Tyler Schmidt (J Hopkins)
197-3^rd Place: Cody Rideout (Norwich) 12-6 over Ray Moore (RIC)
197-5^th Place: Nick Cambi (RWU) 4-1 over Timmy Hopkins (Messiah)

285-1^st Place: Glenn Geesman (MIT) 10-5 over Zach Weinrich (RWU)
285-3^rd Place: Dan Conroy (Wesleyan) 3-1 over Phil Kelly (RWU)
285-5^th Place: Justin Faithful (JWU) 10-1 over Ben Kissane (RWU)

Most Outstanding Lightweight Wrestler: Nick Cucciniello - JWU
Most Outstanding Upperweight Wrestler: Mike Morin - USM