FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Castleton University wrestling team finished in second place at the Citrus Invitational on Thursday, holding on to the same spot from the first day of competition.
 
Nicholas Roeger claimed the 149-pound title, headlining the Spartans' five top-three finishers. In total, 15 Spartans placed in the top-eight of their weight class, with 11 top-five finishers. The Spartans collected 159 points as a team, second only to Augsburg, the No. 7-ranked team in the NWCA's dual rankings, and ahead of John Carroll University, the No. 6-ranked team in the NWCA tournament rankings.
 
Roeger posted a 4-0 mark en route to the 149-pound crown, tallying four straight decision victories. He took the final match with a 3-2 win via decision, using a third-period escape to notch the winning point. Michael Angers placed second at 165 pounds, earning his way to the title bout with three decision victories. He fell by just a lone point in the title bout, 3-2, as his opponent—the 14th-ranked 165-pounder in the nation—tallied a third-period escape to give Angers the silver spot.
 
Michael Gonyea, Sampson Wilkins and Chance LaPier all tallied third-place finishes. Gonyea fell in the semifinal bout, but won both matches in the consolation bracket to take third place. He finished the tournament 4-1 overall, capping the third-place match with a pin in 4:35. Wilkins fell in the semifinals to the NWCA's 11th-ranked 184-pounder, but won a major decision in the consolation semifinals before claiming a decision victory in the third-place match, 7-5. LaPier dropped a tight semifinal bout, 4-3, but won comfortably in both consolation bracket matches for a third-place result at 197 pounds.
 
Kaya Bogle, Logan Dubuque, Syrus Colon and Abbas Abdulrahman placed fourth in their weight classes, all coming up just short in the third-place matches. Cooper Fleming and Haven Tatarek were fifth-place finishers for the Spartans, while Owen Kretschmer, James Rodriguez, Alec Richards and Bryan Bonilla all finished seventh in their class.
 
The Spartans return to the mat on January 7 and 8 at the Budd Whitehill National Duals in Lycoming, Pa.