PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Castleton University wrestling team matched its best-ever finish at the New England Wrestling Association Dual Meet Championships Sunday, claiming fifth place after going 3-1 in dual matches at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
It marks the third consecutive year that Castleton has placed fifth at the event, with the Spartans improving to 12-6 in dual competition this season. After opening with a 39-6 win over 13th-seeded Wesleyan, the fourth-seeded Spartans fell 23-18 to No. 5 Roger Williams. Castleton bounced back with a 29-13 win against the No. 8 seed, WPI, before claiming fifth place in a tightly-contested battle against No. 3 Springfield, 16-15. The fifth-place match came down to criteria, giving the Spartans the necessary points to win.
Joseph Valentino and Mitch LaFlam each went 4-0 on the day, with LaFlam's performance earning him a place on the All-Tournament Team. Cqari Bacote and Jason Hoffman also had impressive days, going 3-1 each for Castleton.
In the opener against Wesleyan, Castleton got off to a quick start, winning four of the first five matches to take a commanding lead. Valentino picked up a win over fifth-ranked Amir Daouk via decision, 5-3, before Camacho was bested in overtime, 3-1, by third-ranked Tristan Stetson to knot the match. Antonio Pallaria started a string of four straight Spartan wins, pinning his opponent in 4:09 to make it 9-3. Bacote followed that up with a pin of his own in 5:53, extending Castleton's lead to 15-3. After a major decision victory by Cooper Fleming at 157, Michael Angers picked up a win via forfeit at 165 to give Castleton a 25-3 advantage. Chance LaPier dropped a narrow, 3-2 decision to third-ranked Marco Gaita, breaking the string of Spartan victories, but Hoffman rebounded for Castleton with a 16-0 shutout of Duncan Kreutter for a tech fall win. LaFlam followed with a pin in 2:57, before Joseph Galusha capped the match with an 8-3 decision.
Castleton faced off with fifth-seeded Roger Williams in round two, looking to defeat the Hawks for the second time this season. Castleton defeated RWU earlier this year, 20-16, but the Hawks came out on top Sunday, 23-18. Valentino gave Castleton an early 5-0 lead with a tech fall at 125, but Roger Williams rattled off four straight wins—three decisions and a tech fall—to take a 14-5 edge. Angers got Castleton back in the win column with a 3-1 win via decision, but LaPier and Hoffman dropped bouts at 174 and 184 to push the Hawk lead to 23-8 with just two matches left, sealing the victory for Roger Williams. LaFlam earned an 11-2 major decision win at 197 and Mason Osborn was credited with a win via forfeit at 285 to give the match its 23-18 final score.
The Spartans met WPI for the right to compete in the fifth-place match, and made quick work of the Engineers for the second time this season, winning 29-13. Castleton defeated WPI 34-7 in November. Valentino opened the match with his second tech fall of the day, winning 25-10 over Christian Chadwick, but Owen Kretschmer lost via fall at 133 to eighth-ranked Chris Cook to relinquish the lead briefly, 6-5. Pallaria picked up a win at 141 with a 10-6 decision to put Castleton back on top, 8-6, before a decision victory by Bacote gave Castleton an 11-6 edge over WPI. After Fleming fell via decision, 12-6, Angers fell to the NEWA's top 165-pounder, Tyler Marsh, 8-0, giving the Engineers a 13-11 lead. LaPier bounced back with a win over No. 8 Brendan Marion, 3-0, followed by Hoffman notching a pin at 184 to make it 20-13 in favor of Castleton. LaFlam earned his third win of the day with an 8-2 decision at 197, and Galusha capped the win with a pin at the heavyweight division in 3:55.
The win over WPI set Castleton up for a fifth-place match with Springfield College, the third-seed in the tournament. All 10 bouts were decided via decision, with each team claiming five bouts to put the match in a 15-15 tie, with Castleton earning the win on tie-break criteria. Valentino earned his fourth win of the day with an 8-6 win over the NEWA's No. 2 125-pounder Chris Trelli, but Camacho dropped a 4-0 bout at 133 to knot it at 3-3. Pallaria fell at 141 to put Castleton in a 6-3 hole, but Bacote leveled the score once more with a 5-4 win of his own. Fleming was defeated 4-3 at 157, but Castleton claimed three straight wins from LaPier, Hoffman and LaFlam to take a 15-12 edge heading into the final bout. Galusha battled the NEWA's No. 2-ranked heavyweight, Joe Fusco, but came up on the short end of an 8-6 decision to knot the score at 15-15 before Castleton came away with a 16-15 win via tiebreaker.
The Spartans return to action Saturday with matches against Oswego State and SUNY Brockport in Oswego.
