WILLIAMSBURG, Pa. – The 23rd-ranked Castleton University wrestling team posted a 1-2 record at the first day of the Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming College Friday, defeating Wilkes College while falling to Ohio Northern and #25 Washington & Lee.
The Spartans opened the day with a narrow defeat at the hands of Ohio Northern, 20-19, before rebounding with a dominant 38-3 win over Wilkes. In the final match of the day, Castleton fell to nationally-ranked Washington & Lee, 25-13.
Chance LaPier and Joseph Galusha each went 3-0 on the day, while Joseph Valentino, Max Tempel, Michael Angers, Jason Hoffman and Mitchell LaFlam each went 2-1.
In the opening match against Ohio Northern, the Spartans suffered losses at each of the opening five weight classes, but were victorious in the final five. After getting down 20-0 heading into the 165-pound bout, Angers got Castleton on the board with a 3-2 decision victory. LaPier followed with a major decision, 14-4, before Hoffman earned a pin to make it 20-13 with two bouts remaining. LaFlam earned a decision victory, 5-3, to pull the Spartans within four, and Galusha picked up a win via decision in the first sudden-victory period, but it was not enough as the Spartans fell by one, 20-19.
Coming off of the narrow loss, Castleton bounced back with a big win over Wilkes. Following a forfeit at 125 that put Castleton up 6-0, Owen Kretschmer won a 2-1 decision to make it 9-0. After dropping the 141-pound bout via decision, Castleton won the final seven matches of the day to claim a 38-3 victory. Fleming and Hoffman each had pins during the run, while Tempel and LaPier won via major decision.
The day's finale saw Castleton fall to nationally-ranked Washington & Lee, 25-13. Valentino got Castleton on the board first with a 5-3 win via decision, but the Spartans dropped the next two matches to fall behind, 9-3. Tempel won at 149 with a 3-1 win in the first sudden-victory period, but Castleton again dropped back-to-back bouts to fall behind 18-6. After LaPier won by major decision to make it 18-10, Washington & Lee picked up two more wins to go up 25-10 with just the heavyweight division remaining. Galusha picked up his third win of the day, a 7-5 decision, but the Spartans fell by a final of 25-13.
Castleton will be in action again Saturday in split-squad action, taking on Southern Virginia at at 9 a.m. in the Budd Whitehill Duals and competing at Plymouth State's Jim Aguiar Invitational at 10 a.m.
