CASTLETON, Vt. – The Castleton University wrestling team looked in mid-season form in the season-opening match Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gym, cruising to a 35-9 victory in a dual match against first-year program New Jersey City University.
The Spartans won eight out of 10 weight classes on the day, handing NJCU a defeat in its inaugural match as a collegiate program.
Frank Darwak led off the day with a win at 125 pounds, earning a 13-7 decision over George Rivera. Elijah Cyr followed that up at 133 pounds with a 13-7 decision of his own, winning his bout against Mike Rubin to put Castleton ahead 6-0. A forfeit by NJCU at 141 pounds doubled Castleton's lead to 12-0.
NJCU got on the board as a team in the 149-pound bout, as the Gothic Knights' Rob Cleary defeated Logan Dubuque by decision, 13-8. Cleary was in line for a major decision late in the match, but a four-point near-fall by Dubuque cut the deficit to 12-7 at the time to save one team point. Through the 149-pound bout, Castleton led 12-3.
Max Tempel added three more to Castleton's advantage, earning a 4-0 win via decision at 157 to push the gap to 15-3. Michael Angers then notched the Spartans' first pin of the day, winning via fall in 3:54 over Tyler Bailey to stretch the lead to 21-3. Cooper Fleming effectively ended the match, winning 8-0 via major decision to push Castleton's lead to an insurmountable total of 25-3.
With the match squarely in hand, the Spartans continued to wrestle hard. In his collegiate debut, Sampson Wilkins pinned NJCU's Chris Oliver in just 56 seconds to make it 31-3 in favor of the home squad. After the Gothic Knights' Kyle Hillermeier collected six points on an injury default by Cody York, Chance LaPier closed out the afternoon's matchups with a dominant win at 285. In his first action at the heavyweight class, LaPier was in control from start to finish, collecting an 18-4 win via major decision to cap the team score at 35-9 in favor of Castleton.
The afternoon also saw 15 exhibition matches take place, with Castleton going 12-3 in those bouts. Keegan Coon, Syrus Colon and Cayleb Leclerc all collected two wins in the exhibition matches, while James Rodriguez, Tylik Epps, Haven Tatarek, Camrin Russell, Shea Garand and Logan Mead won once each.
The Spartans are back in action on Friday, February 5, when they travel to New Jersey to once again square off with the Gothic Knights. The match is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
