GORHAM, Maine – The Castleton University wrestling team picked up a pair of convincing victories in the Little East Conference Tri-Match at the University of Southern Maine on Saturday, besting Rhode Island College and host USM in a pair of dual matches.
 
Castleton improves its dual match record to 3-0 this season after beating Rhode Island College 44-12 and defeating USM 37-7. Originally scheduled as a quad match, the other Little East Conference program with a wrestling program—Plymouth State—withdrew from the event late in the week.
 
Castleton 44, Rhode Island College 12
Rhode Island College got on the board first with a pin at 125 pounds, as RIC's Fred Luchs besting Owen Kretschmer late in the third period. The Spartans knotted the score at 6-6 in the next bout, as Michael Gonyea returned the favor with a pin of Jacob Duvall in just 1:02. After RIC forfeited the 141-pound class to put Castleton up 12-6, Nicholas Roeger made it 16-6 Spartans with a major-decision victory, 10-2, over Michael Pestana. Logan Dubuque was the victim of a pin by Nathan Lackman at 157, bringing RIC to within four, 16-12, at the midway point of the match.
 
The Anchormen forfeited again at 165 pounds, putting Castleton ahead 22-12, and Cooper Fleming all but put the match out of reach at 174 pounds with a pin of Christopher McCarthy in 2:01. The win via fall put the Spartans ahead 28-12 with just three remaining bouts. Alec Richards sealed the victory officially with a major-decision win at 184 pounds, defeating Rogelio Gonzalez 14-6. A forfeit at 197 gave Castleton a 38-12 edge heading to the final bout. Shea Garand capped the match with a third-period win via fall, pinning Ricky Brown at the 6:01 mark to put the finishing touches on a 44-12 win for the Spartans.
 
Castleton 37, Southern Maine 7
Kretschmer bounced back from his opening-match loss with a 13-3 win via major decision against USM's Antoine Grace, giving Castleton a 4-0 lead after the 125-pound bout. Gonyea tacked on three more points with a decision victory over Ethan Ford, 9-5. James Rodriguez then pinned Kevin Moore at 141 in just 2:42 to push Castleton ahead 13-0 after three bouts. The Huskies finally got on the board at 149, as Colby Frost narrowly defeated Roeger, 6-3, to make it a 13-3 match. Dubuque then got back in the win column with a 7-2 decision over Jeremy Sendrowski, giving the Spartans a 16-3 lead through five weight classes.
 
Michael Angers gave Castleton a big boost with a pin of Henri Kuntz at 165, pushing the Spartans ahead 22-3 with his first-period pin at 2:39. Fleming then won a decision in the first tie-break period, 3-2, at 174 pounds to give Castleton a 25-3 lead and officially sealing the match with three bouts remaining. Sampson Wilkins took care of business at 184 pounds, pinning Timothy Smale in 2:14, and Chance LaPier followed that up with a 1:32 pin of Anthony Mears at 197 to give Castleton a 37-3 edge going to the final bout. USM scored again in the final bout of the day, with Jake Peavey netting an 8-0 major decision over Garand to give the match its 37-7 final score.
 
The Spartans also wrestled 29 exhibition bouts on the day, collecting a total of 24 wins in those matchups. Castleton claimed five out of the seven exhibition bouts against Rhode Island College, and 19 of the 22 bouts against USM to close out the day.